Macron’s popularity lowest since taking office

Only 15% of poll respondents held a favourable view of French president Emmanuel Macron. (EPA images pic) PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron's popularity has fallen to its lowest level since taking office in 2017, according to a poll published on Saturday.

The Ipsos BVA-Cesi survey found that just 15% of respondents held a favourable view of Macron, down one point from a month earlier and the lowest score of his presidency.

The poll comes as France faces record fuel prices and protests by high school students, with respondents citing purchasing power as their top concern.

Worries about the future of the country's welfare system and France's debt levels also ranked highly.

Among politicians seen as potential successors to Macron, far-right leaders Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen remained the most popular, with approval ratings of 33 and 32 percent respectively.

Both lost ground from a month ago, Bardella losing three points and Le Pen four, after a report accused Bardella of having written antisemitic messages in his youth from an old Facebook account.

Commissioned by La Tribune Dimanche newspaper, the online poll was conducted on September 7-8 among 1,000 adults and had a margin of error of between 0.6 and 3.1 percentage points.