The day after his general policy statement, 62% of French people do not want François Bayrou’s government to be censured, according to a new survey “L’Opinion en direct” carried out by the Elabe institute for BFMTV and published this Wednesday, 15 of January.
Michel Barnier’s government received exactly the same score at the beginning of October, the day after his general policy speech. In December it was still censored, to the satisfaction of 54% of French people, according to an Elabe survey published the day after the vote.
The government of François Bayrou will face its first motion of censure this Thursday, presented by a part of the left. Since the RN stated that it would not vote in favor of this censure, it should not be adopted.
77% of French people perceive, in the political orientation of the government of François Bayrou, a historical ally of the Head of State, a continuity with that of the previous governments of Emmanuel Macron. 21% see it as a policy of rupture. In comparison, Michel Barnier, coming from the Republicans, represented a policy of continuity for 65% of French people.
Strong distrust
There is strong distrust towards the government appointed in December. More than 7 in 10 French people believe that it will not be effective in improving purchasing power, addressing the ecological challenge, reducing social inequalities or even reducing public debt.
On the other hand, a relative majority of respondents approve of his announcement about the “restart” of the pension reform. The Prime Minister, who is trying to achieve non-censorship of the socialists, announced on Tuesday a “conclave” between the social partners for a three-month renegotiation.
Without repealing or suspending the highly controversial reform adopted in 2023, François Bayrou promised that the negotiation will be held “without any totem and without any taboo, not even the retirement age, the famous 64 years, provided that it meets the established requirements “including deficit control.
48% of those surveyed by the Elabe institute believe that François Bayrou was right in proposing not to suspend the reform but to start new debates. 35%, for their part, believe that the pension reform should have been suspended now, as requested by the Socialist Party. Finally, 16% believe that François Bayrou should not have announced new debates on the pension reform and that it should be kept as it is.
55% approve the PS request
Bayrou’s proposal disappointed the socialists. The leader of the PS, Olivier Faure, asked on Wednesday that a text be presented to Parliament “even in the event that unions and employers do not reach an agreement” at the end of their negotiations. 55% of those surveyed believe that they are right to demand this commitment from the Prime Minister. The latter responded on Wednesday that if there is “progress” between the social partners on pension reform but there is no “general agreement”, a text will be presented to Parliament.

Some of the announcements made by François Bayrou on Tuesday received the approval of the French. This is, for example, the case of the introduction of proportional representation in the method of electing deputies, which is in favor of 77% of those surveyed. 90% of respondents are in favor of full reimbursement of wheelchairs from 2025, a promise made by Emmanuel Macron almost two years ago.
Sample of 1,005 people, representative of residents in mainland France aged 18 and over. The representativeness of the sample was ensured according to the quota method applied to the following variables: sex, age, profession, region and agglomeration category. Online survey from January 14 to 15, 2025.
Source: BFM TV
