The Most Disliked Leaders in the World

Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, 47, took office in October 2020 after an agreement among seven parties ended 16 months without a fully functional government. The struggles to form a federal government underscore a divide among Belgians. De Croo, a member of the center-right Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats party, served as Belgium’s deputy prime minister from 2012.

Ahead of next year’s general elections in Spain, leftist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is facing anger and frustration over rising prices. Spain recorded a 7.3% increase in consumer prices in the 12 months ending in October, down from a 10.5% increase in August. Sánchez, a member of the Spanish Socialist Worker’ Party, became prime minister In June 2018, when the annualized inflation rate in Spain was just 2.25%.

Chancellor Karl Nehammer, 50, is trying to distance himself from a political crisis related to an ongoing corruption probe into his conservative Austria People’s Party (ÖVP). The scandal involves former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and others amid allegations they spent public funds to manipulate polls in favor of the ÖVP. Nehammer became chancellor of Austria in December 2021 following the resignation of Kurz.

Despite French President Emmanuel Macron’s dismal approval rating, he defeated right-wing hardliner Marine Le Pen in the recent election. Macron, 44, a member of the centrist Renaissance Party, assumed office in May 2017 after defeating Le Pen, 54, of the far-right National Rally Party by a margin of 66.1% compared to 33.9%. Macron’s victory this past April was much narrower, however, at 58.5% to 41.5%.

In October, the approval rating of the cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida fell by nearly 5 points, below 30% for the first time since Kishida, 65, assumed office in October 2021 after winning in a runoff election. The low approval rating reflects public anger over rising prices and the relationship between Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers and the controversial Unification Church, the South Korean Christian group founded by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the late self-proclaimed messiah.