FOR THE third time in little over a year, France looks likely to lose its prime minister. François Bayrou’s decision on August 25th to put his government’s survival on the line with a vote of confidence on September 8th was as unexpected as it was risky. The centrist prime minister runs a minority government in a deadlocked parliament split into three blocs, two of which are set on bringing him down. The 74-year-old Mr Bayrou will need to muster uncommon political skill if he is to keep the job he secured less than nine months ago after his predecessor, Michel Barnier, was toppled. Markets are already nervous as France heads into yet another spell of political instability. After Mr Bayrou’s announcement the yield spread on French ten-year bonds compared to German bunds, the euro zone’s benchmark, widened from 0.69 to 0.73.