The French government has collapsed after Prime Minister Michel Barnier was ousted in a no-confidence vote.
MPs voted overwhelmingly in support of the motion against him – just three months after he was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron.
The motion was brought by opposition parties after the former Brexit negotiator controversially used special powers to push through his budget without a vote.
This is the first time since 1962 that the country’s government has fallen in a no-confidence vote.
The development would add to France’s political instability, with no single group gaining a majority in parliament since snap elections in the summer.
MPs had to either vote yes or abstain in Wednesday’s vote, with 288 votes needed to pass the motion. A total of 331 votes were cast in support of the motion.
Barnier is now forced to tender his government’s resignation, and the budget that led to his downfall is in tatters.
However, he is likely to remain as caretaker prime minister while Macron chooses a successor.
Both the left and the far right staged no-confidence motions after Barnier pushed through social security reforms by presidential decree on Monday, after failing to garner enough support for the measures.
The New Popular Front (NFP), the left-wing coalition that won the most seats in parliamentary elections, has previously drawn criticism. Macron’s decision to appoint centrist Barnier on his own candidate as Prime Minister.
side by side Far-right National Rally (RN)he found Barnier’s budget – which included €60bn (£49bn) in deficit reduction – unacceptable.
RN leader Marine Le Pen said the budget was “poisonous for the French”.
Before the vote, Barnier told the National Assembly that removing him from office would not solve the country’s financial problems.
“We have reached a moment of truth, of responsibility,” he said, adding that “we need to look at the realities of our debt”.
“It is not a matter of pleasure that I propose difficult measures.”
In an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on Wednesday, Le Pen said there was no other solution but to remove Barnier.
Asked about the prospects of the French president, she replied: “I am not asking Emmanuel Macron to resign.”
However, Le Pen added that “if we don’t respect the voice of the voters and respect the political forces and respect the elections”, the pressure on the president “will obviously get stronger and stronger”.
Macron, who has returned to France after an official visit to Saudi Arabia, is due to address the nation on television on Thursday evening.
He is not directly affected by the outcome of the vote, as France votes for its president separately from its government.
Macron has said he will not resign regardless of the outcome of Wednesday’s vote.
He is expected to name a new prime minister quickly to avoid the embarrassment of a non-existent government – not least because US President-elect Donald Trump is due in Paris later this week. The reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral.
No new parliamentary elections can be held until July, so the current deadlock in the assembly – where no group can hope to win a working majority – is set to continue.