Socialist Royal’s Popularity With Voters Slides, JDD Says

Former French Socialist Party presidential candidate Segolene Royal has lost popularity among voters, according to an Ifop poll published in Le Journal du Dimanche today.

Seventy-four percent of people interviewed said it was “not likely” they’d vote for her should she be a candidate in 2012, while 25 percent said they probably would vote for her, according to the poll. Five years ago, when she was in the same position as candidate for her party’s nomination, 45 percent said they would vote for her, compared to 55 percent who said they would probably not, the newspaper said.

Royal lost ground on people viewing her as honest, with 56 percent agreeing today compared with 76 percent in 2006, and 45 percent saying she understands their problems, compared with 59 percent five years ago.

To contact the reporter on this story: Heather Smith in Paris at hsmith26@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net