Both the far-right National Rally and center-left Socialist Party declined to back a no-confidence vote in new French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou. But France's parliament remains bitterly divided.

The challenge in the Assemblée Nationale came after François Bayrou's statement this week on his government policy agenda. The no-confidence motion, brought by the leftist opposition, failed to gain support from the far right.

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou faces his first vote of no confidence in parliament Thursday, with the motion unlikely to pass.

The French centre-left Socialist party will not back a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Francois Bayrou's government, Le Figaro reported on Thursday, citing an intra-party meeting. Dozens of far-left lawmakers have put forward a no-confidence motion against Bayrou,

Prime Minister Francois Bayrou survived his first no-confidence motion in France’s highly fractious parliament on Thursday as the far-right and Socialists abstained in the vote.

Newly appointed French Prime Minister François Bayrou survived a no-confidence vote on Thursday after the opposition Socialist Party chose not to back the motion. In the surprise turn of events, most Socialist lawmakers decided not to withdraw their confidence in Bayrou's government unlike their left-wing allies,

Green and Communist parties have put forward a no-confidence motion against Bayrou's minority government. The political instability in France, which had four prime ministers last year, has rattled markets.