France's Macron taking a big risk in picking a loyalist to be his next PM

President Emmanuel Macron has moved quickly to appoint Sebastien Lecornu as France's new Prime Minister.

The appointment comes almost exactly 24 hours after Francois Bayrou lost a confidence vote in the National Assembly - rejecting his bid to make £40bn in savings and cutting two of the country's annual public holidays.

Image: Francois Bayrou was ousted in a no confidence vote. Pic: Reuters

Lecornu, 39, is a Macron loyalist - he is the only minister to have served in all eight years of Macron's presidency and ran his re-election campaign.

Publicly, the outgoing armed forces minister is a serious figure, giving little away, but is said to be lively and engaged behind the scenes.

He's known to be a wily political operator, despite his young years.

By picking someone close to him