The result was never in question, but it has thrown real doubt over France's future.

Francois Bayrou gambled and lost.

France's prime minister called a surprise vote of no confidence in late August and this evening the National Assembly in Paris voted to oust him from office.

It leaves France with no solution to a worsening economic crisis and President Emmanuel Macron with few good options.

Image: Francois Bayrou. Pic: AP

He is now forced to look for a new prime minister, his fifth in a little over two years.

But there is no guarantee this will break a parliamentary deadlock that is of his own making after he lost his parliamentary majority following snap elections in 2024.

Increasingly, there is a view that the only way through this mess is for Macron himself to go; he's rep

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