| Prime Minister of the French Republic | |
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| Premier ministre de la République française | |
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| Style |
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| Status | Head of government |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | |
| Residence | Hôtel Matignon |
| Seat | Paris, France |
| Appointer | President |
| Term length | At the president's pleasure, contingent on the officeholder ability to command parliamentary confidence |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of France |
| Precursor | Several titles were used since the Ancien Régime |
| Inaugural holder | Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord |
| Formation | 9 July 1815; 210 years ago (1815-07-09) |
| Salary | €178,920 annually[1] |
| Website | www |
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Theprime minister of France (French:Premier ministre français[note 1]), officially theprime minister of the French Republic (Premier ministre de la République française[note 2]), is thehead of government of theFrench Republic and leader of itsCouncil of Ministers, although the officeholder does not chair its meetings, as thepresident does.
The prime minister is the holder of the second-highest office in France, after thepresident of France. The president appoints the prime minister but cannot dismiss them, only request their resignation. TheGovernment of France, including the prime minister, can be dismissed by theNational Assembly. Upon appointment, the prime minister proposes a list of ministers to the president. Decrees and decisions signed by the prime minister, like almost all executive decisions, are subject to the oversight of the administrative court system. Some decrees are taken after advice from theCouncil of State (Conseil d'État), over which the prime minister is entitled to preside. Ministers defend the programmes of their ministries to the prime minister, who makes budgetary choices. The extent to which those decisions lie with the prime minister or president often depends upon whether they are of the same political party and whether it holds a majority in the National Assembly. If so, the president may serve as both the head of state andde facto head of government, while the prime minister serves as his deputy.
The current prime minister of France isSébastien Lecornu who was appointed on 9 September 2025 and resigned on 6 October 2025, but was re-appointed on 10 October.[2][3]
The prime minister is appointed by thepresident of France, who is theoretically free to pick anyone for the post.[4] In practice, because theNational Assembly has the power to force the resignation of the government by adopting amotion of no confidence,[5] the choice of prime minister must reflect the will of the majority in the National Assembly. In periods ofcohabitation, the prime minister is only responsible to the parliament.[6]
One example of cohabitation includes PresidentFrançois Mitterrand's appointment ofJacques Chirac as prime minister after thelegislative election of 1986. While Mitterrand'sSocialist Party was the largest party in the National Assembly, it did not have an absolute majority. TheRally for the Republic had an alliance with theUnion for French Democracy, which gave them a majority.
While prime ministers are usually chosen from amongst the ranks of the National Assembly, on rare occasions the president has selected a non-officeholder because of experience in bureaucracy or foreign service, or success in business management—former Minister of Foreign AffairsDominique de Villepin, for example, served as prime minister from 2005 to 2007 without having held elected office.
Although the president's choice of prime minister must be in accordance with the majority in the National Assembly, a prime minister does not have to ask for a vote of confidence after a government formation, having been legitimized by the president's assignment and approval of the government.[4] Prior to the 1958 Constitution, the government was required to pass a motion of confidence upon entering office.[4]
According to article 21 of the Constitution,[7] the prime minister "shall direct the actions of the Government". Additionally, Article 20[7] stipulates that the government "shall determine and conduct the policy of the Nation", and it includes domestic issues, while the president concentrates on formulating directions on national defense and foreign policy while arbitrating the efficient service of all governmental authorities in France. Other members of the government are appointed by the president "on the recommendation of the prime minister". In practice, the prime minister acts in harmony with the president, except when there is acohabitation. During cohabitation, according to theConstitutional Council, "the centre of gravity of power shifts from the Élysée to Matignon",[8] with the president losing his status as head of the executive.[9] In such cases, the prime minister traditionally exercises primacy in domestic affairs, while the president limits their action to defense and, to a lesser degree, to foreign affairs.[10]
The prime minister can "engage the responsibility" of the government before the National Assembly. This process consists of placing a bill before the assembly, and either the assembly overthrows the government, or the bill is passed automatically (article 49).[7] In addition to ensuring that the government still has support in the house, some bills that might prove too controversial to pass through the normal assembly rules are able to be passed this way.
The prime minister may also submit a bill that has not been yet signed into law to the Constitutional Council (article 61).[7] Before dissolving the assembly, the president must consult the prime minister and the presidents of both houses of Parliament (article 12).[7] The prime minister is the only member of the government able to introduce legislation in Parliament.
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Under theThird Republic, theFrench Constitutional Laws of 1875 titled the head of government as the "President of the Council of Ministers" (French:Président du Conseil des Ministres), though he was informally called "prime minister" or "premier" outside ofFrance[a].
The president of the council was vested with similar formal powers to those of theprime minister of the United Kingdom. In practice, this proved insufficient to command the confidence of France's multi-party parliament. Most notably, the legislature had the power to force the entire cabinet out of office by avote of censure. As a result, cabinets were often toppled twice a year, and there were long stretches where France was left with only a caretaker government. Under the circumstances, the president of the council was usually a fairly weak figure whose strength was more dependent on charisma than formal powers. Often, he was little more thanprimus inter pares, and was more the cabinet's chairman than its leader.
After several unsuccessful attempts to strengthen the role in the first half of the twentieth century, asemi-presidential system was introduced under theFifth Republic. It was at this point that the post was formally named "Prime Minister" and took its present form. The1958 Constitution includes several provisions intended to strengthen the prime minister's position, for instance by restricting the legislature's power to censure the government. As a result, a prime minister has only been censured twice during the existence of the Fifth Republic: the first such instance occurred in 1962 whenGeorges Pompidou was toppled over opposition objections to PresidentCharles de Gaulle's effort to have the president popularly elected. At the ensuing1962 French legislative election, de Gaulle's coalition won an increased majority, and Pompidou was reappointed prime minister.[5] Thereafter, no government lost amotion of no confidence until 2024, whenMichel Barnier'sminority government was toppled after invoking article49.3 of the Constitution to adopt theSocial Security budget for 2025 without submitting it to a parliamentaryvote.[11]
As of 23 November 2025, there are eighteen living former prime ministers. The most recent death of a former prime minister was that ofJacques Chirac (1974–76, 1986–88), on 26 September 2019.
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Le chef de l'État, élu au suffrage universel direct, perd sa fonction de direction de l'exécutif au profit du Premier ministre, responsable devant l'Assemblée nationale.
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