French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence votes in parliament on Thursday, winning crucial backing from the Socialist Party thanks to his pledge to suspend President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reform.

The two motions presented by the hard-left France Unbowed and the far-right National Rally (RN) secured just 271 and 144 votes respectively – well short of the 289 votes needed to bring down Lecornu’s days-old government.

Lecornu’s offer to mothball the pension reform until after the 2027 presidential election helped sway the Socialists, giving the government a lifeline in the deeply fragmented National Assembly.

Despite the reprieve, the motions underscored the fragility of Macron’s administration midway through his final term.

See also:

• After winning pensions concession, France's Socialists eye billionaire tax in budget (Reuters)
• Broken promises and political crises: how Emmanuel Macron fell from French favour • The president is seen to have accelerated the financial crisis, social inequalities and the rise of the far right (The Guardian)
• Confused by French politics? Our answers to the questions you are afraid to ask (Le Monde)