French President Emmanuel Macron has said he will name a new prime minister “in the coming days” after Michel Barnier resigned following a no-confidence vote in parliament.

In a 10-minute address to the nation on Thursday, he rejected opposition pressure to stand down, vowing to stay in his post “fully, until the end of the mandate” in 2027.

He thanked Barnier for his dedication during his brief term as prime minister and accused the French far right and hard left of collaborating in an “anti-republican front” to bring down the government.

French MPs voted overwhelmingly to remove Barnier on Wednesday, only three months after he was appointed by Macron.

The vote was the first time a French government had been voted down by parliament in more than 60 years, a move Macron labelled “unprecedented.”

In France, it is the president who chooses the prime minister who then runs the government. But the prime minister must answer to parliament, and Barnier lasted only three months before he was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

Finding someone who will not be immediately rejected by parliament could be difficult for Macron, whose decision in June to call snap elections led to a deadlocked parliament.

The National Assembly is now split into three big voting blocs – the left, centre, and far right. If Macron’s next choice of prime minister is to last, it is thought at least part of the left bloc will need to be persuaded to join the next government.

The president was due to hold talks with several political leaders on Friday, having told the French people he would “appoint in the coming days a prime minister who will form a government of general interest.”

He was first due to talk to centrists in the “Macron camp” before meeting Socialist leaders in the hope of persuading them to split from the broader left bloc, the New Popular Front. He will also talk to the right-wing Republicans.

Socialist leader Olivier Faure said ahead of the talks that he was open to discussion and “compromises on every issue” towards forming a government based on a “fixed term contract.” But he made clear he had little desire to “ensure the continuity of Macronism.”

No new parliamentary elections can be held until July 2025, which might explain Faure’s remarks on being open to a limited term for the next government.

Censure
Responding to Macron’s speech on Thursday, Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), posted social media: “A little reminder to President Macron, who is supposed to be the guarantor of the Constitution: censure is not anti-republican, it is provided for in the Constitution of our Fifth Republic.”

The no-confidence vote that toppled Barnier’s leadership had been tabled by both the New Popular Front (NFP) left-wing alliance and Le Pen’s RN.

They united to censure the government after the former Brexit negotiator used special powers to force through his budget without a vote.

A total of 331 MPs voted in support of the motion against Barnier, far more than the 288 required for it to pass.

Barnier resigned on Thursday, and the budget was automatically withdrawn. He will remain in office on a caretaker basis with his ministers until a new government is appointed. Macron’s role is unaffected.

BBC/Shakirat Sadiq