French politics is in disarray this morning after a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister François Bayrou at the National Assembly.

As a result of the vote - by an overwhelming majority of 364 to 194 - Bayrou will today present his government's resignation to President Emmanuel Macron, the BBC reports.

Macron has said a decision on how to replace him would be made "in the coming days".

In a budget for 2026, Bayrou had proposed axing two national holidays and freezing welfare and pension payments in a bid to start tackling £2.9trillion of debt.

But the prime minister saw both the left and hard-right find common ground in uniting against him in the vote of no confidence.

Macron is now left with options including appointing a new prime minister himself, either from the centre-right or Socialist Party-compatible left, or dissolving parliament for new elections to be held.

More like this…

View all