Luxembourg PM Luc Frieden tumbles 10 points in Politmonitor survey amid coalition struggles

Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden has seen his popularity tumble, and he is the CSV’s only government official in the top ten of a survey ranking the country’s politicians.

The Politmonitor survey, commissioned by the Luxemburger Wort and RTL, surveys voters in the country about the popularity and competence of the country’s lawmakers, members of the European Parliament and members of government.

While Frieden in the last ranking in December 2024 placed fourth behind his predecessor and Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel, former LSAP deputy PM Paulette Lenert (who now serves as an MP in parliament) and Charles Goerens (the DP’s veteran MEP), he slipped to eighth place in the latest edition published Tuesday.

In the new poll, Bettel, Lenert and Goerens kept the top three spots, followed by Luxembourg Mayor Lydie Polfer and Economy Minister Lex Delles. Tied in sixth place are LSAP deputy Taina Bofferding (the party’s speaker in parliament) and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Claude Wiseler.

Rounding off the top ten are Green MP Sam Tanson and Defence Minister Yuriko Backes.

With few exceptions, the popularity of politicians across the board waned. In the CSV, only Marc Spautz – the party’s leader in parliament – increased his popularity. Spautz has been vocal in his opposition to his own party’s proposals in government to change shop opening hours.

The increase, however, is very slim, and falls within the survey’s margin of error.

Frieden took the biggest tumble, losing 10 points in the ranking. Environment Minister Serge Wilmes lost seven, compared to a six-point drop for Christophe Hansen, who became Luxembourg’s EU commissioner last year. Labour Minister Georges Mischo’s ranking also suffered (minus five points).

Kartheiser down, Clement recovers

Overall, the coalition government appears to have failed to connect with voters, with the average score for both popularity and competence well below 50, out of a possible 100.

The ADR’s Fernand Kartheiser, who made headlines with a recent trip to Moscow that saw him kicked out of the ECR group in the European Parliament, lost eight points in the joint popularity of competence ranking.

Sven Clement, who found himself engulfed in a scandal around government subsidies for a translation app in 2023, slightly recovered in the ranking, gaining three points from the December 2024 edition.

The case led to a public falling out between Clement and his fellow Pirate Party MP Marc Goergen. While both men retained their seats in the chamber, they said they are now working separately. A third Pirate Party MP, Ben Polidori, switched his party allegiance to the LSAP.

The Politmonitor surveyed 1,024 Luxembourg voters aged 18 or over via telephone and online between 18 May and 3 June.

Frieden on 13 May gave his annual state of the nation address in parliament, during which he announced that the government’s reform of the pension system would seek to increase the number of years that people spend in work (without raising the legal retirement age).

Union leaders heavily criticised the speech, while it also fell short of the expectations of business lobbyists who had expected more wide-reaching reform plans.

The OGBL and LCGB are planning a joint protest on 28 June against a bevy of policy proposals, including pension reform, changes to collective bargaining (which the government has already withdrawn) and shop opening hours.

Frieden during his remarks had announced that Luxembourg would support the EU’s Mercosur trade agreement with Latin American countries, apparently without his Agriculture Minister Martine Hansen being in the loop.

Earlier survey confirmed coalition

A separate survey conducted in April (prior to the state of the nation address) backed the coalition government. The poll – also called Sonndesfro or “Sunday question” – asked 1,841 voters whom they would vote for if elections took place the following Sunday.

The survey largely confirmed the coalition government’s approval, with the Green party standing to to gain three seats in parliament, the right-wing populist ADR losing one and the Pirate Party losing two.

The full methodologies of both the Politmonitor and the Sonndesfro are available on the website of the Luxembourg Independent Audiovisual Authority (Alia).