The fall of Sebastien Lecornu was a “narrative coup,” a stunningly successful effort by the opposition to write the story of his government’s failure before it had the chance to write its own. By seizing control of the narrative from the first moment, they ensured the government’s demise.
The coup was launched the instant the cabinet list was released. The opposition immediately flooded the political discourse with a simple, powerful, and devastating story: this government is “illegitimate” because it is “unchanged.” This narrative was the weapon that brought the administration down.
This story was so effective because it was easy to grasp and hard to counter. While the government might have wanted to talk about its plans or the merits of its ministers, it was forced to defend itself against the more fundamental charge of its own illegitimacy. It lost control of its own story from the very beginning.
Leaders like Olivier Faure of the Socialist Party were the chief authors of this narrative coup. His soundbites about an “imploding” presidential camp and a government with “no legitimacy” became the headlines, defining the event for the media and the public. The government had no competing narrative to offer.
Lecornu’s resignation was the final chapter in the story that the opposition had written. He was forced to act out the ending they had authored for him. This episode serves as a powerful example of modern political warfare, where controlling the narrative is equivalent to controlling the reality.