Support for Macron's party grows before French parliamentary election
French President Emmanuel Macron reacts after a meeting and family photo with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission at the Elysee Place in Paris, France May 16, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] |
A Harris Interactive poll found Macron's Republic on the Move party, together with allies, set to win the largest share of the vote in the first round of the National Assembly elections on June 11.
Thirty-two percent of 4,600 registered voters questioned planned to vote for Macron's party, it said.
That was up three points from a similar poll on May 11 and up six points from a poll on May 7, the day that Macron defeated far-right leader Marine Le Pen to become French president.
Macron, 39, who smashed the traditional left-right grip on French politics to win the presidency, gave ministerial jobs to conservatives, socialists and political newcomers on Wednesday, appointing an unprecedented all-stripes cabinet to bridge divides and broaden his support.
In a morning radio interview, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe dismissed a suggestion that the mixed government was an electoral gimmick, saying 'progress' was its unifying theme.
"Clearly it is a government built to last," he told France Inter. "As the legislatives approach, this (government) is of course essential, and will determine everything that happens afterwards. But the government is here to govern. It is here to prepare the recovery, it is here to create something, it is here to put projects in place."
The new cabinet will meet for the first time on Thursday.