French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned after less than a month in the role, making him the fourth to leave the office in the past year and a half.
When he was first elected in 2017, President Emmanuel Macron was supposed to be a figure of calm. After five turbulent years under the presidency of François Hollande, Macron heralded a new dawn. The first centrist president of France’s fifth republic managed to amass huge support through his nascent political party La République en Marche, which included many representatives who were entirely new to politics.
For the first year, this steadiness prevailed. Macron had defeated the extreme-right’s Marine Le Pen in the second-round run-off of the presidential elections that year. Le Pen’s supporters seemed stunned into submission. Opposition to Macron was limited. Now he can’t hold on to a prime minister, can’t pass any legislation and faces calls to resign.
