Sarkozy’s Popularity Hits Record Low, Le Pen’s Rises, Poll Shows

French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s approval rating fell to the lowest since his May 2007 election, while the far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen’s popularity rose, a BVA survey showed.

Sixty-six percent of respondents in the survey by BVA, a Paris-based polling institute, said they have a bad or rather bad opinion of the French leader, 5 percentage points more than last month. Sarkozy’s approval rating dropped 4 points to 30 percent, the poll conducted for L’Express weekly magazine, France Inter radio and the Orange mobile phone company showed.