Macron under fire: French President’s popularity PLUMMETS – shock poll

The number of French people with a favourable opinion of the 40-year-old leader dropped five percentage points in June to 41 percent, the Odoxa poll for France Inter radio, weekly L’Express showed.

His dissatisfaction rating now stands at 59 percent, up five percentage points from Odoxa’s previous poll.

The young centrist has been slammed for ordering over-priced dinner plates and wasting taxpayers’ money on a new swimming pool, despite his call to cut welfare spending.

Mr Macron’s conservative Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, is equally unpopular among the French: only 40 percent of respondents said they had a favourable view of Mr Philippe, compared to 59 percent who said they disapproved of his actions.

The results chimed with those of another poll by Ifop published on Sunday, which showed that Mr Macron’s approval rating had dropped one percentage point this month to 40 percent.

In comparison, Mr Macron’s approval rating in June last year stood at 64 percent, according to Ifop.

The poll, conducted for the French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, also showed that 58 percent of French people were now “dissatisfied” with the French centrist.

Mr Philippe’s Ifop poll numbers were also tepid: 45 per cent of those interviewed said they approved of his actions as prime minister, compared to 54 percent who said they disapproved.

Last week reports emerged that the president and his wife, Brigitte, had spent tens of thousands of euros of taxpayers’ money on a fancy new china set for the Elysée Palace and planned to build a €34,000 (£30,000) swimming pool at a presidential retreat on the French Riviera.

Mr Macron also criticised France’s “wasteful” welfare system earlier this month, saying the government should stop “ploughing cash” into a system that fails to rescue the poor from poverty.

Ifop’s deputy chief Frederic Dabi told the JDD: “These controversies strengthen the sentiment of some sort of social contempt from the president… There’s a feeling that the head of state is out of touch.”

Government spokesperson Benjamin Griveaux told RTL radio earlier this year the French were “mixing up arrogance with determination and courage”.

The Odoxa poll was conducted among 1,007 people on June 22, while the Ifop poll was conducted among 1,963 people between June 15 and June 23.