Why did Prime Minister François Bayrou lose the confidence vote on September 8, 2025, over his proposed €44 billion austerity package?

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Bayrou gambled by tying his 2026 budget to a confidence vote on September 8, 2025, seeking backing for a €44 billion deficit-reduction plan that would scrap two public holidays (Easter Monday and May 8), freeze automatic indexation of pensions and social benefits for 2026, and cut tens of billions from state spending while imposing only a modest "solidarity contribution" on high earners ). The far-right National Rally, Greens and Socialist Party had already vowed to oppose him, and ultimately both left-wing and far-right deputies—organized by France Insoumise and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally—united to defeat his motion 364–194 (15 abstentions), marking the first time in the Fifth Republic a prime minister lost a self-imposed confidence vote ).

Why did Prime Minister François Bayrou lose the confidence vote on September 8, 2025, over his proposed €44 billion austerity package?

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