An opinion poll last weekend revealed that Emmanuel Macron’s approval rating has dropped to 28%, the lowest since the Yellow Vest protests of 2018. The only consolation for the president is that some of his predecessors have been more unpopular. François Hollande, for example, hit 13% in 2014, François Mitterrand recorded 26% in 1984 and Jacques Chirac […]
‘A new beginning’ was the phrase used by Emmanuel Macron and Rishi Sunak at the joint press conference that concluded today’s Anglo-French Summit in Paris. Boris Johnson wasn’t mentioned, but his was the ghost that haunted the Elysée Palace as the two leaders met for the first summit of its kind since 2018. Sandhurst was […]
Yesterday may come to be remembered as the most significant date in the ten year presidency of Emmanuel Macron. It was the day when his centrist government, fronted by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, announced the reform of France’s pension system. From September 1st this year, the age of retirement will rise from 62 to 64. […]
A new word has been coined in France, specifically to mark the presidency of Emmanuel Macron; ‘Anxiocratie’ describes the perpetual sense of anxiety under which the French have lived since Macron came to power in May 2017. At the time of his election the Republic was well into an extended state of emergency imposed by […]
A president in name but not power, that is the grim reality for Emmanuel Macron after the French electorate deprived his centrist Ensemble! coalition of an absolute majority in the National Assembly. It was Charles de Gaulle who famously said that any country with 246 cheeses is ungovernable, a figure that is one more than […]
They gathered in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower on Sunday evening to celebrate another five years of their hero. And as President Macron addressed his adoring supporters having comfortably seen off the challenge of Marine Le Pen there was something striking about what the crowd were doing: they were waving more blue and gold […]
