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The French government has collapsed after prime minister François Bayrou lost a confidence vote in the National Assembly.

Mr Bayrou is expected to resign on Tuesday, leaving Emmanuel Macron to search for a replacement or call snap elections.

The French prime minister called the vote of confidence in an attempt to force MPs to adopt his austerity budget.

During an impassioned speech to MPs, he warned: “You can get rid of the government, but you can’t get rid of reality.”

He said France’s debt mountain risked “enslaving our youth” of the eurozone’s second largest economy.

“France has not known a balanced budget for 51 years. Every year, debt accumulates,” he said as French public debt stood at 114 per cent of GDP.

Mr Macron will now be searching for his fourth prime minister in just 12 months, but there are doubts over whether they will be able to pull together a working coalition.

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