There always seems to be a much sharper dividing line between the summer holidays and the restart of the political season in France than in Britain. That line is particularly sharp this year, with a full-blown political crisis developing in France that could leave the country without a government in days, and perhaps facing new parliamentary elections in weeks. It could even precipitate an early presidential election, should Emmanuel Macron decide that, rather than hang on until spring 2027, he would rather stamp his foot and walk away.
The immediate cause of the current crisis is an austerity budget put together by the current prime minister, veteran centrist Francois Bayrou, designed to put France’s debt-ridden public finances on a sounder footing. It is naturally unpopular in the country at large – and if both the hard left (Jean-Luc Melenchon’s France Unbowed) and the far right (Marine Le Pen’s National Rally) join forces to oppose it in parliament, it is dead in the water.
