Macron plays public opinion card against his critics

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Emmanuel Macron has always insisted he is not worried about opinion polls and that, as head of state, he is willing to court unpopularity to do what he considers right for France. That has not stopped him basing his political strategy around what the public says, sometimes playing off the polls against critics of his reforms – even if that risks dividing the French people. Ellen Salvi looks at the French president's approach to public opinion.

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Emmanuel Macron has always been clear about his views on public opinion. “If you conduct politics to please the times you're in, you become a commentator on them. If you want to be in politics you have to accept doing what sometimes seems the opposite of pubic opinion,” he said. That is also the general response given by the government and the ruling La République en Marche (LREM) party when they are questioned about the discontent some of their reforms have caused.

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