French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister François Bayrou have been suffering from plummeting public confidence.
A survey published by Elabe on January 9 for the newspaper Les Echos painted a dark picture of the two French leaders.
Only 18 per cent of the French population now has confidence in Macron, a drop of three points since the start of 2025, the survey found.
This figure continued a worrying trend for the President, whose approval ratings have fallen by nine points over the past six months.
The survey underscored a what appeared to be growing public scepticism, with 76 per cent of respondents saying they did not trust Macron — four-points higher than in polls from previous months.
What was particularly damning was Macron’s waning support even among those members of his own base.
For the first time, just 51 per cent of those who backed him in the first round of the 2022 elections still stood by him, the Elabe poll showed, marking a 23-point collapse in just six months.
Bernard Sananès, the Elabe president, warned the result was a “red alert” for Macron.
This is a red alert for Emmanuel Macron. He is unable to stabilise himself in public opinion
The French President’s decision to dissolve the parliamentary assembly in June 2024 seemed to have backfired.
The move announced on the evening of the European Parliament elections results, has been linked to current French political and economic instability — a point not lost on Sananès, who said he viewed that as a key factor in Macron’s declining popularity.
The French First Lady Brigitte Macron has voiced her concern over the backlash her husband is facing.
In an interview on January 10, 2025, she described the “violence” of online criticism directed at her husband following the assembly dissolution.
“He feels extremely hurt,” she commented, condemning what she called the “verbal abuse” she saw on social media.
On January 9, in an interview with TF1, she said the President was “scarred” by what he had been hearing, adding that he “deserved respect”.
Bayrou did not perform much better in the survey.
With 67 per cent of respondents expressing distrust in him — 36 per cent of whom said they did trust him “at all” — Bayrou was faced with scepticism ahead of his general policy speech, scheduled for January 14.
Macron’s sixth Prime Minister will have to convince MPs of his importance if he wants to stay, just one month after his appointment.
Other political figures appeared to be gaining ground.
Former centre-right prime inister Edouard Philippe has continued to climb and now enjoyed a 42 per cent approval rating. Right-wing National Rally party leaders Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen have both experienced surges in popularity.
Le Pen, in particular, has hit her highest approval rating since May 2017, climbing five points to 37 per cent in the Elabe poll.
The data left little room for optimism for Macron and Bayrou as they face mounting challenges in a country increasingly disillusioned with its leadership.
The hard-right opposition was said to have been preparing for early presidential elections.
