François Bayrou ousted as French PM after losing confidence vote

Government collapses after Emmanuel Macron’s ally wins support of just 194 MPs with 364 against

François Bayrou has been ousted in a confidence vote after only nine months as prime minister, collapsing his minority government and plunging France into a political crisis.

Bayrou, 74, will hand his resignation to Emmanuel Macron, his longterm centrist ally, on Tuesday morning. The French president now faces the challenge of appointing his third prime minister in only one year, and the fifth since he began his second term of office in 2022. His office said he would make the decision “in the coming days”.