The Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, has established himself in Emmanuel Macron’s government and is part of the short list of potential candidates to replace Elisabeth Borne.
An ambitious minister. In government since 2017, Sébastien Lecornu plays his part discreetly. In charge of the Armies, this close friend of Emmanuel Macron, to the point of being mentioned for Matignon. Elisabeth Borne finds herself weakened after the painful adoption of the immigration law, between a right-wing text by LR, approval of the National Rally and defections in Macronie. Thus, several names are coming back insistently to replace the head of government, including the 37-year-old former elected official from Eure.
The man, unknown to the general public, comes from the Republicans (LR) and worked for Bruno Le Maire before becoming a Macronist. Close to Gérald Darmanin, the minister has the CV of a political professional: parliamentary assistant at 19, mayor of Vernon at 27, president of the Eure department at 28, propelled to government at 31, to Ecology then to Communities, before Overseas (2020-2022).
“Lecornu is a certain idea of France”
If, among his five years in government, he only has one in a state position, Sébastien Lecornu has a good understanding with Emmanuel Macron – according to many rumors -, which could allow him to imagine a promotion. But opposite, these other contenders for Matignon seem to have more depth for the position: his colleagues from the Economy and the Interior, Bruno Le Maire and Gérald Darmanin.
However, as a sign of the confidence he places in him, the President of the Republic does not hesitate to send his minister on risky missions like the one he carried out in the Middle East to negotiate the release of hostages in mid-November, in place of his colleague from Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna.
The former deputy director of François Fillon’s campaign also seems to be pushed to the forefront by those around him of the Minister of the Interior. “He ticks a lot of boxes,” said a deputy close to Darmanin. Médiapart. Lecornu is a certain idea of France, a kid from Eure who didn’t grow up with money, who made it on his own, extremely cultured, at the forefront of international issues, very good connoisseur of the Senate, who gets along very well with LR, but also with [François] Bayrou and [Édouard] Philippe…”, he adds.
His profile thus appears as an alternative to the ambitious Gérald Darmanin, discredited after having suffered the motion of preliminary rejection on the immigration law, having not reached a political consensus on the question. Sébastien Lecornu presents himself as a figure capable of embodying the turn to the right carried by Emmanuel Macron, without overshadowing the head of state, when “BLM” or the Minister of the Interior do not hide (or barely) their ambitions for 2027.
The only downside for Sébastien Lecornu: Marine Le Pen’s historic scores overseas during the 2022 presidential elections and the results of the legislative elections in Eure: four of the five constituencies in the hands of the majority have shifted to the extreme right . Less divisive than his colleague from the Interior and closer to the field than that of the Economy, Sébastien Lecornu is biding his time. An arrival at Matignon would be a clear and definitive call from Emmanuel Macron to the right and a back turned to the left, which he tried to rally to his cause with Elisabeth Borne.