France’s government has collapsed after a vote of no confidence on Monday, forcing Prime Minister Francois Bayrou out of office after just nine months on the job.

The 74-year-old had called the vote under article 49 of the French constitution to pressure lawmakers to back his proposal to slash €44 billion ($52 billion) from the 2026 budget in a bid to reduce the country’s fiscal deficit. President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Monday in a statement that he would appoint a new Prime Minister “in the next few days,” who will become France’s fifth Prime Minister in less than two years.

“The biggest risk was not to take one, to let things continue without anything changing, to go on doing politics as usual,” Bayrou told France’s National Assembly before the vote.

“You have the power to ov

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