He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. However, after Raffarin resigned, he said that his decision was not based on the outcome of the vote. Opinion polls following his resignation suggested that Raffarin was one of France's least popular Prime Ministers since the Fifth Republic was established in 1958. However, according to the book "France: 1815–2003", written by Martin Evans and Emmanuel Godwin, Raffarin was "a remarkably popular Prime Minister" despite his ability "to state the obvious and to make empty statements".