Cachella Smith
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has survived two no-confidence votes after separate motions were lodged against him amid continued political turmoil in the country.

Each vote would have needed to secure 289 votes in favour in order to be passed.

The first, which followed a motion filed by the far-left party La France Insoumise, failed by a narrower margin than expected of just 18 votes.

The second, however, was never expected to succeed - with MPs considered unlikely to position themselves voting alongside Marine Le Pen's far right party.

Lecornu has survived today but his predecessors were not so lucky. Just last month, François Bayrou was ousted when he called a vote of no-confidence in himself, and before that, Michel Barnier resigned after losing a no-confidence vote in December 2024.

And Lecornu himself has his work cut out for him moving forward with a lot to achieve, not least the 2026 budget, alongside a fragmented National Assembly in which his party does not have a majority.

Our Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield writes that he will be fighting for survival - with the Socialists persuaded not to join today's censure only after Lecornu put forward suspending controversial pension reforms.

While it said it would support the government today, the party wants to overturn large parts of the prime minister's budget meaning securing a majority on that front could prove more difficult.

We're ending our live coverage but for more on the suspended pension reforms you can have a look at our previous article.

Pierre-Antoine Denis
Reporter

Image source, Reuters

Quite a symbol and unusual sight, the prime minister is seen walking back to his office.

But it's not a relaxing 15-minute walk for Lecornu as, he's closely followed by many cameras, all broadcasting live his promenade towards the Hotel de Matignon.

He tells reporters following him he is now relieved, and "back to work", before adding: "The debates on the budget and other challenges needed to be able to start, and they will start now."

Pierre-Antoine Denis
Reporter

Following the failed confidence vote, National Assembly president Yaël Braun-Pivet, a Macron loyalist, says it's “important for France to have government stability".

“We’ll be looking for that balance in the months ahead. The game is far from over,” she says.

She adds she remains “reasonably optimistic” about the quality of the upcoming parliamentary debate on the budget.

Meanwhile, far-right National Rally leader and Marine Le Pen's number two, Jordan Bardella, slams the rejection of the first motion, which fell short by just 18 votes.

He accuses MPs who voted against it of being “responsible for the suffering to come”, writing on X that “a bargaining majority managed to save their seats today = at the expense of the national interest".

His own party's motion, which came shortly after the first, also failed.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, AFP

There's no doubt Lecornu owes his survival to the concessions he made to the Socialists. In the end, the promised rebellion by some Socialist MPs and others just wasn't enough to threaten the centrist prime minister's position.

Mathilde Panot of the radical-left France Unbowed (La France Insoumise) can't disguise her disgust with the Socialists' decision to side with the government today.

Her first thought, she said, was with those who would suffer from the "cruel politics" of a government budget cutting billions of euros from social security. She accused the Socialists of breaking the leftist alliance with the Communists and Greens.

She told reporters her party would now put forward a motion of impeachment against the president, but that has no chance of success.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

As expected, the second no-confidence motion fell well short of the numbers it needed - 145 votes short.

We can now tell you who backed the radical-left vote of no confidence - in particular, which rebels chose to go against their party whip. Just to remind you, 289 votes were needed and the motion sponsored by the radical left secured 271.

Seven Socialists and one solitary Republican called Alexandra Martin voted to bring down Lecornu, along with the radical-left parties and the far-right. Two independents and one MP from Guadeloupe also supported the motion.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has survived the second and final vote of no confidence this morning.

The motion was backed by 144 MPs but it needed 289 votes to pass.

As a reminder, this vote took place after a motion was passed by Marine Le Pen's party - however it was always unlikely to succeed as most French MPs do not want to be seen voting along the lines of the far-right.

Image source, Reuters

The suspense is over, but Lecornu will be fighting for survivalpublished at 11:03 BST 16 October

11:03 BST 16 October

Hugh Schofield
Paris Correspondent

As we've reported, the vote on the censure motion, tabled by the far-left France Unbowed (La France Insoumise), has failed by 18 votes. This means that the suspense is over.

The second censure motion, tabled by the far-right, has no chance of being successful because left-wing opponents of Sébastien Lecornu will not support it. On the other hand, the far-right did support the far-left’s motion, arguing that ends justified the means. That is why the first motion was the only one that counted.

So Lecornu lives to fight another day. And fighting for survival is what he will be doing. The manoeuvre to suspend President Macron’s pension reform was a tactical victory, because the Socialists were persuaded not to join the censure.

