The French government has collapsed and is essentially in a leaderless crisis as the end of a politically tumultuous year draws near.

In a shocking development on Wednesday, 331 members of France's parliament -- a majority that included right-wing and leftist lawmakers -- voted that they had no confidence in Prime Minister Michel Barnier, Reuters reported.

Barnier will now be compelled to resign and hand nominal control of the government over to the unpopular and weak President Emmanuel Macron, who bears at least partial responsibility for the current crisis as he called for the snap elections last summer that resulted in the sharply divided government coalition that just collapsed.

Majority have no confidence in current prime minister

CNN reported that PM Barnier formally resigned his position on Thursday but agreed to a request from President Macron to temporarily remain in place in a limited "caretaker" role until a new prime minister can be appointed and a new governing coalition is formed.

That followed a vote in which 331 of the French National Assembly's 577 lawmakers expressed no confidence in Barnier's leadership. The no confidence vote had been called for in anger by both leftist and right-wing legislators in response to centrist Barnier using constitutional procedures to force a partial budget through parliament without a vote by members.

The outcome for Barnier was likely inevitable from the start as the Assembly, following the snap elections President Macron demanded in June, was sharply divided into three partisan blocs, none of which held majority control, with Barnier installed by Macron in September to try to manage a tenuous coalition government.

Macron is now facing blame for the development, as right-wing National Rally leader Marine LePen said, "He’s the one most responsible for the current situation."

Pressure building on Macron

It will now fall upon President Macron to appoint another prime minister who will attempt to form another coalition government -- at least until next July, which is the earliest that new elections can be held, per CNN.

That new leader will face the daunting task of trying to pass a budget for 2025 before December 21, though the government will continue to operate at base 2024 levels under French law if that deadline is missed because of the disparate factions in the Assembly failing to reach an agreement.

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting for Macron to also resign, and there is speculation that he may be forced to step aside as part of a deal with lawmakers to accept and work with his selection for the next prime minister.

Macron's popularity has substantially declined midway through his second term as president, and his centrist party holds diminished power, in large part because of the snap elections he called over the summer in an effort to check the rising popularity of the right-wing National Rally party and prevent them from holding power.

Shortest tenure of a French PM in modern history

According to Le Monde, PM Barnier has now set a record for the shortest tenure of a prime minister in France's modern era, as he officially only lasted 90 days in that position before he was technically ousted by the no confidence vote.

That record was previously held by Socialist PM Bernard Cazeneuve, who served just over five months, or 155 days, in 2016-2017. How long Barnier stays on as a "caretaker" PM remains to be seen, and the record for that role is held by his immediate predecessor, former centrist leader Gabriel Attal, who governed for just over six months before his party was defeated in Macron's snap elections but remained in place for an additional 51 days.

Barnier also becomes only the second PM to be ousted by a no confidence vote in the modern era, as he joins former PM Georges Pompidou, who was voted down after just six months in 1962 but was then reappointed by President Charles De Gaulle and went on to serve another five years, ironically becoming the longest-serving PM of the modern era.