Macron Lags His Prime Minister in Popularity, Latest Poll Shows

(Bloomberg) -- A poll released on Sunday confirmed that French President Emmanuel Macron’s popularity has waned compared to that of Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, ahead of a possible government overhaul following municipal elections later this month.

In June, Macron’s approval rating dropped to 38% from 39% a month ago while Philippe’s approval rating gained four points to 50%, according to a poll by Ifop for the Journal Du Dimanche newspaper.

Earlier this week, a BVA survey for RTL and Orange showed that Philippe has been gaining in popularity during the pandemic, with 54% of respondents saying they trust him, over 38% for Macron. Over the past two months, the gap has widened to 16 percentage points from 3, according to BVA.

These polls have renewed speculation that Macron, in search of new momentum ahead of the presidential election in 2022, could ditch Philippe, who has spoken regularly on national TV about risks and measures to fight the coronavirus.

In Friday’s BVA poll, six respondents out of 10 said they don’t want Macron to change prime minister.

France will hold the second and final round of its municipal election on June 28. The first round was held in March, shortly before the coronavirus lockdown.

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