Just 194 lawmakers of the 577-seat National Assembly voted in favor of Francois Bayrou, who has since resigned as prime minister.

France is bracing for potential violence as tens of thousands of protesters are expected to join a day of disruption across the country.

The president is pinning his hopes on what looks like a very unlikely centrist alliance to slash public spending, when all others have failed.

When once it was Italy on the naughty step for breaching EU fiscal rules, it is now France facing punishment from Brussels. Italy aims to leave the European Commission-overseen procedure by 2027. France only entered it in July last year.

It was a question famously asked by France’s wartime leader and former President Charles de Gaulle. “How can anyone govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese?” More than 60 years on, the answer appears to be no one.

Macron courts a global role, sparring over Gaza and Greenland, even as France’s debt crisis deepens and his prime minister risks a no-confidence vote.