French President Emmanuel Macron in Bormes-les-Mimosas, southern France, on Aug. 17. Macron’s room to manoeuvre is shrinking with the third toppling of a prime minister in 14 months.

Another prime minister gone. Another crisis unfolding. In France, what once shocked is now routine.

Prime Minister François Bayrou submitted his resignation Tuesday after losing a crushing confidence vote in parliament. The third toppling of a head of government in 14 months leaves President Emmanuel Macron scrambling for a successor and a nation caught in a cycle of collapse.

Bayrou, 74, lasted just nine months in office. Even that was three times longer than his predecessor.

He gambled on a budget demanding over €40-billion in savings. The plan froze welfare, cut civil-service jobs, and even scrapped two

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