Created in 2017, the test (conducted by polling agency Ipof on behalf of the PR firm CorioLink) asks members of the public a simple question – which French politician would you most like to have a beer with?

The poll deliberately doesn’t ask about politics, but over the years the results have proved a surprisingly accurate guide to success or otherwise at the ballot box. 

The top 4

The most popular politician in France for a drinking companion in 2023 is . . . Edouard Philippe, whom 37 percent of French people said they would like to share a beer with.

The former prime minister and current mayor of Le Havre is widely supposed to be the preferred centrist candidate for the 2027 presidential election (in which Emmanuel Macron cannot run because of the limit on two consecutive presidential terms).

Philippe has long enjoyed good poll ratings with the public – in fact it’s rumoured that he was sacked by Macron as prime minister in 2020 for the crime of becoming more popular than his boss. 

Philippe’s less-than-stellar score suggests, however, that French people are not that keen on the idea of drinking with any politicians. 

The second most popular drinking companion was far-right leader Marine Le Pen on 35 percent.

If the 2027 election does indeed see her taking on Philippe, the beer poll suggests that the result will be very tight.

It’s also notable that she is, according to poll originators CorioLink, the only politician who has improved her score in successive years since 2017 – more than 10 points in six years and four points in the last two. Likewise, her 2022 presidential elections scores were better than in 2017 (although Macron still won comfortably). 

Third most popular in the poll is a newcomer – education minister Gabriel Attal, who 34 percent of French people would like to drink with.

A Macron protegee and former government spokesman and junior finance minister, Attal, 34, was made education minister in July 2023.

He appears to have made a good start in a notoriously tricky role, announcing policies on tackling school bullying and a pilot project to introduce uniforms in French schools.

If you look at the graffiti on the streets you might be forgiven for thinking that the entire population hates him – but Macron himself came in at a respectable fourth place, with 28 percent of French people saying they would like to have a beer with him (although there was no subsequent question on whether they would drink the beer or throw it over him).

Despite being a divisive figure, Macron became the first French president in 20 years to be re-elected in 2022, winning a comfortable victory over Le Pen in both the first and the second round of voting. 

His score does, however, represent a steep fall from 2017 when 44 percent of French people would have happily drunk with him – perhaps unsurprising since it’s easy to be popular as a candidate, harder when you have been in office for six years.

And at least we now know what Macron would have no problem with a drinking contest, after he displayed his cul sec (down in one) skills while celebrating with the French national rugby team after their defeat of New Zealand in the opening round of the World Cup.

And the best of the rest

Le Pen easily beat her niece Marion Maréchal who scored 27 percent. Previously seen as a potential successor in the Rassemblement National party which was founded by Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie, Maréchal in 2022 defected to far-right rival Eric Zemmour.

The highest-scoring leftist politician was not Jean-Luc Mélenchon – the leader of the far-left La France Insoumise party and third-placed candidate in the 2022 election scored just 15 percent – but Communist party leader Fabien Roussel.

Despite scoring just 2.28 percent in the 2022 election, Roussel has cultivated a personal popularity through his wit and staunch support of French traditions such as meat-eating, barbecues and wine-drinking – 25 percent of people would like to have a beer with him. 

Next on the list were two government ministers; Bruno Le Maire and Gérald Darmanin.

Finance minister Le Maire scored 24 percent and Darmanin scored 23 percent.

Hardline minister Darmanin (author of the controversial immigration bill) spent much of 2023 positioning himself as a successor to Macron but has recently been saying that he does not intend to stand in 2027.

Perhaps he had an early glance at the beer test results.

Next was another leftist; the MP François Ruffin, a member of Mélenchon’s party, who scored 22 percent.

Ruffin, a former journalist best known for the film Merci, Patron, has been positioning himself as a more moderate voice within LFI, and is also known for his sense of humour and witty short films posted on social media. 

Prime minister Elisabeth Borne scored 21 percent – a respectable score since the prime minister has the job of enacting the most controversial aspects of government policy. The oft-repeated joke is that the real role of a French prime minister is to soak up public anger and then get fired whenever the president needs a popularity boost.

Following Mélenchon on 15 percent was Parti Socialise leader Olivier Faure on 14 percent.

And the least popular

The lowest scorer was Sandrine Rousseau of the Green party, who just 13 percent of people would like to drink with. Although the Green party itself remains popular, especially on a local level, and Green issues are steadily rising up the list of issues of concern to French voters, Rousseau may have suffered in the beer poll due to her personal reputation for being something of a killjoy.

Her reaction to that video of Macron downing a beer with rugby players was to label it an example of “toxic masculinity” – suggesting that she would be no fun in the bar. 

The full results

• Edouard Philippe (37 percent)
• Marine Le Pen (35 percent)
• Gabriel Attal (34 percent)
• Emmanuel Macron (28 percent)
• Marion Maréchal Le Pen (27 percent)
• Fabien Roussel (25 percent)
• Bruno Le Maire (24 percent)
• Gérald Darmanin (23 percent)
• François Ruffin (22 percent)
• Elisabeth Borne (21 percent)
• Jean-Luc Mélenchon (15 percent).
• Olivier Faure (14 percent)
• Sandrine Rousseau (13 percent) 

Which politician would you most like to have a beer with, and why? Share your answers in the comment section below