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Reactions as French prime minister defeated in confidence vote
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 8, 2025
4 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 8, 2025
4 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
French PM François Bayrou lost a confidence vote, leading to his resignation. President Macron must now appoint a new prime minister amid political turmoil.
PARIS (Reuters) -French Prime Minister François Bayrou lost a confidence vote in parliament on Monday and will hand his resignation on Tuesday to President Emmanuel Macron, who is now faced with the task of finding a fifth prime minister in less than two years.
Below are quotes by leading politicians before and after the vote and from the speech Bayrou made in parliament ahead of the vote.
AFTER THE VOTE
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT
"The French president will name a new prime minister in the coming days."
JEAN-LUC MELENCHON, HEAD OF RADICAL LEFT PARTY FRANCE UNBOWED
"Bayrou has fallen. Victory and relief for the people. Macron is now on the front line facing the people. He too must go."
MATHILDE PANOT, PRESIDENT OF THE FRANCE UNBOWED GROUP IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
"We do not want yet another prime minister who would continue the same policies, and the question facing the country is whether to remove a president who refuses to respect the sovereignty of the people."
BORIS VALLAUD, PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
"We propose a different political path from that of Emmanuel Macron, which has led us to this impasse, and we also propose another way forward: to trust Parliament in its ability to build majorities on a bill-by-bill basis, based on the proposals that would be ours if we were called upon to form a government."
SEBASTIEN CHENU, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE FAR-RIGHT NATIONAL RALLY AND LAWMAKER
"Dissolving the National Assembly is Emmanuel Macron's chance to break the deadlock and return to the people. There is no shame in this, in fact, it is a magnanimous gesture, asking the French people once again to choose a majority. The French will undoubtedly choose a majority because they have witnessed the spectacle of a National Assembly without a majority.
"The National Rally is a guarantee of stability in these troubled times. We are ready to send Jordan Bardella to the National Assembly with a majority. We are ready to send him to (the prime minister's residence) Matignon to change policy."
BEFORE THE VOTE
FRANÇOIS BAYROU, PRIME MINISTER
"Members of Parliament, you have the power to overturn the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality.
"The vital question, the life-or-death question, where our very survival is at stake... is the question of controlling our spending, it's the question of over-indebtedness."
"Since 2000, we have become a country that produces less than others, less than our neighbours. Our production gap with our closest neighbours, Germany and Belgium, measured by GDP per capita, is 15%, and, with the Netherlands, it is over 30%."
"Our country has an urgent need for lucidity, it has the most urgent need for unity. But it is division that threatens to prevail, that threatens its image and reputation."
"These nine months (in office) have been for the prime minister months of 'profound happiness'."
MARINE LE PEN, PRESIDENT OF THE FAR-RIGHT NATIONAL RALLY GROUP IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
"This is a moment of truth. At a time when those in charge are forced to reveal the disastrous results of five decades of wasteful management. The pitiful spectacle of a collapse for the country, a disaster for the French people today ... the consequences will affect future generations for the nation.
"The legislative branch is paralysed by a lack of a majority. The country is experiencing a latent social crisis that could erupt at any moment. It is in a tight spot, facing a financial crisis, all against an unstable international backdrop and with a war on Europe's doorstep. This situation should be enough to dissolve it.
"If the National Assembly is dissolved, we will accept the verdict of the ballot box. If the people honour us with a clear mandate, that is to say an absolute majority, we will go to the Matignon to implement a programme of national recovery without delay after the presidential election."
LAURENT WAUQUIEZ, PRESIDENT OF THE CONSERVATIVE LES REPUBLICAINS PARTY IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
"I think the French just have two demands. The first ... real savings and not disguised tax increases. And the second is that it shouldn't always be the same people who pay, not always the France that works.
"If you had listened to that France that works, you would have the unanimous support of the Republican Right lawmakers ... but I never ask the MPs, the members of my group, to vote against their conscience."
(Reporting by Mathias de Rozario and Benoit Van Overstraenten, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Rosalba O'Brien)
French Prime Minister François Bayrou lost the confidence vote in parliament and will resign.
President Emmanuel Macron will name a new prime minister in the coming days.
Bayrou highlighted the urgent need for controlling spending and addressing over-indebtedness in France.
The vote places Macron on the front line, facing the people, and raises questions about his presidency and policies.
Opposition leaders expressed relief and called for a new political path, criticizing Macron's leadership and policies.
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