Former French PM says Macron should resign amid deepening political crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron should take the "initiative" and call an early presidential election, his first prime minister has said.

The comments by Édouard Philippe, who held the position between 2017 and 2020, came after the resignation on Monday of the recently appointed Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

After Lecornu became the third person this year to step down from the role, Macron granted him 48 hours to attempt to prop up his collapsed government.

In an interview with French radio station RTL, Philippe said that France's political instability should not continue, warning that Macron's pledge to stay on until elections in 2027 "would be far too long and would harm France".

"I'm not for an immediate and brutal resignation," he argued, indicating that Macron should wait until the 2026 budget was passed before calling an election.

Another former prime minister, Gabriel Attal, who was appointed in 2024 during Macron's second term, had earlier also sharply distanced himself from the president.

“Like many French people, I no longer understand the president’s decisions," Attal told broadcaster TF1 on Monday night. However, he stopped short of calling for his resignation.

With two of Macron's loyal allies now taking separate decisions to draw a line between themselves and Macron, the president's authority is being sapped by his inability to deliver stable governance.

The current crisis began when Macron, now at record-low approval ratings, dissolved parliament’s powerful lower house in June 2024 in a move that shocked even his allies.

The resulting hung parliament has made it very difficult for him to govern, with successive prime ministers failing to find enough common ground between Macron's centrist alliance, a left-wing coalition and the far-right National Rally.

None has a workable majority, and each is more focused on sharpening its position ahead of the 2027 presidential race than on compromise.

Amid the political instability, his rivals have suggested three options: resign, call new elections or appoint a prime minister from outside his political camp.

The third option, known as "cohabitation," has been championed by left-wing parties. A leftist coalition, the New Popular Front, won the most seats in the 2024 French legislative election, beating back a far-right surge but failing to win a majority.

Philippe, the former prime minister, has said he intends to run in the next presidential election, and polling indicates a runoff could see him face a candidate from the far-right National Rally.

Were Macron to resign, the constitution provides for the Senate President Gérard Larcher to take over temporarily, with a new presidential election organised within 20 to 50 days.