Only two months in, the new president of France has suffered a precipitous decline in approval ratings. Zut alors!

Bof! Why Emmanuel Macron is already tanking in the polls

Name: Emmanuel Macron.

Age: 39.

Appearance: Très jeune.

Title: Co-prince of Andorra, alongside the Bishop of Urgell.

That’s quite a jobshare for a young man. It’s just a perk that comes with his main gig, being president of France.

How does one get to be president of France at such a tender age? You have to emerge as a relative unknown, run as an independent centrist with a socially progressive, economically liberal agenda, and win 65% of the vote. That’s how he did it, anyway.

He must be very popular. You would think so, wouldn’t you?

It seems safe to assume, yes. A month ago, you would have been right. Macron had an approval rating of 62% on taking office in May, and in June it went up to 64%.

And now? As of this week, he’s down to 54%.

C’est la vie, I guess. Look what happened to Theresa May. Yes, but this sort of precipitous decline has not been seen in France since Jacques Chirac shed 15 points in the mid-90s. Macron is even more unpopular than his predecessor, François Hollande, who managed an approval rating of 56% at the same stage of his presidency.

What has gone wrong? There were four high-profile resignations in June, following preliminary investigations into two separate scandals.

Terr-eeh-buh-luh. But it is spending cuts tied to Macron’s economic reforms that have really upset people. He has announced an overhaul of French pension and labour laws, and a €850m (£760m) reduction in the military budget, which prompted a top general to quit.

Why is he going back on his promises? These were his promises. Macron was remarkably upfront during the campaign about the need for reform.

So the French are getting what they voted for, and they don’t like it. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

I don’t know what that means, but I like the way your lips purse when you say it. Actually, it’s more complicated than that. Disapproval is strongest among certain demographics – civil servants, pensioners and supporters of the Mouvement Démocrate party, which the departing government ministers led. The numbers aren’t likely to dissuade Macron.

I’m not interested in complicated. Fine. Everyone hates him.

Do say: “Compared with Donald Trump, you’re doing great!”

Don’t say: “You’re still young – you can retrain.”