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.

PARIS (Reuters) - The French Socialist Party, whose support Francois Bayrou's minority government has been trying to secure for weeks, on Tuesday raised the threat of backing a no-confidence vote against the government later this week.

Newly appointed French Prime Minister François Bayrou survived a no-confidence vote on Thursday after the opposition Socialist Party chose not to back the motion. In the surprise turn of events, most Socialist lawmakers decided not to withdraw their confidence in Bayrou's government unlike their left-wing allies,

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.