French PM Bayrou survives no-confidence vote

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou passed the first test of his new minority government on Thursday as he survived a vote of no-confidence called by the hard left after the centre-left Socialist Party did not back the motion, Reuters reports.

The far-right National Rally (RN) party of Marine Le Pen had already signalled it would not support the motion.

It means President Emmanuel Macron's government lives to fight another day without being solely reliant on the far-right's grace. But Bayrou's administration remains weak, and still faces an uphill battle to pass the 2025 budget that led to the ouster of his predecessor, Michel Barnier.

On Thursday, 131 lawmakers voted in favour of the motion - well short of the 288 votes that were needed.

"The required majority has not been reached, the motion is not adopted," National Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet said.