First trip for Sébastien Lecornu, dedicated to the health and "daily life" of the French

Barely four days after his appointment, the new and young (39-year-old) Prime Minister is going to meet the French people, for whom he still remains a stranger. He will notably meet with employees of a health center in Saône-et-Loire whose goal is to improve access to care.

Himself a local elected official from Eure, where he was mayor, department president and senator, this son of a medical secretary and an aeronautics technician had assured from the evening of his appointment that he "measured the expectations" of his fellow citizens and "the difficulties" they encountered.

These are often "unbearable" to access a doctor or a health professional, sometimes "a source of anxiety" , underlines his entourage. The Prime Minister intends in this context "to demonstrate the nation's recognition towards healthcare workers" and "to reaffirm the government's desire to facilitate access to care" .

Sébastien Lecornu also has to convince public opinion, as well as political forces, of the merits of his method: finding common ground, particularly on the budget, which would allow him to govern without a majority.

Sébastien Lecornu is very close to Emmanuel Macron, with whom he had another long lunch on Friday at the Élysée Palace.

Social movements

His appointment coincides with several social movements. On the day he took office, a social media mobilization to "block" the country brought together 200,000 protesters, and another day of demonstrations called by unions is planned for Thursday.

"There is a lot of anger " among employees, reported Marylise Léon, the general secretary of the CFDT, France's largest union, after an interview Friday with the new Prime Minister, who told her he was working on a "contribution from the highest incomes" in the 2026 budget.

It was over the budget that his two predecessors, François Bayrou and Michel Barnier, fell. And Sébastien Lecornu is primarily seeking some form of agreement with the Socialists.

But at the same time it needs to reduce deficits, as the rating agency Fitch downgraded the French debt rating on Friday evening .

The center and right of the government coalition say they are ready to tax the ultra-rich more heavily without going as far as introducing the Zucman tax on the highest net worth, a flagship measure promoted by the Socialists and which LR does not want.

Such a measure would in any case mark one of the "breaks " advocated by Sébastien Lecornu upon his arrival, since it would break the taboo of Macron's tax increases.

Method

Sébastien Lecornu also wants changes in method.

On Thursday, he first brought together - for the first time in a long time - the leaders of the "common base" parties, Renaissance, Horizons, MoDem and Les Républicains, so that they could agree on some common priorities.

A "party presidents" format which "allows us to work in confidence, in a more direct way, to exchange on political ideas, on arbitrations" , welcomes one participant.

Ahead of the opposition and a few days before a second day of demonstrations, he consulted with social partners, receiving the CFDT and MEDEF on Friday, before the CGT on Monday.

In search of a compromise to pass the budget, the head of government could return to the plan of his predecessor François Bayrou, stripped of its most controversial measures, such as the elimination of two public holidays.

The possibility of resuming the pensions conclave also appears to have been abandoned. The social partners are refusing to reopen it anyway.

Gestures are expected towards the socialists while at the Elysée, it is believed that the National Rally, the largest group in the National Assembly, is now aligned like France Insoumise on the side of "dégagisme" .

Cultivating a sober, even rare, speech, Sébastien Lecornu will only speak at the end of these consultations "before the French people" , before the traditional declaration of general policy, before Parliament.