London: French President Emmanuel Macron has sacked his prime minister after less than two years in the job in an attempt to give his troubled government a much-needed reset ahead of European elections due later this year.

Elisabeth Borne, only the second woman to hold the prime ministerial office in France, offered her resignation on Tuesday (AEDT) after she was reportedly told by Macron that he needed a new figure at the head of his government.

The French president and his government have struggled to strike deals in parliament since losing their absolute majority after Macron was re-elected for a second term in April 2022.

In her resignation letter, cited by French newspaper Le Monde, Borne hinted that she would have preferred to stay.

“While I must present the resignation of my government, I wanted to tell you how passionate I was about this mission,” she wrote, adding that she “worked hard to ensure the adoption, under unprecedented conditions in parliament” of his contentious pension reforms, immigration law and “more than 50 laws that respond to the challenges” facing “the concerns of the French people”.

The Elysee Palace said in a statement that Borne had submitted her resignation to the president “who accepted it”. The statement additionally said Borne would continue in her duties until a new government was appointed.

Writing on X, Macron thanked Borne, who has been in the post since May 2022, for her “courage, dedication, and determination” in the “service of the nation” without mentioning her resignation. It was not clear who would succeed her, but it is expected to be announced as early as Tuesday morning.

Under the French system, the president sets general policies and the prime minister is responsible for day-to-day government management, meaning the latter often pays the price when an administration runs into turbulence.