French government collapses as Prime Minister Michel Barnier loses no confidence vote
4 December 2024, 19:30 | Updated: 4 December 2024, 19:59
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier has lost a no confidence vote.
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MPs from both the left and the right wing voted to say they had no confidence in Mr Barnier.
The Prime Minister, who was only appointed 90 days ago by Emmanuel Macron, must now resign under the terms of the French constitution.
The National Assembly voted 331 out of 574 in support of the no-confidence motion.
At least 288 votes were needed for the motion of no confidence to pass.
Read more: French government on the brink of collapse as PM Barnier faces no-confidence vote
MPs were not able to abstain from the vote - they could only vote for or against.
This is the first time since 1962 that a French government has been toppled in this way.
The French political crisis was sparked by a budget that Mr Barnier pushed through without parliamentary backing, using special powers.
He did this because he knew that the budget would not get the support of either left-wing or right-wing deputies.
Mr Barnier's appointment came after a tightly-contested election in which no party won enough seats to govern on its own.
President Emmanuel Macron appointed Mr Barnier in September to break the deadlock and tackle the country's ballooning deficit.
However, his austerity budget- featuring 40 billion euros in cuts and 20 billion euros in tax hikes - has been widely criticised, escalating tensions in the lower house.
He needed support from the left-wing NFP or the right-wing National Rally to get legislation through - but he did not have this.
Speaking ahead of the vote, Marine Le Pen of the National Rally said:
"The French have had enough.
"Maybe they thought with Michel Barnier things would get better, but they were even worse."
Mathilde Panot, of the left-wing France Unbowed party, added: "Faced with this umpteenth denial of democracy, we will censure the government...
"We are living in political chaos because of Michel Barnier's government and Emmanuel Macron's presidency."
