Sébastien Lecornu
Head of governmentPrime Minister of France
Renaissance · France
Sébastien Lecornu is a French politician who has served as Prime Minister of France since September 2025, continuing in office after the February 2026 reshuffle of his own government. A former member of the Republicans (LR) who joined the Macron camp in 2017, he previously held several ministerial posts, including Minister of the Armed Forces (2022–2025), Minister of the Overseas (2020–2022), Minister for Local Authorities (2018–2020) and Secretary of State for the Ecological Transition (2017–2018). He was Mayor of Vernon and twice President of the Departmental Council of the Eure before his national rise.
Electoral history
2026 French municipal elections
Municipal council, Vernon (list head / first deputy mayor)2026-03
List won
As sitting Prime Minister, Lecornu announced the victory of his list in Vernon in March 2026 and was named first deputy to the mayor. He also stated he would not seek renewal of a Senate mandate in the September 2026 senatorial elections.
2021 French departmental elections
Departmental councillor, canton of Vernon (re-election)2021-06
Re-elected
58.74% (first round); 81.11% (second round)
Came first in the first round with 58.74% but high abstention prevented direct election; re-elected in the second round with 81.11%. He then resumed the presidency of the Eure department.
Source:en.wikipedia.org2020 French Senate elections
Senator for the Eure2020-09
Elected (resigned seat after one month)
Elected senator for the Eure in September 2020 but, as announced beforehand, left his seat to substitute Nicole Duranton roughly one month after entering the Senate, in order to remain a government minister.
Source:en.wikipedia.org2015 French departmental elections
Departmental councillor, canton of Vernon2015-03
Elected
Elected councillor for the canton of Vernon (alongside Catherine Delalande); subsequently became President of the Departmental Council of the Eure.
Source:en.wikipedia.org2014 French municipal elections
Mayor of Vernon (Eure)2014-03
Elected
Won the Vernon town hall; took office on 5 April 2014. Stepped down as mayor on 4 December 2015 due to rules on combining executive mandates.
Source:en.wikipedia.org
Work history
Prime Minister of France
Sep 9, 2025 – PresentGovernment of France (Matignon)
Appointed Prime Minister on 9 September 2025 after the fall of the Bayrou government. Resigned on 6 October 2025 hours after naming his first cabinet, then was reappointed on 10 October 2025 to form a second government. Used Article 49.3 to pass the 2026 budget and continued as PM after the 26 February 2026 reshuffle.
Minister of the Armed Forces
May 20, 2022 – Sep 2025Government of France (Borne, Attal, Bayrou governments)
Led the Ministry of the Armed Forces across successive governments; presented and steered the 2024–2030 Military Programming Law (LPM) providing for about 413 billion euros of defence spending. Title later extended to Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans.
President of the Departmental Council of the Eure (second term)
Jul 2021 – 2022Departmental Council of the Eure
Re-elected councillor for the canton of Vernon in 2021 and resumed the presidency of the Eure department while serving as Minister of the Overseas, with the authorisation of the President of the Republic.
Source:en.wikipedia.orgMinister of the Overseas
Jul 6, 2020 – May 20, 2022Government of France (Castex government)
Handled crisis talks in Guadeloupe in late 2021 amid unrest linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and indicated openness to discussing autonomy for the territory.
Source:en.wikipedia.orgMinister for Local Authorities
Oct 16, 2018 – Jul 6, 2020Government of France (Philippe government)
Minister attached to the Minister of Territorial Cohesion. In January 2019 he was tasked, with Emmanuelle Wargon, with co-leading the 'Grand Débat National' in response to the Yellow Vests crisis.
Source:en.wikipedia.orgSecretary of State to the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition
Jun 21, 2017 – Oct 16, 2018Government of France (Philippe government)
Appointed by President Macron; handled sensitive energy files including the Fessenheim nuclear plant closure, the Flamanville EPR and the Bure (Cigéo) nuclear-waste project. His appointment led to his exclusion from the Republicans (LR) on 31 October 2017.
Source:en.wikipedia.orgPresident of the Departmental Council of the Eure
Apr 2, 2015 – Jul 10, 2017Departmental Council of the Eure
Became president of the Eure departmental council in 2015 following the departmental elections; first term as department head.
Source:en.wikipedia.orgMayor of Vernon
Apr 5, 2014 – Dec 4, 2015Commune of Vernon (Eure)
Elected mayor of Vernon in the 2014 municipal elections; gave up the mayoralty in December 2015 due to rules on combining executive mandates after becoming president of the Eure department.
Source:en.wikipedia.orgAdviser to the Secretary of State for European Affairs
2008 – 2014Government of France (cabinet of Bruno Le Maire, Fillon government)
Became at age 22 an adviser to Secretary of State for European Affairs Bruno Le Maire; later worked in Le Maire's entourage and in the Eure.
Source:en.wikipedia.orgParliamentary assistant
2005 – 2008National Assembly (to MP Franck Gilard, Eure's 5th constituency)
Worked as parliamentary assistant to UMP deputy Franck Gilard; reported at the time to be the youngest parliamentary assistant in the National Assembly.
Source:en.wikipedia.org
Education
Institution Saint-Adjutor, Vernon
until c. 2004Secondary education / Baccalauréat · Economics and social sciences (série ES)
Completed his secondary studies at the private Catholic institution Saint-Adjutor in Vernon and obtained a baccalauréat in economics and social sciences.
Source:en.wikipedia.orgPanthéon-Assas University (Paris 2)
c. 2004–2008Law degree (licence); master's (M1/maîtrise) in public law begun but not completed · Law / public law
Obtained a law degree (licence) and began a master's in public law that he did not complete. His official biography for years described him as holding a master's degree; in September 2025 he acknowledged the master's was never validated and his CV was corrected to refer to 'law studies at Panthéon-Assas'.
Key legislation
Loi de programmation militaire (LPM) 2024–2030
Defence / public finance2023
Multi-year military programming law presented by Lecornu as Minister of the Armed Forces, providing for about 413 billion euros of defence spending over 2024–2030, with the annual defence budget rising toward roughly 69 billion euros by 2030. It prioritised new domains of confrontation (space, cyber, seabed). Adopted by Parliament in 2023.
Significance: The flagship legislative achievement of his tenure at the Armed Forces, roughly doubling French defence funding compared with 2017 and shaping French military investment to 2030.
Loi de finances pour 2026 (2026 Budget) — adopted via Article 49.3
Public finance / state budget2026
As Prime Minister, Lecornu secured passage of the 2026 state budget. After surviving motions of no confidence, his government invoked Article 49.3 of the Constitution to adopt the finance bill without a final vote in January 2026, including a final 49.3 on the overall text.
Significance: A defining act of his premiership: he had initially pledged not to use 49.3 to encourage compromise, then resorted to it 'with regret and bitterness', illustrating the difficulty of governing without a parliamentary majority.
Honors & distinctions
Grand-Croix of the Ordre national du Mérite
2026President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron
Elevated to Grand-Croix (the highest rank) of the National Order of Merit by virtue of his office as Prime Minister, by tradition after about six months at Matignon. The decoration was conferred on 25 March 2026.
Source:parlons-politique.fr