France’s new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu takes office on Wednesday facing a day of protests that are expected to see transport, education and other services suffer disruptions in a show of grassroots anger against President Emmanuel Macron.

The protests, led by a loose left-wing collective called “Block Everything”, could be a baptism of fire for Lecornu, 39, a close ally of Macron who has served the last three years as defence minister.

Macron named Lecornu as prime minister late Tuesday, a day after his predecessor Francois Bayrou lost a confidence vote in parliament, forcing him and his government to resign.

Bayrou stumbled over his attempt to implement a package of austerity measures aimed at reducing France’s debt. It remains unclear what compromises Lecornu has in mind to pus

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