The popularity of President Emmanuel Macron has slumped to its lowest level since he swept to power in 2017, according to an Ifop poll published by the Journal du Dimanche. Backing for François Bayrou, the prime minister, has also hit its lowest ebb since he took office in December 2024.
Of the 1,000 people interviewed on 16 and 17 July, only 190 of them said they were are quite satisfied or very satisfied with Macron, while 330 said they were quite dissatisfied and 480 said they were very dissatisfied.
In June, 230 people said they were satisfied with Macron.
Eighteen percent of the sample said they are content with the job Bayrou is doing – 2 percent less than the previous month.
Captains of industry appear to be drifting away from Bayrou too. Sixteen percent more business leaders said they were dissatisfied with the 74-year-old.
The survey of the two most powerful players in French politics was conducted a day after Bayrou presented the 2026 budget to the French parliament.
French PM Bayrou to push budget through without vote and face confidence vote
Measures in 2026 budget
Bayrou said two public holidays out of France's total of 11 could go, suggesting Easter Monday as well as 8 May, a day that commemorates the end of World War II in Europe.
Branding May a month riddled with public holidays, Bayrou said the measure could generate several billion euros in revenue. He added he was open to other suggestions.
Opening his address he said: “We are at a critical moment in our history."
He explained that France's public deficit reached 5.8 percent of GDP in 2024 and that public debt climbed to nearly 114 percent – the third-highest in the eurozone after Greece and Italy.
Citing Greece’s debt crisis in the 2010s, he said: “We must never forget the story of Greece.”
Bayrou, who heads a minority government, is likely to face choppy waters trying to steer his proposals through parliament.
He wants to cut debt while boosting production, though military spending will rise by €6.7 billion in 2026 in the face of growing international tensions.
He says the goal is to reduce the deficit to 2.9 percent of GDP by 2029. "It is the threshold at which, in a country like ours, the debt no longer grows.”
To achieve this, Bayrou said: "The state must not spend a single euro more in 2026 than it does in 2025." He added that this was with the exception of debt repayments and military funding.
According to the Ifop survey, Bayrou's political opponents are also faring badly.
Dissatisfaction with the Socialists was up 11 percent. Respondents in the survey said they were unhappy about the party's decision to table a motion of censure on the government after the failure of talks on pension reforms.
