French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou passed the first test of his new minority government on Thursday as he survived a vote of no-confidence called by the hard left after the centre-left Socialist Party did not back the motion.

Newly appointed French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou survived a no-confidence vote on Thursday after the opposition Socialist Party chose not to back the motion.

French Prime Minister François Bayrou survived his first major test in the National Assembly on Thursday after Socialist lawmakers and the far-right National Rally chose not to support a

France's centre-left Socialist party will not back a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Thursday, its leader said, which will enable Bayrou's minority government to live to fight another day.

PARIS (Reuters) - 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.

A total of 131 lawmakers voted in favour of the motion - well short of the 288 votes needed for it to pass. Read more at straitstimes.com.

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Thursday survived his first vote of no confidence in parliament after the motion, brought by the leftist opposition, failed to gain traction on the far right

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.

The prospects of French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou's minority government surviving in the long term appeared slimmer after the Socialist Party raised the threat of backing a no-confidence vote on Thursday.