Macron ally appointed PM as France faces demonstrations and blockades

Sébastien Lecornu, the French defence minister and close ally of Emmanuel Macron, has been appointed France's new prime minister, tasked with immediately consulting France's divided political parties to try to find a consensus on the budget.

- Angelique Chrisafis

Lecornu, 39, who began his political career in the traditional rightwing party of Nicolas Sarkozy before moving to Macron's centre in 2017, is seen as fiercely loyal to the president.

It shows Macron's determination to press on with a minority government that stands firmly behind his pro-business economic reform agenda, under which taxes on business and the wealthy have been cut and the retirement age raised.

However, in an unusual move in French politics, Macron's office said the president had asked Lecornu to hold talks with all political forces in parliament to find compromises on the budget and other policies before naming his cabinet.

Lecornu started out in politics as an MP's assistant, aged 19, and then became France's youngest ever ministerial adviser in 2008 when he worked for the then rightwing Europe minister Bruno Le Maire. In 2015, Lecornu became the youngest-ever president of a French département, Eure in Normandy, after serving as mayor of his home town, Vernon.