French prime minister François Bayrou has lost a confidence vote in parliament, effectively collapsing his government in the latest twist of what has been more than a year of political crisis gripping France.
The fall of a second government in less than 10 months will raise further concerns about France’s ability to tame mounting levels of public debt, which Mr Bayrou and his predecessor Michel Barnier both proposed unpopular spending cuts to address.
French president Emmanuel Macron will now have to find a replacement who might command broader support in a divided National Assembly, where no political faction has close to a majority.
Mr Bayrou had tabled the confidence vote in an attempt to pressure deputies to back his minority government’s plan for budget cuts, to rein in a large deficit in the state’s finances.
The centrist prime minister had proposed an austerity budget of €44 billion in cuts and savings, including an unpopular plan to scrap two public holidays.
In his address to parliament on Monday, Mr Bayrou appealed to parliamentarians’ sense of individual responsibility, calling for them to back his effort to get control of France’s large financial debt. He said the confidence motion would be a “moment of truth” for the country.
Voting results show Mr Bayrou lost the vote decisively. Some 364 deputies voted to topple his government, with 194 voting in favour of the confidence motion.
Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party and the main left-wing parties in opposition, France Unbowed, the Greens and the centre-left Socialist Party, all voted against Mr Bayrou in the confidence motion.
Ms Le Pen called for the National Assembly to be dissolved and fresh parliamentary elections held to “let the country choose”.
The lost confidence vote has triggered a fresh crisis at the top of French politics. It will put pressure on Mr Macron to find a way out of the political deadlock he is blamed with creating.
A snap election last year backfired on Mr Macron, resulting in heavy losses for his centrist coalition and a hung parliament where no political faction could muster a majority.
Mr Bayrou, a veteran centrist politician, had headed a government made up of the president’s centrist camp, plus the smaller centre-right Republicans.
Speculation centres around whether Mr Macron will potentially turn to a figure who could earn the support of the Socialist party, without alienating the Republicans.
Opposition parties of the left and the far right had all indicated they would not support Mr Bayrou in the vote, meaning his government has been facing near certain collapse for two weeks.
Personality clashes between Mr Bayrou and opposition leaders hampered his efforts to build support ahead of the vote.
France’s president Emmanuel Macron faces a narrowing set of options to chart a way out of the crisis. Photograph: Ludovic Marn/AFP via Getty Images
A more radical option would be for Mr Macron to resign and trigger early presidential elections, something commentators view as incredibly unlikely. The next presidential poll is due to be held in the spring of 2027. Mr Macron will be unable to stand himself, after having served two consecutive terms.
The political turmoil comes as demonstrations organised by a new “Block Everything” movement are due to be held in France on Wednesday, styled in the fashion of the yellow vest protests that caused major disruption and upheaval in 2018 and 2019.
The disparate, leaderless group of largely left-wing activists, organised online, has called for people to join country-wide protests. French authorities are unsure of the likely turnout at the planned demonstrations, but are preparing for potential clashes between police and protesters