French President Emmanuel Macron has cemented his status as one of the Fifth Republic’s most reviled leaders, with a new poll showing his approval rating collapsing to 11 per cent.
With this, he matches the all-time low set by his predecessor François Hollande in 2016.
The Verian Group survey, conducted among 1,000 respondents and published in Le Figaro Magazine, marks a five-point drop from September’s already dismal 16 per cent.
Macron now shares the unwanted crown of France’s least popular president since the early 1970s, when Verian’s predecessors first tracked such metrics.
Hollande, Macron’s erstwhile mentor, hit that rock bottom in late 2016 amid crippling unemployment and security woes, prompting him to forgo re-election.
The President’s erosion of support cuts across demographics, with a stark 11-point plunge among over-65s – traditionally a Macron stronghold – and a nine-point dip among retirees.
Even within his centrist base, backing has frayed: Some 71 per cent of his own Renaissance party back him, while 53 per cent of MoDem and Horizons’ backers view him favourably.
Right-wing sympathisers, at 94 per cent negative and left-wing voters with just 11 per cent approval from La France Insoumise supporters, amplify the apparent disdain.
Other polls paint a similarly bleak picture.
An Ipsos survey from earlier this month pegged Macron at 19 per cent, while Odoxa’s mid-month reading found only 20 per cent deeming him a “good president”, still edging Hollande’s 2014 trough of 13 per cent.
An Elabe poll in early October had him at 14 per cent, underscoring a relentless downward spiral.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu fares better, gaining six points to 25 per cent on the back of perceived stability after surviving multiple no-confidence bids.
Conservative opposition figures lead in the popularity polls.
Former centre-right interior minister Bruno Retailleau, though, also saw his popularity slip since leaving the government.
In France, a large majority of respondents told Verian that “things are getting worse”, fuelling fears of social unrest as budget battles loom.
The latest poll arrives amid broader European malaise. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz both are also scoring in the low numbers.
COMMENT: The French may not be sure if they want to turn to the populist Right or the Marxist-tinged Left, but they increasingly are sure that staying the course with Macron is intolerable, writes @HenryOlsenEPPC. https://t.co/G8100z4zYA
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 11, 2025
