Macron has told Lecornu "to consult the political forces represented in parliament with a view to adopting a budget for the nation and making the agreements essential for the decisions of the coming months," the Elysee announced.
Bayrou, who survived just nine months in office, submitted his resignation to Macron earlier on Tuesday after France's parliament ousted the government.
On Monday, Bayrou suffered a crushing loss in a confidence vote he had himself called, plunging France into fresh uncertainty and leaving Macron with the task of finding the seventh premier of his mandate.
The French president has in the past been notoriously slow in "casting" a new prime minister. But this time he has taken less than a day given the risk of financial and political instability.
"Emmanuel Macron is now in the front line to find a solution to the political crisis," said the Liberation daily.
France's borrowing costs, a measure of investor confidence, on Tuesday surged slightly higher than those for Italy, long one of Europe's debt laggards.
- 'Vulnerable' -
Bayrou had blindsided even his allies by calling a confidence vote to end a lengthy standoff over his austerity budget, which foresaw almost 44 billion euros ($52 billion) of cost savings to reduce France's debt pile.
In the end, 364 deputies in the National Assembly voted that they had no confidence in the government, while just 194 gave it their confidence.
Bayrou was the sixth prime minister under Macron since his 2017 election, and the fifth since 2022.
His predecessor, Michel Barnier, was brought down by a no-confidence vote in December.
The crisis dates back to summer 2024 legislative elections that resulted in a hung parliament.
"Emmanuel Macron, a vulnerable president," said the Le Monde daily.
Macron, who has been leading diplomatic efforts internationally to end Russia's war on Ukraine, now faces one of the most critical domestic decisions of his presidency over who to appoint as premier.
Lecornu has been in his post more than three years, for most of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and is a staunch supporter of Kyiv. He is seen as a discreet but highly skilled operator who, crucially for Macron, himself harbours no ambition of becoming president.
- 'Break with the politics' -
Alongside political upheaval, France is also facing social tensions.
A left-wing collective named "Block Everything" is calling for a day of action on Wednesday and trade unions have urged workers to strike on September 18.
"We need a prime minister very rapidly" as there should not be a "power vacuum" ahead of the protests on Wednesday, said Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who is also leader of the main right-wing The Republicans Party.
The 2027 presidential election meanwhile remains wide open, with analysts predicting the French far right will have its best-ever chance of winning. Macron is forbidden from standing for a third term in 2027.
The hopes of three-time presidential candidate for the far-right National Rally (RN), Marine Le Pen, depend on the outcome of an appeal hearing early next year over her conviction for a European Parliament fake jobs scam that disqualified her from standing for office.
She described Lecornu's appointment as the "final shot of Macronism".
Lecornu: Macron's discreet 'loyal soldier'
Paris (AFP) Sept 9, 2025 -
Sebastien Lecornu, named Tuesday as France's new prime minister, has served as defence minister for over three years during much of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and is seen as a deeply loyal, if discreet, ally of President Emmanuel Macron.
Still just 39, Lecornu has been one of the few faces of continuity in the French cabinet at a time of multiple changes of government.
The ultimate Macron loyalist, Lecornu's survival is a measure of the importance of his job three-and-a-half years into Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the trust accorded to him by Macron.
He was reportedly on the brink of being named premier in December 2024. But Francois Bayrou, 74, almost twice Lecornu's age persuaded Macron that he was the best person for the job.
Lecornu has worked staunchly to keep up assistance for Ukraine, while carefully remaining in the shadows with infrequent media appearances.
One of his key assets for Macron is that he is not what is known in France as "presidentiable", namely someone who harbours ambitions of winning the Elysee Palace for themselves.
Lecornu is "a loyal soldier who doesn't have too much charisma or presidential potential," one ministerial adviser told AFP on condition of anonymity.
- Life in politics -
A career politician, Lecornu started out as a parliamentary assistant aged just 19. He has held ministerial posts ever since Macron came to power in 2017 and was promoted to defence minister in May 2022.
Interested in politics from an early age, Lecornu's career set records for hitting milestones at an early age, initially with the conservative UMP party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
He served as an MP's assistant from 19 and became France's youngest-ever ministerial adviser in 2008, joining Bruno Le Maire -- later Macron's long-serving finance minister -- on the Europe brief.
In 2015, he was the youngest-ever president of a French department, Eure in Normandy, after serving as mayor of his hometown Vernon.
A graduate in public law rather than the elite administration or business institutions that traditionally shape top French leaders, Lecornu has made sure to keep up his local roots.
But he reached ministerial rank at 31, covering portfolios including the environment and overseas territories before landing at defence.
He is close to Macron's longtime interior minister and now Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, a fellow transplant to the centrist camp from the traditional right
Lecornu has the advantage of "looking more serious than his age" in a French political scene still dominated by older men, one MP aligned with Macron's supporters told AFP.
He notched up points with Macron by helping organise the Great Debates the president held with local elected officials to defuse the "yellow vests" cost-of-living protests of 2018-19.
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