On Monday, September 8, French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou lost a vote of confidence in the French National Assembly and is set to resign on Tuesday. President Macron stated that he will soon announce the next prime minister.
In the French lower house National Assembly, out of 573 members, 364 voted against Bayrou in the confidence vote, while 194 voted in favor, with 15 abstentions.
According to Euro News, a government source indicated that Bayrou will submit his resignation on Tuesday, making him the first prime minister in the history of the Fifth French Republic to step down following a vote of confidence rather than a vote of no confidence.
Losing the vote of confidence means President Macron must quickly appoint a successor as prime minister. This will be Macron’s fifth prime minister since his second term began in 2022, who will need to navigate a divided parliament to advance budget proposals.
Before the vote on Monday, it was widely anticipated that Bayrou would lose the motion he himself proposed, as he failed to secure support from both left and right political adversaries for the 2026 budget plan.
France’s 2024 fiscal deficit reached 5.8% of GDP, nearly double the EU’s set limit of 3%, with current national debt exceeding €3.3 trillion, approximately 114% of economic output.
Bayrou believes significant spending cuts are unavoidable, proposing a plan to reduce expenditures by €44 billion by 2026 to bring the deficit down to 4.6% of GDP.
However, left and right political opponents are angry at not being taken seriously by Macron and have threatened to overthrow the minority government he appointed. In the early parliamentary elections in 2024, both left and right parties gained numerous seats, depriving Macron’s party coalition of a majority, forcing the government to rely on centrist parties to push through its agenda.
Leader of the right-wing National Rally party (RN), Marine Le Pen, stated on Monday: “The real reboot will be the resignation of the French President.”
Regarding the next steps, Le Pen added: “The President has only one choice: to announce a new election and let the country decide for itself.”
However, Macron has expressed that early elections are not his top choice. He will soon announce the next prime minister. It is believed that Macron will likely choose another centrist ally to lead the minority government.
According to Agence France-Presse, in a public opinion poll released on Sunday, ahead of Bayrou’s request for a confidence vote, the majority of voters expected the Bayrou government to fall. Among them, 49% of the public demands Macron’s resignation, 36% hope for the appointment of a new prime minister, and 15% wish for the dissolution of the government.