French PM Bayrou will seek vote of confidence on September 8

France's embattled Prime Minister François Bayrou said on Monday, August 25, that his government would request a vote of confidence on September 8, seeking parliamentary backing for his battle against soaring public debt. Far-right Rassemblement National (RN) leader Jordan Bardella immediately said his party would not back Bayrou's planned cuts, suggesting the minority government could face defeat in the vote.

Bayrou told a news conference the Assemblée Nationale would be asked to "confirm the scale" of spending reductions, as the government seeks to save around €44 billion a year.

"I have asked the president, who has agreed, to convene an extraordinary session of parliament on Monday, September 8," Bayrou told reporters. Bayrou does not have a majority in parliament's lower house, the Assemblée Nationale, and the upcoming vote underscores the fragility of his position. Bayrou said France was going through a "decisive moment."

"If you have a majority, the government is confirmed. If you do not have a majority, the government falls," Bayrou added.

The center-left Socialist Party, the radical-left La France Insoumise (LFI) and Marine Le Pen's far-right RN said they would use the vote to try to oust the centrist government.

"We will obviously vote against confidence in François Bayrou's government," Le Pen said in a social media post. "Only dissolution [of the Assemblée] will now allow the French people to choose their destiny."

Green leader Marine Tondelier said Bayrou's announcement was "in fact a resignation."

"The Ecologists do not have confidence in this prime minister, who is pursuing a project that is irresponsible both socially and environmentally," she wrote on social media. "We will vote against it."

In mid-July, Bayrou presented 2026 budget proposals, saying he wanted to reduce the number of public holidays in France as part of a bid to tackle what he called the "curse" of the country's debt. After years of overspending, France is on notice to control its public deficit and cut its sprawling debt, as required under EU rules.