Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu at the Assemblée Nationale in Paris, December 9, 2025. JULIEN MUGUET FOR LE MONDE
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has won his first bet. On Tuesday, December 9, his government successfully passed a social security budget in the Assemblée Nationale despite not having a majority. Lecornu, the self-described "weakest prime minister of the Fifth Republic," accomplished what all his predecessors since 2022 had failed. He proved that his method, based on seeking a parliamentary compromise with the Socialists, could bear fruit, without resorting to the unpopular constitutional tool that allows the forced adoption of a bill without a vote.
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French PM and Socialists raise the stakes ahead of key social security budget vote
With 247 votes in favor, 234 against and 93 abstentions, the prime minister defied the most pessimistic predictions. The social security budget bill received votes from MPs from Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party, their centrist MoDem allies, the Socialists, and independents. It was successful thanks to the abstentions predominant among the Greens, Les Républicains (LR, right) and Horizons (center-right) parties.
