French Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s minority government has lost a no-confidence vote in parliament, becoming the first administration to be ousted in such a manner since 1962 and marking the shortest-lived government of the Fifth Republic.
A total of 331 MPs backed the motion tabled by the leftist NFP alliance and unexpectedly supported by Marine Le Pen’s far-right bloc, surpassing the 288 votes required to bring down the government.
Barnier, a veteran conservative who has served as prime minister for barely three months, must now submit his resignation, along with that of his government, to President Emmanuel Macron.
Barnier’s swift removal follows snap parliamentary elections this summer, which resulted in a hung parliament. With no party commanding a majority, the far-right’s votes became crucial for the government’s survival.
President Emmanuel Macron now faces the daunting task of appointing a new prime minister with over two years remaining in his term.
The National Assembly debated the motion amid a standoff over next year’s austerity budget. Tensions flared after Barnier bypassed a parliamentary vote on a social security financing bill earlier this week.
The no-confidence vote marks the first successful attempt to unseat a government since Georges Pompidou’s administration fell in 1962 under President Charles de Gaulle.
Barnier’s government also holds the record for the shortest tenure in the Fifth Republic, which was established in 1958.
Macron returned to Paris from a three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia just ahead of the decisive vote, shifting his focus from international diplomacy to managing the escalating domestic crisis.
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