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In a dramatic political shift, French lawmakers voted on Wednesday to oust Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government after just three months in office, deepening the country's ongoing political crisis.
For the first time in over 60 years, the French National Assembly approved a no-confidence motion against the incumbent government. The motion, originally proposed by the hard left, gained crucial support from the far-right, led by Marine Le Pen, highlighting the deep divisions within the French political landscape.
Barnier’s rapid removal follows a summer of snap parliamentary elections that left France with a hung parliament, where the far-right now holds the key to the government’s survival.
The motion was sparked by a standoff over next year’s austerity budget, after Barnier pushed through a controversial social security financing bill without a vote earlier this week.
With the far-right’s support, 331 of the 577 National Assembly members voted to oust the government.
This photograph shows the result of the no-confidence vote on Prime Minister Michel Barnier's administration displayed on a screen at the National Assembly in Paris on December 4, 2024 after French MPs voted to oust the government after just three months in office in a move which deepens a political crisis in the country. - The French National Assembly was voting two motions brought by the French left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire (New Popular Front) NFP coalition and the French far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally) RN party in a standoff over 2025's austerity budget, which saw French Prime Minister force through a social security financing bill without a vote (article 49.3) on December 2, 2024. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)" alt="French lawmakers oust PM Barnier's government in historic no-confidence vote">
This photograph shows the result of the no-confidence vote on Prime Minister Michel Barnier's administration displayed on a screen at the National Assembly in Paris on December 4, 2024 after French MPs voted to oust the government after just three months in office in a move which deepens a political crisis in the country. - The French National Assembly was voting two motions brought by the French left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire (New Popular Front) NFP coalition and the French far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally) RN party in a standoff over 2025's austerity budget, which saw French Prime Minister force through a social security financing bill without a vote (article 49.3) on December 2, 2024. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)
Speaker Yael Braun-Pivet confirmed Barnier would need to submit his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron, returning from a state visit to Saudi Arabia, now faces the difficult task of selecting a viable successor with over two years left in his term. The defeat has fueled speculation about Macron’s future, with some calling for his resignation, which he rejected as "political fiction."
The political crisis has intensified as France braces for public-sector strikes over the proposed cost-cutting measures. Macron is also set to host an international event this weekend, marking the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral after the 2019 fire.
The no-confidence vote is the first since 1962 and marks the shortest government tenure since the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1958.
France's hard left on Wednesday urged President Emmanuel Macron to resign and hold early presidential elections after lawmakers voted to oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
"We are now calling on Macron to go," Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party told reporters, urging "early presidential elections" to solve a deepening political crisis.
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