France's Parliament Has Sent The Government Into Resignation

Bairu's cabinet lasted less than a year, failing to agree on a budget.

On September 8, the French National Assembly (the lower house of parliament) passed a vote of no confidence in the government of Francois Bayrou. A total of 364 MPs voted in favor of the cabinet's resignation, Le Monde reports. The vote of no confidence required the support of at least 288 out of 577 MPs.

The procedure was initiated by the prime minister himself in order to win support amid a protracted crisis caused by disagreements over the draft budget for 2026. In the face of mounting public debt, Bayrou's cabinet proposed to freeze both tax rates and social benefits and pensions at current levels in 2026. Both the left-wing New National Front (NFP) bloc of parties and the far-right National Rally (RN) party expressed opposition to the plan.

Bayrou consulted with all political forces in the country ahead of the vote, but failed to win the support of both parties from the left-wing NFP bloc and the far-right RN. In this way, Bayrou repeated the fate of his predecessor as prime minister, Michel Barnier, who also proposed significant spending cuts when agreeing on the 2025 budget. This initiative eventually led to the resignation of the government: in December, the NFP initiated a vote of no confidence in the government, which was supported by RN MPs.

"You have the power to overthrow the government, but you don't have the power to turn your back on reality. Spending will continue to rise and the burden of debt, already unbearable, will become heavier and more expensive!" - Bayrou said, addressing the opposition during a speech on Sept. 8.

The head of the Socialist faction in the National Assembly, Boris Vallot, said the government must now be led by the left. "The turn has come for the leftists," the politician said. RN faction leader Marine Le Pen also expressed the far-right's willingness to take power, saying the dissolution of parliament was "not a whim but a necessity."

After Bayrou's cabinet lost the support of parliament, he will be forced to resign. Macron will determine the further development of events: he can both appoint a new head of government and again announce early elections in the country. At the same time, representatives of the leftist forces have already said that this time they will not enter into a deal with pro-Macron forces, as it was during the second round in 2024. To pull votes away from the far-right RN, they chose the tactic of the so-called Republican Front - it implied the refusal of the NFP to nominate its candidate in those constituencies where the candidate of the presidential alliance has a better chance, and vice versa.

According to the current poll published by Le Figaro, Macron's rating has fallen to its lowest since 2017 - 15%. Bayre is trusted by 14% of French people, while the leader of the far-right RN, Jordaan Bardella, who led the rating with more than 30% support, has added significantly over the past month.

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