But while agreeing not to bring down the government, the Socialists also said they would fight tooth and nail to overturn large parts of the Lecornu budget, which will now start its passage through parliament.

The next few weeks will see plenty more challenges for this feeblest of governments.

Image source, EPA

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

In the end, the vote fell 18 votes short.

It was close but not enough to bring down Sébastien Lecornu, who earlier told MPs this is a “moment of truth”.

There will now be a second censure motion but nobody expects it to get through, because it’s sponsored by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and for many MPs on the left, the idea of siding with the far right is considered toxic.

So Lecornu has survived. But he has no majority in parliament and can’t take his position for granted.

The Socialists may not be in government but they have, in effect, been bought off with two big concessions - on pension reform and a promise not to push through other changes without a vote.

Lecornu knows they won’t support him on everything and the Socialists insist this is not a pact. After the result of the second vote is confirmed, the next challenge is for the government to pass a budget.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has survived the first no-confidence vote in France's National Assembly.

The no-confidence vote would've needed to win the support of 289 of the 577 MPs in parliament to bring down the PM and his government - but it fell short at 271 votes.

Another vote is yet to take place after a motion was also lodged by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally but this one is set not to succeed as left-wing French MPs don’t want to be seen voting with the far right.

Pierre-Antoine Denis
Reporter

Amidst the political chaos, it does showcase one reality in France right now: the opinion is just as divided as its parliament.

Two new surveys paint very different pictures of how the French feel about their government. A BFMTV poll shows 56% oppose any no-confidence vote, suggesting a desire for stability - with 58% arguing it is good news the pension reform is suspended until the next presidential election.

But a poll conducted by conservative paper Le Figaro finds 62% disapprove of Sébastien Lecornu’s reappointment as prime minister. The poll suggests his government doesn’t represent the change they hoped for.

The contrast shows a mixed mood: while there's desire to avoid fresh political turmoil, confidence in the new leadership remains low and divided. Reading the public mind in France right now? Even the pollsters find it tricky it seems.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

In some parliaments in Europe, if you have a vote you just press a button and the result can be pretty fast.

In a no-confidence vote in France's National Assembly, only MPs who back the motion against the prime minister will vote, so it won't take as long as a full parliamentary vote. And that's why quite a few MPs didn't bother to show up to today's session as they were never going to vote.

But those who are trying to bring down Lecornu still have to file into adjacent rooms to cast their ballots.

Then the result will be read out by the speaker of the assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, and we'll find out if the censure motion secures the 289 votes it needs to succeed.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

The core of the Lecornu government is made up of a three-party centrist bloc - Macron's Ensemble party, MoDem and Horizons - and not all their MPs are happy that the hard-fought pension reform they pushed through in 2023 has been sacrificed in a bid to stay in power.

Paul Christophe of Horizons has captured the mood in parliament, by describing the decision as "disconnected from any demographic and financial reality". With an ageing population, France somehow has to rebalance its budget deficit, and it's difficult to do that if it doesn't put up the retirement age.

But Christophe has made clear he and his party colleagues have decided to vote for "stability", condemning the two no-confidence motions as "deadly and irresponsible".

It's worth remembering that his party leader Édouard Philippe said only last week that Emmanuel Macron should call presidential elections and leave his posted in an "orderly and dignified manner".

We won't know the result for a while but this is the no-confidence motion, proposed by the radical left, that has the greatest chance of success.

It is expected to take up to half an hour.

French MPs are now voting on the first no-confidence motion in Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu by the radical left.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

A reminder that to bring down the prime minister and his new government, today's so-called "censure" votes of no confidence need to win the support of 289 of the 577 MPs in parliament.

The conservative Republicans are broadly expected to back Lecornu, even though they don't like his decision to suspend Macron's pension reform to win the backing of the Socialists.

Right-wing MP Eric Ciotti has posted a picture of largely empty Republican benches in parliament, pointing out their lack of "courage". The Republicans only have 50 seats - but if even a small number of them vote against the government it could swing the result.

Image source, Eric Ciotti/X

The Socialists have 69 seats and Lecornu needs their votes to survive. Because of his decision to suspend the increase in retirement age, he's expected to win the backing of most of them. But several Socialists have said they will back the radical-left motion of no confidence - it all depends how many.

Socialist MP Laurent Baumel told Lecornu in parliament that just because the party was backing him today, that didn't mean they would in the future.

