Bad start. In public opinion, the appointment and the first steps of François Bayrou in Matignon are judged very hard. The fourth Prime Minister of the second term of five yearsEmmanuel Macron receives only 20% favorable judgments according to the Ipsos barometer – Cesi School of Engineering – The Sunday Tribune. This is 14 points less Michel Barnier after its installation in rue de Varenne and 17 less by Gabriel Attal. The mayor of Pau is far from full of Renaissance-MoDem-Horizons supporters with 52% positive opinions. He got only 24% among LR-UDI supporters.
His level of unfavorable judgments (59%) is suddenly very high when his predecessor had benefited from a more attentive reception (only 33%). ” This means that the question of opinion will not be for Francois Bayrou centralconcludes Brice Teinturier, Deputy General Manager of Ipsos.She cannot be a point of support for him. He will have to look for his strengths elsewhere. Everything will rest on his political ability, his ability to find compromises.»
The composition of his government, however, is judged differently. The creation of a duo of heavyweights to occupy the positions of Ministers of the Interior and of Justice has an effect on public opinion. For 35% of the French, Bruno Retailleau is the best minister of the Bayrou team. The tenant of Place Beauvau, who was the only notable figure in the Barnier government, did not suffer from the redistribution of cards and thethe arrival of other personalities able to compete politically and medially with him. Now Custodian of the Seals, Gérald Darmanin is in second position behind him: 33% of those questioned consider him the best. If the latter is in the lead among the supporters of Renaissance-MoDem-Horizons with 49%, he is followed by Bruno Retailleau with 45%.
Among the supporters of LR-UDI, on the other hand, it is the opposite: 62% in favor of the Minister of the Interior and 47% for Gérald Darmanin. In the ranking of the most popular members of the government, Rachida Dati and Manuel Valls, the new Minister of Overseas Territoriesare in third position with 18%. Note: three holders of Place Beauvau therefore appear in the first three. As for Élisabeth Borne, everything remains to be proven for her. With 12%, the new Minister of Education is only in sixth position, behind Sébastien Lecornu, his colleague from the Army. “It’s not a big surprise. His popularity as Prime Minister was low“, remembers Brice Teinturier.
While political instability is unprecedented under the Fifth Republic, Emmanuel Macron is in no way seen as a resource. With 21% of favorable judgments, it fell by two points in a month. His unpopularity is considerable among supporters of RN (90%), which has become massive among those of LR (74%). In the barometer of his possible successors, Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella are in the lead. His censure of the Barnier government had no negative impact on the RN duo. Among the figures on the left, it is now Francois Hollande who comes first, ahead of Raphaël Glucksmann who falls by four points in a month.
School of engineering Ipsos-Cesi for La Tribune Dimanche
* Compared to October barometer. Ipsos-Cesi survey of the Engineering Schools for the Tribune Dimanche conducted on January 8 and 9, 2025 among a representative sample of the French population of 1,000 people aged 18 and over interviewed online using the quota method .
