The French government has collapsed after Prime Minister Michel Barnier was ousted by a vote of no confidence.
Members of Parliament voted overwhelmingly to support a motion against him – just three months after he was elected by President Emmanuel Macron.
Opposition parties launched the proposal after the former Brexit negotiator controversially used special powers to implement his budget without a vote.
This is the first time that the country’s government has fallen on a vote of no confidence since 1962.
His ouster would deepen political instability in France, after snap elections in the summer left no party with a majority in parliament.
MPs had to vote yes or abstain in Wednesday’s vote, with 288 votes needed to pass the motion. A total of 331 voted in favor of the proposal.
Now Barnier has been forced to tender the resignation of his government, and the budget that was the cause of his downfall is now gone.
Both the far left and the left have tabled motions of no confidence after Barnier pushed ahead with social security reforms with a presidential announcement on Monday after failing to garner enough support for the measures.
The left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front (NFP), which won the majority of seats in the parliamentary elections, was highly critical. Macron’s decision to appoint centrist Barnier over its candidate.
On the side National Rally (RN)it had seen Barnier’s budget – which included €60bn (£49bn) in deficit reduction – as unacceptable.
Marine Le Pen, RN leader, said the budget was “poisonous for the French”.
In an interview with the French broadcaster TF1, Le Pen said there is no other solution but to remove Barnier.
Asked about the hopes of the French president, he replied: “I am not asking for the resignation of Emmanuel Macron.”
However, Le Pen added that “if we do not respect the voice of the voters and show respect to the political forces and respect the elections”, then the pressure on the president “will appear stronger and stronger”.
Macron, who returned to France following a state visit to Saudi Arabia, will deliver a televised address to the nation on Thursday evening.
He is not directly affected by the outcome of the vote, as France votes for its president separately from its government.
He has previously said that he will not resign regardless of what happens with Wednesday’s vote.
Before the vote, Barnier had told the National Assembly that voting him out of office would not solve the country’s financial problems.
“We have reached a moment of truth, of responsibility,” he said, adding that “we must look at the facts of our debt”.
“It is not a pleasure that I propose difficult measures.”
Barnier is likely to continue as caretaker while Macron chooses a successor.
But he is expected to act quickly to form a government to avoid the embarrassment of a non-existent government – not least because US President-elect Donald Trump will arrive in Paris this weekend. the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral.
No new parliamentary elections can be held until July, so the stalemate in the Assembly – where no party can hope to have a working majority – will continue.
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