What’s Really Going On in France Right Now: Understanding the République in Crisis

PAID ONLY — Here's the EXPLAINER you've been looking for... French politics feels like chaos: five prime ministers in two years! What's it all mean?

If you have been reading the headlines from France and wondering what on earth is happening, you are not alone. Even some seasoned French political journalists admit they are struggling to keep pace with the cirque politique. Let us walk through it together, as if over coffee, because what is unfolding is not simply another reshuffle. It is a crisis testing the very foundations of French democracy.

Another Prime Minister Down

On 8 September 2025, Prime Minister François Bayrou staked his survival on an austerity budget. He told the National Assembly: Back me or sack me. Deputies chose the latter, voting 364 to 194 against him. After just nine months in office, Bayrou is gone. His predecessor Michel Barnier fell in the same way last December.

That makes five prime ministers in less than two years. France, long seen as a bastion of strong executive leadership, now resembles a revolving door at the Hôtel Matignon.