1902 French legislative election

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1902 French legislative election
Flag of France (1794-1958).svg
  1898 27 April and 11 May 1902 1906  

All 589 seats the Chamber of Deputies
295 seats needed for a majority
  P. Waldeck-Rousseau.jpg Jules Meline 1898.jpg Jacques Piou (Agence Meurisse, 1913) (cropped and adjusted).jpg
Leader Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau Jules Méline Jacques Piou (lost election)
Alliance Left Bloc Progressives Conservatives
Seats won338127124

Prime Minister before election

Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau
ARD

Elected Prime Minister

Émile Combes
Radicals

Legislative elections were held in France on 27 April and 11 May 1902. The result was a victory for the Bloc des gauches alliance between Socialists, Radicals, and the left wing of the Republicans, over the anti-Dreyfusard right wing of the Republicans, the progressistes. The Bloc des gauches had been brought together to support the "Republican Defense Cabinet" (gouvernement de défense républicaine) formed by Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau following the assault on the newly elected president, Émile Loubet, on the Longchamp Racecourse on 4 June 1899, during the Dreyfus affair.

Contents

However, Waldeck-Rousseau's own supporters (the ARD) took few seats in the election compared to the Radicals and Socialists. After the election, President Loubet invited the Radical Émile Combes to form a government, which lasted until January 1905, when the Socialists withdrew from the Bloc des gauches. [1]

Results

PartyVotes%Seats
Progressive Republicans 2,501,42929.73127
Left Republicans 62
Independent Radicals 1,413,93116.81129
Nationalists 1,194,90014.2089
Reactionaries 1,188,18014.12
Socialists 531,0876.3143
Revolutionary Socialists 344,4454.09
Radical-Socialists 853,14010.14104
Popular Liberal Action 385,6154.5835
Total8,412,727100.00589
Registered voters/turnout11,058,702
Source: France-Politique, Rois et Presidents

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References

  1. Gildea, R., Children of the Revolution, London, 2008, pp. 278-282