Most French now dissatisfied with Macron, poll shows

French President Emmanuel Macron reacts during a joint news conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov at Euxinograd residence, near Varna.

PARIS  - Most French voters are now dissatisfied with Emmanuel Macron’s performance, a poll showed on Sunday, marking a dramatic turnaround for a president who basked in a landslide election victory less than four months ago.

The poll, conducted by Ifop for newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD) showed Macron’s dissatisfaction rating at 57 percent, 14 percentage points worse than Ifop’s last poll in July.

Forty percent expressed satisfaction with the centrist leader - also down 14 points from July.

Macron, who is midway through a schedule of official visits to various European capitals, has suffered a number of setbacks since being elected, including tough debates in parliament over labour reform, a standoff with the military and cuts to housing assistance.

The Ifop poll showed the cumulative drop in Macron’s popularity ratings since May was bigger than that of previous president Francois Hollande over the same period of his tenure.

The poll also showed a drop in popularity for Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, with 47 percent expressing satisfaction with him - down 9 points from last month.—Reuters