No French president has had as many prime ministers as Emmanuel Macron, who has appointed six in just over eight years, four of them since the start of his second presidential term in May 2022. Now the seventh could be coming, after the centrist Francois Bayrou, who had led his minority government since December 13 last year, fell.

On September 8, the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, rejected the draft budget for next year, presented in July, by 65 percent of the votes cast, which the prime minister had submitted to a vote of confidence in an extraordinary session before the detailed debate. By rushing ahead, Bayrou was widely believed to have wanted to obtain a blank check for the inevitable austerity measures, but this did not work. Accordingly, he submitted his resignation the next day, and Macron had to decide how to keep the state machinery running at least at a minimum speed.

Another early election was also among the options, after the mandatory one-year waiting period had expired after the run-off vote unexpectedly called by Macron in July last year, which resulted in a dysfunctional line-up. However, the presidential office announced on the evening of Monday's vote that the president would name a successor to Bayrou, who officially submitted his resignation on Tuesday, within a few days, meaning that the dissolution of the National Assembly would not be possible for the time being. The extraordinary nature of the situation is reflected in the fact that solutions that have been unthinkable in France to this day have been discussed, such as a government of experts or, God forbid, a broad coalition that rises above party interests. The latter would require the Socialist Party (PS), which strengthened the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition in last year's election, to join the centrist and center-right forces supporting Macron - PS faction leader Boris Vallaud showed a willingness to do so in his speech before the vote of confidence.