On Monday, Bayrou suffered a crushing loss in a confidence vote he had himself called, plunging France into fresh uncertainty and leaving Macron with the task of finding the seventh premier of his mandate.

The French president’s office said in a statement that Macron “took note” of the outcome and would name a new premier “in the next days”, ending any remaining speculation that the president could instead call snap elections.

Bayrou was seen by AFP correspondents arriving at the Elysee Palace to hand in his resignation and then leaving just over an hour later.

A source close to Bayrou, asking not to be named, confirmed he had submitted his resignation to Macron.

Bayrou remains in charge on a caretaker basis until a successor is named.

The French president has, in the past, been notoriously slow in “casting” a new prime minister.

But he is widely expected on this occasion not to procrastinate, given the risk of financial and political instability.

“Emmanuel Macron is now in the front line to find a solution to the political crisis,” said the Liberation daily.

France’s borrowing costs, a measure of investor confidence, on Tuesday surged slightly higher than those for Italy, long one of Europe’s debt laggards.

Bayrou had blindsided even his allies by calling a confidence vote to end a lengthy standoff over his austerity budget, which foresaw almost 44 billion euros ($52 billion) of cost savings to reduce France’s debt pile.

In the end, 364 deputies in the National Assembly voted that they had no confidence in the government, while just 194 gave it their confidence.

Bayrou was the sixth prime minister under Macron since his 2017 election, and the fifth since 2022.

His predecessor, Michel Barnier, was brought down by a no-confidence vote in December.

The crisis dates back to summer 2024 legislative elections that resulted in a hung parliament.