Macron's popularity drops but he is still ahead

Paris

EMMANUEL Macron's poll numbers have been tumbling all summer. But it may not be enough to throw France's 39-year-old president off track just yet. He still has a solid majority in the National Assembly, and does not even face local elections for several years. Meanwhile, the economy is recovering, the unions are divided and his parliamentary opposition is in tatters.

That is still a solid platform for Mr Macron's plans to remake France and the euro area over the next five years. He was due to outline some of his ideas on a state visit to Greece on Thursday in a speech on the Pnyx, a hill opposite the Acropolis which was the heart of ancient Athenian democracy.

"I don't think Macron needs to be overly concerned," said Rainbow Murray, a reader in politics at Queen Mary University of London. "The lack of an opposition is a particular element in his favour at the moment. And, with a loyal parliamentary majority, he can afford…