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France’s government collapses as Prime Minister François Bayrou loses confidence vote

François Bayrou is the third Macron-appointed Prime Minister to be forced out of office in the past two years. His predecessor Michel Barnier also lost a no-confidence vote last December.

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou addresses the National Assembly, prior to a parliamentary confidence vote that could bring him down, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French President Emmanuel Macron has suffered a major political setback as Prime Minister François Bayrou on Monday lost a confidence vote in the Parliament. Bayrou was ousted overwhelmingly in a 364-194 vote against him, just eight months after he was appointed Prime Minister.

Bayrou is expected to submit his resignation to French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday morning.

A scoreboard at the National Assembly shows the results of a no-confidence motion vote prompted by budget disputes that forces Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to resign, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Third French PM to resign in two years

The 74-year-old is the third Macron-appointed Prime Minister to be forced out of office in the past two years. His predecessor Michel Barnier also lost a no-confidence vote last December just three months after assuming office, making him the shortest-serving French PM ever.

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Gabriel Attal, who held the French Prime Minister’s post before him also did not have a long stay and held the office only for eight months between January and September 2024.

What happens next

According to the Elysée Palace President Macron will name the successor of Bayrou ‘in the next days.’

Macron could now nominate a politician from his own centrist minority ruling group or from the ranks of conservatives as the next premier, but that would mean doubling down on a strategy that has failed to yield a stable alliance.
He could tack to the left and nominate a moderate socialist, or choose a technocrat. No scenario would be likely to hand the next government a parliamentary majority.

Bayrou called the confidence vote

Bayrou had called the confidence vote unexpectedly to try to win parliamentary support for his strategy to lower a deficit that stands at nearly double the European Union’s 3% ceiling and to start tackling a debt pile equivalent to 114% of GDP.
But opposition parties were in little mood to rally behind his planned savings of 44 billion euros ($51.51 billion) in next year’s budget, with an election for Macron’s successor looming in 2027.

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou leaves the National Assembly after losing a parliamentary confidence vote, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Earlier, ahead of the vote Bayrou warned that France is risking its future and its influence by racking up trillions in state debts that are “submerging us,” pleading for belt-tightening in a last-ditch effort to save his job.

He castigated opponents in the National Assembly who were preparing to topple his minority government, ganging up against him despite their own sharp political differences.

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“You have the power to overthrow the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality,” Bayrou said in a speech to the National Assembly before the confidence vote that he called. “Reality will remain inexorable. Spending will continue to increase and the debt burden — already unbearable — will grow heavier and more costly.”

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