A parliamentary majority looks to be within reach for centrist French President Emmanuel Macron in next month's legislative election, opinion polls indicated as his cross-partisan government held its first meeting.
Macron's election as president on May 7 smashed a decades-old left-right grip on politics and has left the conservative Republicans (LR) and the Socialists in disarray. But he needs a win for his fledgling party in legislative elections to implement his policies.
An OpinionWay/ORPI poll found Macron's Republic on the Move (REM) set to win 27 per cent of votes in the first round of the National Assembly election on June 11, ahead of all other parties.
It projected that, after the second round on June 18, Macron's party would have secured 280-300 of the 535 mainland seats in the lower house. When overseas territories are included, 289 seats are needed for an absolute majority.
Two other polls published on Thursday by Harris Interactive had Macron's party leading with 32 per cent, up three points since May 11 and six points since May 7.
But another survey sounded a cautionary note, finding that only 45 per cent of voters had confidence in Macron and even fewer in Prime Minister Edouard Philippe - the lowest ratings for French leaders starting their terms in more than 20 years.
Those present at the cabinet meeting, the first since ministers were appointed on Wednesday, included economy and budget ministers from the right, a TV environmentalist put in charge of ecology and energy, and a veteran Socialist who was defence minister in the last government and is now in charge of Europe and foreign policy.
"Having different political backgrounds will not stop us working intelligently for France, this was the first message the president wanted to convey," government spokesman Christophe Castaner told a news conference.
He said labour reform, highly controversial in France, "must be launched very quickly". Macron's plans, which he wants to carry out using executive decrees, include tackling unemployment of 9.6 per cent by making hiring and firing easier.
Philippe, a conservative who was de facto excluded from the Republicans for joining the government, told France Inter radio he would campaign to help secure an REM majority.
Republicans campaign leader Francois Baroin voiced his anger at the defections of Philippe, Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin, saying: "This is not the spoils of war, it's a hostage-taking."
Share
