French first lady Brigitte Macron enjoys a greater popularity than her spouse Emmanuel Macron, Paris Match reported citing IFOP opinion poll data. According to the magazine, 67 percent of the French back Brigitte Macron, whereas around 43 percent voice support for the French president.
The trend is notably common in France: during Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidency, his wife, singer and actress Carla Bruni, also boasted greater support with the French public – roughly 68 percent of those polled, as compared with Sarkozi, who was popular with a mere 37 percent.
Brigitte Macron, who is 24 years older than her husband, has a large backing of both the youth (75 percent supporters are aged under 35), and elderly people (74 percent are over 65 years old.) Separately, poll data suggested that she is more or less popular even with the socialist electorate, that of the Republicans and French leftist party “La France Insoumise” (literally “Unbowed France”.)
The approval rating of French President Emmanuel Macron further dropped in May to 40 percent, amid multiple rallies, by trade unions in particular, against the government’s economic and social reforms, according to a BVA poll.
Last year, Brigitte Macron reportedly did not receive the official job of France’s first lady or the salary to accompany it, after roughly 290,000 people put their signatures on a respective petition. Presidential aides asserted that although the French president’s spouse would be given a public role, she would not benefit financially from the French state budget, adding that there would be no change in the French Constitution to this end.
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