French president Macron’s popularity rating drops

French president Emmanuel Macron’s popularity rating has slumped by 10 percentage points this month, according to an Ifop poll on Sunday – the biggest decline for a new president since 1995.

The poll, published in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, said 54 per cent of people in France were satisfied with Mr Macron in July, compared with 64 per cent in June.

It added the last time a newly elected president had lost ground in that way was Jacques Chirac in 1995. The Ifop poll echoed a similar finding in a recent BVA poll.

Resignation

Mr Macron has had a tough month, marked by a public row over military spending cuts with top armed forces chief General Pierre de Villiers that led to his resignation.

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Mr Macron also ended up overruling his own prime minister by vowing to press ahead with tax cuts in 2018, while plans to cut housing benefits have also come in for criticism.

– (Reuters)