France's prime minister stakes all on confidence vote amid cuts turmoil

France is braced for a fresh political crisis as the minority government of François Bayrou appears almost certain to be toppled in a confidence vote next month, with deep political divisions over an unpopular austerity budget and debt-reduction plan.

- Angelique Chrisafis

"I will fight like a dog," the centrist prime minister, 74, told L'Express yesterday, after his surprise decision to call a vote of confidence from parliamentarians.

Bayrou, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, is expected to lose the vote as opposition parties on the far-right and the left said they would relish the chance to eject him after less than nine months in office.

"We need to change politics, and for that we need to change prime minister," Boris Vallaud, head of the Socialist parliamentary group told BFM TV.

Bayrou's gamble – which involves Macron convening a special session of parliament on 8 September – has sparked fears of another political crisis less than a year after the government of Michel Barnier was toppled over budget disagreements after only three months.