France’s parliament ousted Prime Minister François Bayrou on Monday after just nine months in office, plunging President Emmanuel Macron into a fresh political crisis and forcing him to search quickly for a successor.
Bayrou shocked even allies when he called a confidence vote to end a budget standoff. His austerity plan sought almost €44 billion (£37 billion) in savings to cut France’s soaring debt. Instead, deputies dealt him a crushing defeat — 364 voted no confidence, while only 194 backed him.
He became the first prime minister in modern French history to be toppled by a confidence vote rather than a no-confidence motion. A close aide confirmed Bayrou will submit his resignation on Tuesday morning.
Defending his gamble before MPs, Bayrou argued that France faced a “life-threatening” debt crisis and warned: “The biggest risk was not to take one… and have business as usual.” He told lawmakers they could remove the government but “not erase reality”.
Bayrou was Macron’s sixth premier since 2017 — and his fifth since 2022. His downfall leaves the president with one of the hardest decisions of his tenure: appoint a seventh prime minister capable of forging compromise in parliament, or risk snap elections that might not improve his party’s standing.
Polls underline Macron’s peril. An Odoxa-Backbone survey for Le Figaro showed 64% of French citizens want him to resign rather than name a new premier, while an Ifop poll put his disapproval rating at 77%, the worst of his presidency.
The Socialist Party has signalled readiness to form a government, but analysts doubt its survival prospects. Macron’s loyal right-wing ministers, such as Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, are at risk of rejection by the left, while centrist figures like Health Minister Catherine Vautrin or Finance Minister Éric Lombard could prove more acceptable.
The turmoil coincides with rising social tensions. A left-wing collective, Block Everything, has called protests for Wednesday, while trade unions plan strikes on 18 September.
Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally eyes 2027 as its best chance yet. Convicted in March over an EU fake jobs scandal, Le Pen received a four-year sentence — two suspended — a €100,000 fine, and a five-year ban from office. But her appeal, scheduled for January–February 2026, could restore her presidential ambitions.
Le Pen, cheered by her MPs, urged Macron to dissolve parliament: “Snap elections are not an option but an obligation,” she said, dismissing Bayrou’s fallen cabinet as a “phantom government”.