A total of 364 MPs voted against the vote of confidence in the Prime Minister (194 in favour), who had announced at the end of August that he would hold his government responsible for his unpopular budget proposal, which planned 44 billion euros in savings for 2026.

All eyes are now on the head of state, forced to appoint his third Prime Minister since his decision to dissolve the National Assembly in June 2024. The ensuing elections produced three blocs—a left-wing, center-right, and far-right alliance—without a majority, plunging the country into chronic instability.

Emmanuel Macron takes note of the fall of François Bayrou's government, overthrown by the National Assembly, and will appoint a new Prime Minister in the coming days, the Élysée Palace announced in a statement Monday evening.

The head of state will meet Prime Minister François Bayrou tomorrow to accept the resignation of his government, which failed to obtain a vote of confidence after presenting an austerity budget proposal, the presidency confirmed.

After Michel Barnier's short-lived government (99 days), the fate of François Bayrou's government, which took office in December, seemed sealed. For several weeks, opposition parties, from the far right to the far left, had announced that they would vote no.

Bayrou has fallen. Victory and popular relief. Macron is now on the front line facing the people. He too must go.

— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) September 8, 2025

Knowing he was doomed, François Bayrou issued a final cry of alarm on Monday before the National Assembly about the economic situation in France, the EU's second largest economy.

Referring to a truth test, he reiterated that the country's vital prognosis was engaged due to its over-indebtedness, which reached 114% of GDP.

Our country works, believes it is getting richer, and every year it gets poorer. It is a silent, underground, invisible and unbearable hemorrhage, he declared in a speech punctuated by invectives launched by the opposition parties.

LIVE | General policy statement by Prime Minister François Bayrou to the National Assembly. https://t.co/arjH8hI6vc

— Gouvernement (@gouvernementFR) September 8, 2025

You have the power to overthrow the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality, he told them, comparing submission to debt to submission by military force.

A complex political equation

Emmanuel Macron has so far ruled out the possibility of a new dissolution of the National Assembly, which has been loudly demanded by the far right.

Holding new legislative elections is not an option, but an obligation, its leader Marine Le Pen affirmed on Monday. Her party (National Rally) and its allies are credited with 33% of the vote in the first round, ahead of the left and the presidential camp, in the event of early elections.

The Socialist Party, for its part, has repeated in recent days that the left, which came out on top in the last legislative elections, should take the reins of government.

We are ready, let him come and get us, Boris Vallaud, president of the Socialist group in the National Assembly, told Emmanuel Macron on Monday. The Socialists, however, made it clear that they would only accept a left-wing government, without the Macronists.

The head of state should instead try to broaden his central bloc and find a right-wing or centrist personality who can be accepted by the Socialist Party.

🔴🏛️ The National Assembly has just refused its confidence in the Government #Bayrou and its austerity policy.

It is now up to the left, which came out on top in the legislative elections, to govern. We are ready!#AnotherWayIsPossible

— Parti socialiste (@partisocialiste) September 8, 2025

But the task promises to be daunting, as the parties remain entrenched in their positions. Several names are already circulating: Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin, and Minister of the Economy Éric Lombard.

Social movements and economic uncertainties

The current problem in France is that each party has red lines that make forming a coalition completely impossible. There is no majority coalition that can last, Mathieu Gallard of the Ipsos institute told AFP.

In a context of widespread distrust towards Emmanuel Macron, whose popularity rating is at its lowest since he came to power in 2017 (77% dissatisfied according to a recent poll), several deadlines argue for the shortest possible power vacuum.

I am surprised that Mr. Bayrou could have believed for a moment that I could link my decision to vote for confidence or not to my personal interest.

This shows a lack of understanding of the National Rally and ignores the intensity of our exclusive commitment to serving France.

— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) September 8, 2025

A citizens' movement that emerged this summer on social media under the slogan"Block Everything," supported by some unions and the radical left, is calling for the country to be paralyzed on Wednesday. But the true scope of the mobilization—which in some ways resembles that of the Yellow Vests in 2018-2019—remains uncertain.

All trade union organisations have also called for a strike and demonstrations on 18 September.

Finally, on Friday, the Fitch agency is due to publish its new assessment of French debt, with a possible downgrade of the rating in the current context of uncertainty.