MARSEILLE, France (CN) — On Wednesday, France’s fragile government collapsed as its political extremes united in a no-confidence vote.
Marine Le Pen, the figurehead of the extreme-right National Rally, joined the leftwing New Popular Front in a motion of censure that brought down the country’s three-month-old government for the first time since 1962.
Throughout the evening, members of Parliament gathered in the National Assembly to deliver a string of speeches criticizing Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s cabinet, legitimacy in his role and, most importantly, his budget. Politicians cheered and booed as Barnier quietly looked on and took notes.
The 2025 budget, which the prime minister decided to ram through without a vote, was the final nail in the coffin for the freshly formed government.
Le Pen refused to accept clauses that would raise taxes on individual households.
When she arrived at the podium, she said “We are at the moment of truth … . We are witnessing the end of a short-lived government.”
“This budget is taking the French people hostage, particularly the most vulnerable … . They are all asking themselves a single question: Where is the money going? More and more taxes, and yet less and less public services and social protection,” she continued. “We proposed a counter-budget, you refused until the end to retain some of the measures, you only provided one answer: Taxes, always taxes.”
Since Barnier came into the role in September, the left has issued various motions of censure, vowing to bring down the largely right-wing government. But they didn’t have the numbers to succeed: A no-confidence vote requires 288 seats, and the New Popular Front holds just 192.
By rallying her party’s 140 members to join the left in a no-confidence motion, Le Pen had the power to topple the government in a matter of days.
Although Barnier made numerous concessions to appease her National Rally — prompting critics to joke that Le Pen was the real prime minister of France — they ultimately weren’t enough.
“Sixty billion in interest — that’s what we’re going to have to pay every year if we don’t do anything,” Barnier told members of Parliament on Wednesday night. “This reality won’t disappear with the magic of a motion of censure.”
Èric Coquerel, a deputy from the hard-left France Unbowed, took the stand first at about 5 p.m. in the National Assembly, criticizing the president.
“This motion will bring down your government because you have never been able to thwart the curse that was passed on to you by the person truly responsible for this situation, Emmanuel Macron,” Coquerel said. “This situation is illegitimacy.”
Clik here to view.

Gabriel Attal, the prime minister before Barnier, spoke on behalf of Macron’s centrist Ensemble group. Attal made no secret of his discontent with the president’s initial decision to dissolve the government in June.
“French politics are sick,” he said. “What the French are asking for is less noise and more action.”
Although Le Pen helped deal the final blow, many will assign blame to Macron, who has been widely criticized for sending France into a political tailspin earlier this year.
In June, when the extreme-right RN made unprecedented gains in European elections, Macron dissolved the government and called for snap legislative elections. Though the RN looked poised to win, the bloc ultimately finished third, behind Macron’s group and the leading New Popular Front .
The leftist coalition lacked an absolute majority, but as the group with the most seats, its leaders demanded Macron appoint a new prime minister from their ranks. After refusing, and leaving the country without a government for roughly three months, Macron eventually appointed Barnier, from the far-right Les Républicains party, which finished fifth.
Clik here to view.

Although during the summer, Macron left modern France under a caretaker government for the longest time ever, rumors are already circulating that the president will appoint a new candidate within the next 24 hours.
On Wednesday, one former minister told a French TV channel that the reopening of Notre Dame this weekend will prompt Macron to act quickly; more than 100 heads of state will attend the ceremony, including U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.