The French prime minister, François Bayrou, has survived an initial confidence vote in parliament called for by the hard left, after the far-right National Rally (RN) and centre-left Socialists did not back the motion against him. On Wednesday, 128 lawmakers voted in favour of the first motion of no confidence, well short of the 289 votes needed. The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) had introduced two motions of no confidence against the prime minister after he invoked special constitutional powers to force through this year’s budget. The tool, known as article 49.3, allows the minority government to pass the legislation without