Michel Barnier resigns as French prime minister

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French Prime Minister Michel Barnier has resigned after his government was ousted by MPs in a vote of no confidence.

The Élysée said on Thursday that Barnier had handed in his resignation and that President Emmanuel Macron had asked him to stay in the role until a successor had been appointed.

Barnier’s resignation caps a dramatic week in which his three-month old minority administration was toppled by lawmakers from the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) and leftist Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) bloc over a deficit-reducing budget law.

Macron, who will address the nation on Thursday evening, must navigate the increasingly difficult task of selecting a new prime minister from within a fractured parliament.

This is a developing story