France’s new PM tasked with forging consensus on a 2026 budget

French President Emmanuel Macron has picked defence chief Sébastien Lecornu as his new Prime Minsiter a day after François Bayrou was voted out in parliament. The 39-year-old’s immediate priority will be to try and forge consensus on a new budget, before forming a government.  If this year’s budget were to be carried over into next year, France’s fiscal deficit, already the highest in the EU, is predicted to widen further.