France’s Prime Minister Michel Barnier ousted by no-confidence vote
He will remain in place as a caretaker prime minister until President Macron announces a new government
The vote makes Barnier the shortest-lived prime minister in France’s Fifth Republic
Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock
France’s Prime Minister Michel Barnier has been ousted tonight by a no-confidence vote from MPs.
The motion was brought by the left-wing parties in the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) coalition. It passed due to support from the far-right Rassemblement National despite both disagreeing on almost all budget policies.
We have translated the wording of the motion, which explains the NFP’s motives, here.
The vote, which took around 45 minutes to come, was 331 for the motion.
It was brought following the use of the controversial mechanism Article 49.3 by Mr Barnier to force through parts of the 2025 French budget having failed to receive support from MPs. Use of this article opens up the chance for MPs to place a motion of no-confidence.
Mr Barnier had held the post for just three months after being appointed to run the government by President Emmanuel Macron.
It makes him the shortest-lived prime minister in France’s Fifth Republic.
Mr Barnier, 73, will remain in place as caretaker prime minister until Mr Macron announces a new government. Sources close to the president are reported to say this will happen very quickly.
Read our article here for more on what happens next.
"We have arrived at the moment of truth," said Rassemblement National (RN) leader Marine Le Pen who called Mr Barnier’s austerity budget plans "dangerous and unfair" saying they meant "chaos" for France. She particularly criticised the freezing of pensions for .
The RN brought its own motion but it failed to gain enough votes in the divided parliament.
France has been beset by political uncertainty since snap parliamentary elections in June and July that were called unexpectedly by President Macron and which resulted in no single group having a majority.
While a left-wing alliance won most seats (but not an absolute majority), Mr Macron appointed the conservative Mr Barnier in a bid to reinstate stability - but his government has been consistently undermined because of its lack of majority.
Mr Barnier was appointed after July’s legislative elections, with MPs from the left (under the NFP), centre and right (Macron’s party, his allies, and Les Républicains) and the far-right (under the RN) occupying roughly a third of the chamber each.
