Barnier was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in an attempt to bring political stability. The no-confidence motion was the first test for his government, which enjoys fragile support in parliament.

Voting for a no-confidence motion at this stage would be “premature,” Guillaume Bigot, a National Rally lawmaker, told the National Assembly, after bragging that “a single tweet by Marine Le Pen” was enough to force Mr. Barnier’s hand.

France’s minority government has survived a no-confidence vote, two weeks after taking office, getting over the first hurdle placed by left-wing lawmakers to bring down new conservative Prime Minister