Emmanuel Macron reappoints Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister - four days after he quit

French President Emmanuel Macron has reappointed Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister.

Mr Lecornu resigned from the post four days ago just hours after he appointed a cabinet - and after political rivals threatened to topple his government.

Macron's office said in a statement on Friday that he has now been tasked with forming a new cabinet.

After the announcement on Friday evening, Mr Lecornu said it was "my duty to accept the mission entrusted to me by the president" and "to respond to the everyday problems of our compatriots".

He added: "We need to put an end to this political crisis, which is exasperating the French people, and to this instability, which is bad for France's image and its interests."

Mr Lecornu also said that whoever joined his government would have to renounce their personal ambitions to succeed Macron in 2027, and pledged his cabinet would "embody renewal and diversity".

He will first work on attempting to deliver a budget by the end of Monday, as economists in Europe have previously warned that the EU's second-largest economy faces a Greek-style debt crisis.

The reappointment was scoffed at by political rivals.

Jordan Bardella, president of France's far-right National Rally party, said he would vote down the new government, claiming "the Elysee Palace, is a bad joke, a democratic disgrace and a humiliation for the French people".

Party leader Marine Le Pen said: "All the political parties that helped Emmanuel Macron gain the time he needed to implement this shameful manipulation will be held to account at the next elections."

Read more from Sky News:
Nineteen missing after explosion at Tennessee munitions plant
How withdrawal of Israeli troops in Gaza could work
Nobel Peace Prize winner named - and it's not Trump

Mathilde Panot, head of the hard-left France Unbowed party, also said that "never before has a President wanted so much to govern by disgust and anger".

"Lecornu, who resigned on Monday, was reappointed by Macron on Friday," she added. "Macron miserably postpones the inevitable: his departure."

Stephane Troussel of the Socialist Party called the latest announcement "a farce in which Emmanuel Macron is the
protagonist. A bad joke for millions of citizens who expect change and hope for the future".

He added: "They can rest assured that this President's reign will soon be coming to an end."

Earlier on Friday, Mr Macron convened a meeting of mainstream party leaders to gather support around his reappointment of Mr Lecornu.

The president's entourage said Lecornu had "carte blanche", a sign Mr Macron was leaving his prime minister wiggle room to negotiate a cabinet and budget.

His return to the role marks the eighth prime minister of Mr Macron's tenure as president, and the fifth appointment in barely a year.

His predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was appointed in December last year and was ousted after losing a confidence vote by an overwhelming 364-194 in September.

(c) Sky News 2025: Emmanuel Macron reappoints Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister - four days after he quit