Macron's popularity hits lowest point since taking power: poll

[PARIS] French President Emmanuel Macron’s popularity has reached its lowest point since he was first elected in 2017, a survey out on Friday (Dec 26) said, days before he is to deliver his end-of-year message.

Only 25 per cent of the French people polled in the Toluna/Harris Interactive survey commissioned by the LCI news channel had a favourable opinion of Macron.

The head of Toluna/Harris, Jean-Daniel Levy, said in a statement that it appeared that the French were judging Macron through the prism of domestic politics rather than his foreign policy positions.

The survey, of 1,099 French adults contacted online, found that 37 per cent of them intended to watch Macron’s end-of-year speech to be broadcast live on Dec 31, down from 40 per cent last year.

The popularity of all leaders in France’s political class slid this year, according to the poll, though the far-right’s Jordan Bardella – who heads the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen – came top, with 42 per cent favourable opinions.

The poll’s margin of error was between 1.4 and 3.1 percentage points. AFP