French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence motions in parliament on Thursday after pledging to suspend President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reform to win support from Socialist lawmakers ahead of today’s votes to avert a snap election.
The first motion, brought by the far-left France Unbowed (LFI), secured 271 votes, falling short of the 289 required to oust the government. A second challenge from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally was backed by only 144 votes but needed 289 to pass.
Les LR aussi absents du premier que du second vote de censure.
Ils ont (encore) sauvé la peau de Lecornu et d’Emmanuel Macron. pic.twitter.com/OuskFiWAh8— Garen Shnorhokian (@GarenShn) October 16, 2025
Lecornu’s decision to suspend pension reforms until after the 2027 presidential election helped gain the support of Socialist lawmakers. This allowed Macron’s centrist alliance to avert another collapse and provide some political stability amid deep polarization in parliament and waning sentiment polls for Macron’s administration.
Le Pen’s number two, Jordan Bardella, slammed the rejection of the first motion, which fell short by just 18 votes. He accused MPs of being “responsible for the suffering to come”, writing on X that “a bargaining majority managed to save their seats today = at the expense of the national interest”.
Following the failed confidence votes, Macron loyalist and National Assembly president Yaël Braun-Pivet, stated that it’s “important for France to have government stability.”
“We’ll be looking for that balance in the months ahead. The game is far from over,” Braun-Pivet said.
France’s CAC 40 stock market index rose after Lecornu survived the two no-confidence votes, suggesting potential political stability ahead.
There’s no doubt that Lecornu owes his survival to the concessions he made to the Socialists. And the next challenge for Macron-Lecornu is passing the government budget in the highly polarized parliament.
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