French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou and his centrist minority government were ousted in a confidence vote in France’s National Assembly on Monday. Bayrou was widely expected to lose the motion — that he had called himself — after failing to win support from political rivals on both the right and left for 2026 budget plans aimed at reducing the country’s yawning budget deficit.
Losing the confidence vote means President Emmanuel Macron will now have to appoint a replacement who will be France’s fifth prime minister in less than two years. Macron is seen as likely to choose another centrist ally to lead a minority government.
Political and economic upheaval has dominated Europe’s third-largest economy after inconclusive snap parliamentary elections last year saw parties on both the left and right win consecutive rounds of polling. Angered by being overlooked by Macron, political parties on both sides have threatened to overthrow his chosen minority administrations who have proposed spending cuts and some tax rises in order to reign in a budget deficit of 5.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024. (Read More)
