A series of controversial affairs involving key staff, some surprise resignations, comments from senior figures in his own administration and dysfunctional behaviour at all levels of government have left President Emmanuel Macron weaker than ever after the summer. There is growing concern inside his entourage where many now recognise that the presidency has a problem; and that this problem involves the president himself. Ellen Salvi reports.
In any presidency, as with a photograph, there are moments of revelation. A mix of political indicators that slowly allows an image to appear, and which ultimately comes into focus. That is the moment when doubts, theories and questions start to emerge. For a year Emmanuel Macron had been protected from this phenomenon. The youngest president of the French Republic ever elected, the object of curiosity on the international stage, and the chief beneficiary of the political massacre of traditional parties in the 2017 elections, up to then the new president had rolled out his reform agenda with disconcerting ease.