"Mr Prime Minister, you need to know our no-vote today isn't in any way a non-censure pact," he warned him. He went on to praise Lecornu's "real concession" on suspending the pension reform.

Pension reforms that were passed in 2023 have been one of the crunch points for the French parliament.

The changes raised the retirement age from 62 to 64, and were seen as signature reforms in Emmanuel Macron's presidency.

Proposals for the move had sparked months of political debate and strikes before then-Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne invoked article 49:3 of the constitution which allowed the government to avoid a vote in the Assembly.

The decision was taken minutes before MPs were scheduled to vote on the controversial bill, because there was no guarantee of winning a majority.

Protests subsequently erupted in Paris and other French cities (we've shared a clip from that time below).

The reforms remain a pertinent issue today. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told MPs he backed suspending the reforms until the 2027 presidential election.

It came as the Socialist Party said it would be prepared to back the government in today's votes if it promises a complete suspension of the pension changes.

Lecornu said suspending the pension reform would cost €400m (£350m) in 2026 and a further €1.8bn (£1.57bn) in 2027 - which would have to be "compensated by other savings".

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, Reuters

The debate has been going for about an hour and it’s already been quite rowdy.

Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally has set the tone by telling MPs that this could be the moment that hands back to the French people the chance for new elections.

“This isn’t a political crisis, it’s a crisis of politicians, a crisis of tired old parties whose only project is to prevent National Rally from coming to power,” she said.

Le Pen's no confidence motion in Lecornu is expected to fail - it's the radical-left motion that has the best chance of bringing him down.

Sébastien Lecornu immediately responded, telling MPs from the despatch box that they are facing a "moment of truth" between order and disorder. The French people have twice given their view on Le Pen in presidential elections, in 2017 and 2022, he points out, and they’ve twice turned her down.

“You didn’t get an absolute majority - nobody won an absolute majority,” he said, pointing to snap parliamentary elections called by Macron last summer. That's the vote that has left France in the bind that it currently is - a hung parliament with three strong political blocs.

Image source, EPA

Lecornu is France's prime minister - the head of government and the country's second most powerful politician after the president, Emmanuel Macron.

A loyal ally of Macron, Lecornu was first appointed to the job in September, shortly after his predecessor was ousted by a vote in the parliament.

The 39-year-old spent the past three years as armed forces minister focusing on France's response to Russia's war in Ukraine.

However, political gridlock turned to turmoil last week when he resigned after just 26 days in office, and hours after he named his new government.

Four days later Macron reappointed Lecornu as prime minister - a move widely seen as a last-ditch attempt by the president to exercise control over the National Assembly.

In a TV appearance, Lecornu described himself as a "soldier-monk" and said he "will do everything to succeed in this mission".

Today, he faces his own vote of confidence in the parliament that will determine his political future.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, Reuters

The debate has begun and for France’s new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, this really is a moment of truth.

He’s already resigned once, 14 hours after he picked his first government and one of his ministers objected, and then last Friday, President Emmanuel Macron convinced his close ally and friend to have another go.

Lecornu’s first and most important task is to get France’s 2026 budget past parliament. He and Macron have crunched the numbers in the National Assembly and they realised the only chance they have is to get one of the centre-left parties on board, the Socialists.

Lecornu told MPs two days ago that he would suspend one of Macron’s signature reforms - the rise in the retirement age from 62 to 64. For the Socialists, or most of them, it was enough to win their support, even if it’s angered quite a few of Macron’s own allies as well as a number of MPs on the centre right.

Will he survive now? It’s tight but the thinking is it might just be enough.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

There will be two confidence votes in France’s new prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, in the National Assembly - but only one has a chance of success.

One motion lodged by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally will fail because most French MPs don’t want to be seen voting with the far right.

But the other vote will be far tighter.

That’s a motion proposed by the radical-left France Unbowed party (La France Insoumise or LFI in French) which several opposition parties, including Le Pen’s party will line up behind.

If it’s to succeed in bringing down Lecornu’s fledgling government it will need to attract 289 votes to win a simple majority.

So it’s all about numbers and most estimates give the anti-Lecornu camp up to 282 votes, but nothing is really certain until the votes are counted.

LFI, the Communists, Greens and National Rally and its allies add up to 265. But then there are several MPs from other parties that will join them - from the Socialists, Liot, the Independents and maybe some conservative Republicans too.

It’s really too tight for Lecornu to be sure of survival until the votes are in.