The overt goals of French Prime Minister François Bayrou were admirable. He wanted to slow the growth of spending in France, which is spending far too much as it is. But his leadership lacked loyalty because he, and President Emmanuel Macron who supported his Prime Ministership, have lost the faith of the people. In French Entrée, Zoë Smith explains that Macron will attempt to install a new PM soon. She writes:

If you’re feeling a sense of déjà-vu, it’s understandable. After all, less than a year ago, we were in the same situation, as then Prime Minister Michel Barnier was ousted following a vote of no-confidence while attempting to push through his 2025 Budget. This time, Prime Minister François Bayrou preempted his fate by calling his own vote of confidence to test support for his 2026 Budget. Unsurprisingly, it was announced yesterday evening that he lost by 364 to 194 votes.

Now, Bayrou will step down after just nine months as PM (although Barnier still holds the title of the shortest period in office, at just three months), and France will find itself without a government for the third time since Macron called the snap parliamentary election last July.

So, what happens now? Well, much like last time, it will now be down to President Macron to elect another Prime Minister, which will be his fifth since starting his second term in 2022. A spokesperson from the Elysée Palace said yesterday that this would be done “in the next few days”, and Macron will certainly want to avoid a similar scenario to last year, when France ended the year without a government or a Budget.

Despite the persistent calls on Macron to resign, the French President has doubled down on his determination to see out the end of his term (until 2027), and a statement prior to the vote indicated that he also wouldn’t look to call another parliamentary election either. With France facing the biggest government crisis since the start of the Fifth Republic, and parties – and public opinion – seemingly more divided than ever, it seems unlikely that either of these options would help France out of its mess. As for the new Prime Minister, he or she will almost certainly face the same challenges of Barnier and Bayrou in trying to appease all sides of the fractured parliament and push through a viable 2026 Budget.

Current government spokesperson Sophie Primas arguably put it best, stating post-vote: “Our mission in the service of the nation has come to an end. Have the country’s problems disappeared? Unfortunately, not.”

Read more here.