French presidential election frontrunner Emmanuel Macron faced down booing and whistles of disapproval from an audience of hundreds of mayors on Wednesday, insisting he would aim to cut local authorities‘ spending and scale back a household tax.

Speaking before the influential grouping, Macron, a centrist who is running as an independent, repeated his plans to exempt 80 percent of households from a local council tax – an unpopular proposal among local officials who value one of the few levies not set by Paris.