The French Government Just Collapsed, but What Does That Actually Mean?

The United States definitely has its fair share of political problems, but one thing that Americans never have to worry about is the collapse of government, at least in a formal sense. In many parliamentary systems, a government can collapse at any time if the members of parliament not longer have confidence in the leadership.

That exact situation just played out in France, where the parliamentary government collapsed on Sept. 8. Now, many want to know what that means and how it might implicate the future of French politics. Here's what we know.

The French government collapsed because members of parliament voted to oust Prime Minister François Bayrou. When a prime minister is ousted, there is no longer a government coalition in the majority. Because France's parliament features members from many different parties, those parties must unite to form a coalition capable of electing leadership and running the country. Now, that governing coalition has collapsed.

Bayrou will now be forced to step down after just nine months in office, following in the footsteps of the previous prime minister, who also lost a no-confidence vote in late 2024. Bayrou called the vote himself in a last-ditch effort to gain backing from parliament to tackle public debt, according to The Guardian.

French President Emmanuel Macron will name a new prime minister in the coming days, according to CNN, but following the failure of three centrist prime ministers, he doesn't have many options that both parties are likely to agree on.

“You have the power to bring down the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality,” Bayrou told lawmakers on Sept. 8 ahead of the vote. “Reality will remain relentless: expenses will continue to rise, and the burden of debt, already unbearable, will grow heavier and more costly.”

The collapse of this government came after Macron called a snap election in 2024 in which his party lost seats to both the far left and far right, leaving the government more fractured.

Given that Macron has now tried and failed to install three different centrist prime ministers, it seems like a fourth would also be doomed to almost certain failure. Both the right and the left have signaled that installing another centrist would lead to an immediate vote of no confidence. In theory, it's possible to appoint a prime minister from another party, but the right would block the left, and vice versa.

The news of the government's collapse is only likely to further embolden Marine Le Pen and the National Rally party, which many assume will emerge victorious during the next presidential election in 2027, and is currently leading in the polls. France, which is currently dealing with a fiscal crisis, will likely need years to resolve these issues regardless of who is in power.

For now, though, it's fair to say that things are messy in France, although the government hasn't collapsed permanently just yet. Even so, those in power are scrambling to keep their footholds.