President Emmanuel Macron has named close ally Sébastien Lecornu as new French prime minister, 24 hours after a vote of confidence ousted François Bayrou as head of his government.
Lecornu was among the favourites to take over the job, and in a statement the Elysée Palace said he had been given the task of consulting political parties with the aim of adopting France’s next budget.
Bayrou had visited the president hours earlier to hand in his resignation, paving the way for Lecornu to become the fifth prime minister of Macron’s second term as president.
