French Prime Minister, François Bayrou, has been ousted after losing a confidence vote in the National Assembly, following growing backlash to his plans to tackle the national debt. 

Bayrou was defeated at the confidence vote yesterday (8 September), which saw 364 deputies vote against the politician, while 194 voted in his favour. 

Former opposition leader and National Assembly member, Marine Le Pen, described Bayrou's departure as "the end of the agony of a phantom government", urging President Emmanuel Macron to call new elections and "let the country choose".

Bayrou had called the confidence vote in an attempt to garner backing for his budget plan, which aimed to cut around €44bn from the country's debt, partly through a freeze on welfare payments and pensions. 

This built on previous pension issues faced by the former Prime Minister, as he previously failed to gain a consensus on plans to revise the highly contentious 2023 pension reform that raised the retirement age to 64. 

Although Bayrou survived the previous vote of no confidence in parliament in July, the country's long-running pension dispute continued to escalate, with troubling projections for the pension system’s long-term solvency.

According to forecasts by France’s independent Pensions Advisory Council (COR), the system is expected to run a deficit of 0.2 per cent of GDP by 2030, growing to 1.4 per cent by 2070 if no action is taken.

Rising pension costs and the potential impact on future generations were also a key theme in Bayrou's speech ahead of the vote, as he stressed the need to take action and "free young people".

Bayrou argued that the country had "almost an addiction" to overspending, warning that "current expenditures for public services, for retirement, for pensions, to repay health care costs, everything is financed with credits".

He also pointed out that the cost of this burden is growing, warning that "our yearly obligation is already above what our country produces every year in terms of growth".

"We have broken the confidence contract between generations. I have seen and noticed how the young people feel they are a sacrificed generation. They think they won't have a retirement or a pension," he continued.

"We should reduce that burden to free them from the slavery we put them in.

"The oldest among us should alleviate the debt for our children. Don't just tell them you love them if you're ignoring the burden of debt they will have to repay in the future on your behalf."

France, like many countries, has faced growing concerns over the sustainability of its pension system in recent years, given its ageing population, previously facing significant upheaval as the government pushed through plans to increase the state pension age to 64 in 2023.

Recent research conducted on behalf of MIF showed that more than a third (35 per cent) of French savers think their children will have an even worse financial situation than theirs when they retire, while less than a fifth (19 per cent) believe it will be better.

However, this same research showed that the recent pension reform has had an impact on public opinion, and the acceptability of the shift in the legal retirement age has gained ground.

According to the survey, 45 per cent of future retirees today said they feel able to continue working full-time after age 62, while 47 per cent of future retirees said that they would like to be able to work after retirement, even part-time.

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