Prices at the pump continue to soar in France, and the executive maintains its choice of a targeted aid policy, significantly expanded in recent days.
“This aid is considered largely insufficient by the French who are expecting more “systemic” measures (…) the unpopularity of the executive is therefore unlikely to improve and above all, social anger could boil over” analyzes the Mascaret-Odoxa political barometer for the regional press and Public Senate from September unveiled this Tuesday.
Emmanuel Macron fell by seven points compared to the previous barometer in June, at the same time breaking his record for unpopularity with 82% of French people who think that he is not a “good president”. He is now 2 points away from the historic record for unpopularity for a President, recorded by his predecessor, François Hollande (16% from April to October 2016), with 18% favorable opinions. The French were interviewed online on Wednesday September 23 and Thursday September 24, just before Emmanuel Macron’s interview on the 8 p.m. news. And the president having confirmed this policy of targeted aid during his television interview, it is a safe bet that he has not lessened the anger towards him. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu lost eight points of favorable opinions, to 24%.
Apart from Renaissance supporters, those dissatisfied with the executive are very much in the majority in all categories of the population, from LFI to the RN via the PS and LR.
The state should devote more money to aid
Awareness of the weight of the French public debt is real among those surveyed (83% of French people say that this concerns them), but very many of them (62%) think that despite this degraded budgetary situation, “the State should devote more money to lowering the price of fuel and to aid. »
For the people questioned in this barometer, international factors (military conflicts, Russian oil infrastructure, markets, European debates) can explain the increases in prices at the pump but in no way exonerate the government.
However, Russia’s “hybrid war” is causing growing concern, dividing opinion not on the reality of the threat but on how to respond to it.
The effects of the presidential campaign
More broadly, this political barometer confirms that the presidential campaign is well underway and, beyond the executive, the political figures who participate in it are struggling.
For the RN, Marine Le Pen falls by four points and Jordan Bardella by five, but they remain at a high level of support (35%). Édouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal, candidates from the central bloc, did not benefit from it, both falling by three points.
Raphaël Glucksmann (Place publique) is still clearly ahead of his competitors in the left-wing primary, although this poll was carried out before the first televised debate on LCI. With a 20% support rating among the French, and 38% among left-wing sympathizers (including LFI), he is still clearly ahead of his main rivals, Ségolène Royal (16% and 32%), and Olivier Faure (11% and 29%), as well as those that the French will discover with the campaign, Jérôme Guedj (8% and 15%) and Emmanuel Maurel (4% and 9%).
Note that François Hollande, still not an official candidate, has 22% support from the French and 42% from left-wing supporters.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the candidate for La France insoumise, has 15% support and is at the top of the rejected personalities, with 69% unfavorable opinions.
Survey carried out among a sample of 1,005 French people representative of the French population aged 18 and over, interviewed online on September 23 and 24, 2026.
