Bayrou loses confidence vote as France’s government collapses again
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The news: France’s government collapsed again after Prime Minister François Bayrou lost a confidence vote he had called to set out the gravity of France’s ballooning debt and budget deficit.
The numbers: The National Assembly rejected Bayrou’s government 364 to 194, a crushing defeat in the 577-seat lower house.
The context: Bayrou, in office for just nine months, had proposed EUR44 billion ($78.49 billion) in annual savings, including freezing welfare payments and cutting two public holidays.
Opposition from the far left, far right and others blocked the plan. President Emmanuel Macron will accept Bayrou’s resignation on Tuesday and appoint a replacement “in the coming days,” according to a statement from his office cited by Bloomberg.
This is France’s fourth change of prime minister in 20 months, with no clear governing majority since Macron’s 2024 snap election. Macron’s support has fallen to 15%, according to a Verian poll for Le Figaro Magazine.
Marine Le Pen, whose National Rally is the largest party in the National Assembly, called the result “the end of the agony of a phantom government” and said the dissolution of Parliament and new elections were “an obligation” if President Macron respected democracy.
The sources: Bloomberg, The New York Times
