PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s popularity plunged in a new poll released on Sunday while his ruling party also suffered an election defeat which some leaders have blamed on the president’s private life.

With Sarkozy at the centre of a mew media blitz surrounding his marriage to former supermodel Carla Bruni, an LH2 poll for Liberation newspaper said 55 per cent of those surveyed had a negative opinion of Sarkozy. Just 41 per cent had a favourable view, a 13 percentage point drop from a month ago.

The poll was conducted both before and after the announcement on Saturday of the 53-year-old president’s marriage to Italian Bruni after a whirlwind romance.

Other polls in the past few weeks have showed an erosion of public support for Sarkozy, who was elected president in May. Analysts say the public feels Sarkozy, who was only divorced in October, spends more time worrying about his private life than he does the concerns of the French people.

In July, Sarkozy had a 67 per cent approval rating and in January it stood at 54 per cent.

Pollster Francois Miquet-Marty at LH2 said such a sudden poll slump was rare and that “there are few examples of such massive defections,” apart from President Jacques Chirac in 1995 after a failed bid to reform pensions.

According to the pollster, 84 per cent of those surveyed said they were mainly unhappy about the economy.

Sixty-eight per cent said they had no confidence in Sarkozy and the government to improve their spending power, and 60 per cent did not believe they would improve the overall economic situation.

The second main reason for Sarkozy’s plunging popularity had to do with his personal style by “putting his private life on display”, which drew a negative reaction from 76 per cent of those interviewed in the poll.

Sarkozy on Saturday married his glamourous girlfriend, which some observers say may appease those who disapproved of his headline grabbing love life.

Sarkozy’s chief of staff, Claude Gueant, said on French television on Sunday that the marriage will make their relationship “clear”.

“The French will have a different view from what they’ve had for the past few weeks. Things are going to become more natural, simpler,” he said.

Gueant also acknowledged that the recent polls showed some loss of confidence in the president and the government.

“The French expect a lot from their president. They have been a bit disappointed that his private problems may have given the impression of taking away time that should be dedicated to their concerns,” he said.

As for the media spotlight on the Sarkozy-Bruni romance, Gueant said, “There was no showcasing of his private life, there was no one directing” the attention.

Two National Assembly by-elections were held in the Paris region on Sunday and Sarkozy’s UMP lost one of the seats to the opposition Socialists.

UMP secretary general Patrick Devedjian said the loss of the seat in Chartres, west of Paris, was a “salutory warning” but called for greater loyalty to the president.—AFP