Embattled French prime minister survives two no-confidence motions in one day

The French prime minister Sebastien Lecornu has survived two no confidence votes, avoiding another government collapse and giving president Emmanuel Macron some respite before a bigger battle over the national budget.

French politicians in the 577-seat National Assembly rejected a no confidence motion filed by the hard-left France Unbowed party. The 271 votes were 18 short of the 289 needed to bring down the government. A second motion from the far-right National Rally also failed.

Thursday’s votes highlighted the continuing political uncertainty driven by a deeply fragmented National Assembly.

Macron has been weathering the blame for France’s political crisis, after he called a surprise snap election last year that resulted in a deadlocked parliament, where no single party secured a clear majority, leaving the far-right in a pivotal position to influence the government's stability.

Lecornu, a 39-year-old centrist and close ally of Macron, had resigned and then re-appointed in the space of a week. He is France's fifth prime minister in less than two years, having been appointed after his predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was ousted in a confidence vote last month.

Earlier this week, Lecornu pledged to suspend the rollout of Macron’s flagship 2023 pension reform, which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64. It was enough to secure crucial support from the Socialist Party, but opponents on the hard-left and far-right warned the government’s win on Thursday was a temporary reprieve.

"The Lecornu government is on borrowed time. The battle over the budget begins," said Eric Coquerel, chair of the French parliament's powerful finance committee.

Lecornu now faces weeks of negotiations in parliament over passing a slimmed-down 2026 budget. Parliamentary debate on the budget, which must conclude before the end of the year, begins on Monday.

Yael Braun-Pivet, the president of the National Assembly and an ally of Macron, said Thursday's votes showed there was a majority in parliament for securing a budget.

"The French need to know that we are doing all this work... to give them a budget, because it is fundamental for the future of our country," she said.

France’s ongoing political crisis descended into farce last week after Lecornu unexpectedly announced his resignation on Monday, only to be reappointed by Friday.

Lecornu threw in the towel less than four weeks after taking office and just 14 hours after he unveiled his minority government.

But within days he was back in the job, reappointed by President Macron and tasked with forming a new cabinet and putting forward a budget.

The political deadlock stems from Macron’s shock decision in June 2024 to dissolve the National Assembly. The snap elections produced a hung parliament, with no bloc able to command a majority in the 577-seat chamber.

The gridlock has unnerved investors, infuriated voters, and stalled efforts to curb France’s spiralling deficit and public debt.

Without stable support, Macron’s governments have stumbled from one crisis to the next, collapsing as they sought backing for unpopular spending cuts.