Emmanuel Macron’s popularity slides further in new poll as golden boy loses shine

The French leader has just a 42 per cent approval rating in the latest poll, down 20 points since he soared to victory against Front National’s Marine Le Pen in May.

And 56 per cent of French voters questioned held a negative view of the centrist, up from 51 points in September, the BVA poll for La Tribune and Orange found.

While respondents told pollsters they couldn’t help but admire Mr Macron’s determination to push ahead with his reform agenda and make good on his campaign pledges, they also said they couldn’t shake off the feeling that his policies favour the wealthy over the middle class and poor. 

Mr Macron’s approval rating has been dragged down by his controversial reform agenda and planned budget cuts, including his move to loosen France’s rigid labour laws and scrap the wealth tax, a charge introduced by the Socialists in the 1980s and which targeted individuals with assets above £1.16million (€1.3m).

Conservative prime minister Edouard Philippe’s popularity rating also fell this month, although he remains slightly more popular than Mr Macron. 

Of those interviewed, 50 per cent expressed an unfavourable opinion of Mr Philippe, up four percentage points from September; while 44 per cent expressed a favourable view of France’s premier, down four percentage points from September. 

This is the lowest approval rating for Mr Philippe recorded by BVA since he was named prime minister. 

A total of 1,193 people aged 18 and over were interviewed online between October 24 and 25.