France’s new prime minister faces no-confidence vote

France’s new Prime Minister François Bayrou is set to face a no-confidence vote in the Paris parliament on Thursday afternoon.

If successful, this would mean the collapse of the newly formed centre-right government, established just before Christmas, and it would further weaken French President Emmanuel Macron.

Although it is expected that it will survive the vote, the move highlights the instability of the government, which does not command a majority in the National Assembly.

The vote was requested by the leftist France Unbowed (LFI) party on Tuesday evening, shortly after Bayrou’s first government address.

The Greens have already announced they will vote against the government. The right-wing nationalists indicated that they might not withdraw their support from the government initially.

The Socialists, on whose tacit approval Bayrou might be hoping to rely after he extended an olive branch to them on pension reform in his government address, initially continued to threaten to vote against the government.

In a similar vote in December, the LFI, other parties from the left-wing camp and the right-wing nationalists led by Marine Le Pen brought down the government of Michel Barnier, Bayrou’s predecessor, in the National Assembly during a dispute over an austerity budget. As a result, France does not have a budget yet for 2025.