President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday declared his “full support” for Prime Minister François Bayrou, who has called a confidence vote that could bring down his government next month.
Bayrou announced he would seek the vote in a deeply divided parliament on 8 September as he tries to secure backing for his plan to slash public spending. However, opposition parties have rejected the proposal: the far right has demanded new parliamentary elections, while the hard left has insisted Macron himself must resign.
France’s president, now on his sixth prime minister since 2017, chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Following the session, government spokeswoman Sophie Primas said Macron fully supported Bayrou’s move and urged all political parties to “act responsibly.”
“The French president said — and I’ll use his exact words — that there is neither denial of reality nor exaggeration of France’s financial situation. France is a solid country, with economic resilience and significant financial capacity,” Primas added.
Bayrou, vowing to “fight like a dog” to remain in office, is expected to defend his position in a televised address on Wednesday evening. His proposals to save around €44 billion (£37bn), including reducing public holidays and freezing spending increases, have proved deeply unpopular.
If Bayrou loses the confidence vote, Macron could appoint a new prime minister, dissolve parliament again, or even resign. Last summer, his gamble on snap elections backfired, leaving a deadlocked parliament. Some within his camp now believe new elections may be unavoidable.
Former prime minister Edouard Philippe, a likely centrist candidate for the 2027 presidential race, supported Bayrou but acknowledged that another dissolution of the lower house may be necessary if no government can prepare a budget.
Green leader Marine Tondelier argued Macron should instead appoint a left-wing prime minister, in line with the results of last year’s snap polls, when a leftist alliance won the most seats without securing a majority.
“There is no suspense about the fact that François Bayrou will fall on 8 September,” Tondelier said, adding that her movement was working on a crisis exit plan.
Meanwhile, a left-backed campaign under the banner “Bloquons tout” (“Let’s block everything”) has urged a nationwide shutdown on 10 September.
France, whose public debt stands at 114 percent of GDP — the third highest in the eurozone after Greece and Italy — is under pressure from the EU to rein in its deficit.
With political manoeuvring intensifying ahead of the 2027 presidential election, far-right leader Jordan Bardella declared: “There is only one way out of this political impasse, and that is to return to the polls.”