Socialist MP Boris Vallaud speaks with his party leader, Olivier Faure, during the government question session, in the Assemblée Nationale, in Paris, on October 21, 2025. JULIEN MUGUET FOR LE MONDE
France's Socialists said Friday, October 24, they would back a no-confidence vote on the government if a 2026 budget bill were not changed to include a tax on very wealthy households. "If there is no progress by Monday, it will be over," said Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialists, whose vote will be key in passing a budget.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has promised to get an austerity budget through a divided parliament by the end of the year, after the legislature ousted his two predecessors over cost-cutting measures. Earlier this month, he agreed to suspend an unpopular pension reform so the Socialists could help him survive a no-confidence vote in parliament. Lecornu has also pledged not to use a constitutional measure that would allow him to force the budget bill through without a vote, as has been done in previous years.
Yet the Socialists, a swing group in the hung Assemblée Nationale, have also demanded a tax on ultra-wealthy households, which Lecornu has refused and not included in the draft budget. Faure said his party would vote to oust Lecornu's government if no levy was imposed on very high-net-worth households. "We need to tax the ultra-rich and mega-inheritances," he said.
