The centrist, who transformed the political landscape by blurring the lines between the left and the right, has been attempting to push through EU and labour reforms and has carried out a series of high-profile overseas trips in recent weeks.
Mr Macron’s popularity rating has dropped for the first time in three months, according to an opinion poll published on Sunday, with close to half of voters expressing growing discontent with their young president.
The poll, conducted by Ifop for the conservative weekly Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD), showed the number of French people satisfied with Mr Macron’s job performance had dropped to 50 percent, down two percentage points from December.
While 44 per cent of those polled said they were “quite” satisfied with the president’s actions, only six per cent of respondents said they were “very satisfied”.
Some 49 per cent of respondents, for their part, told Ifop pollsters they were “unhappy” with the president, with 29 per ent saying they were “quite unhappy” and 20 per cent “veryunhappy”. One percent of those approached by pollsters refused to answer.
This is the first time that the 40-year-old centrist’s (Ifop) approval rating drops since October 2017, according to the JDD.
Prime minister Edouard Philippe’s popularity also took a nosedive this month. Some 49 percent of those polled expressed satisfaction with Mr Macron’s right-hand man, down five percentage points from December.
In addition, close to half of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with Mr Philippe. 31 percent said they were “quite unhappy” with his actions as prime minister, while 16 percent said they were “very unhappy”.
A polling expert warned the ratings drop could be blamed on controversial decisions to cut the speed limit and abandon plans for a new airport in western France.
The drop in Mr Macron and Mr Philippe’s approval ratings is “most probably” a direct consequence of the government’s much-contested decision to cut the speed limit on most roads to less than 50 mph to reverse a recent spike in road deaths, Ifop’s deputy chief Frederic Dabi told the JDD.
He added the government’s controversial decision to abandon plans for a new €580 million (£510 million) airport in western France last week has also dented the two men’s popularity.
A total of 1,947 French people aged 18 and over were interviewed between January 12-20.