1936 French legislative election

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1936 French legislative election
Flag of France.svg
  1932 26 April and 3 May 1936 1945  

All 610 seats to the Chamber of Deputies
306 seats were needed for a majority
Registered11,795,000
Turnout9,847,266 (83.5%)
 Majority partyMinority partyThird party
  Leon Blum 1937.jpg Edouard Daladier.jpg Louis Marin.jpg
Leader Léon Blum Édouard Daladier Louis Marin
Party SFIO PRRRS FR and RIAS
Alliance Popular Front Popular Front Right and Centre
Leader's seat Narbonne Orange Meurthe-et-Moselle
Last election132 seats160 seats59 seats
Seats won149110100
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 17Decrease2.svg 50Increase2.svg 41
Popular vote1,955,3061,422,6111,475,793
Percentage19.86%14.45%15.2%
SwingDecrease2.svg 0.65%Decrease2.svg 4.73%Decrease2.svg 2.89%

 Fourth partyFifth party
  Pierre-Etienne Flandin 1935.jpg Thorez.jpg
Leader Pierre-Étienne Flandin (AD) Maurice Thorez
Party AD-RI PCF
Alliance Right and Centre Popular Front
Leader's seat Yonne Seine
Last election121 seats10 seats
Seats won8272
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 39Increase2.svg 62
Popular vote2,089,1661,502,404
Percentage21.33%15.26%
SwingDecrease2.svg 1.89%Increase2.svg 6.94%

French Legislative election 1936.svg

Government before election

Albert Sarraut II
PRRRS (Republican coalition)

Elected Government

Léon Blum I
SFIO (Popular Front)

Political poster (1936) claiming that the Popular Front was under Soviet control. Ce sont les soviets qui tirent les ficelles du Front populaire.jpeg
Political poster (1936) claiming that the Popular Front was under Soviet control.

French legislative elections to elect the 16th legislature of the French Third Republic were held on 26 April and 3 May 1936. This was the last legislature of the Third Republic and the last election before World War II. The number of candidates set a record, with 4,807 people vying for 618 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In the Seine Department alone, there were 1,402 candidates. [1]

Contents

The Popular Front, composed of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), the Radical-Socialists, the French Section of the Communist International (SFIC), and miscellaneous leftists, won power from the broad Republican coalitions that had governed since the 6 February 1934 crisis. Léon Blum became president of the council. Broad Republican coalitions had governed since the 6 February 1934 crisis: Government Gaston Doumergue II (Union Nationale, 272 days), Government Flandin I (204 days), Government Bouisson (3 days) and Government Laval IV (229 days).

For the first time, the Radical-Socialists were eclipsed on the left by the SFIO, while still keeping a considerable role in French politics.

Regional results

Results

Summary of the popular vote in the 26 April and 3 May 1936 Chamber of Deputies election results
AllianceVotes%PartyAbbr.Votes%
  Popular Front 5,628,32157.17 French Section of the Workers' International (Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière)SFIO1,955,30619.86
French Communist Party (Parti communiste français)PCF1,502,40415.26
Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party (Parti républicain, radical et radical-socialiste)PRRRS1,422,61114.45
Miscellaneous Left (Divers gauche)DVG748,6007.60
 Right and Centre4,202,29842.68
Democratic Alliance (Alliance démocratique), Independent Radicals (Radicaux indépendents), Popular Democrats (Démocrates populaires)AD-RI-PDP2,536,29425.76
Republican Federation (Fédération républicaine), Independents, ConservativesFR1,666,00416.92
Other partiesDiv16,0470.16
Total9,846,666100
Abstention: 17.75%
Popular vote
AD-RI-PDP
25.76%
SFIO
19.86%
FR
16.92%
PCF
15.26%
PRRRS
14.45%
DVG
7.60%
Others
0.16%
Popular vote (alliances)
Popular Front
57.17%
Right and Centre
42.68%
Others
0.16%

Parliamentary Groups

AffiliationPartySeats
Left
  French Communist Party (PCF)72
  Party of Proletarian Unity (PUP)6
  French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO)149
  Socialist Republican Union (USR)29
Centre-Left
  Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party (PRRRS)110
  Radical-Socialist Party Camille Pelletan (PRS-CP)3
 Frontist Party2
  Party of the Young Republic (PJR)4
 Independent Left11
Centre-Right
  Democratic and Independent Radical Left 39
  Alliance of Left Republicans and Independent Radicals 43
  Independents of Popular Action 16
  Popular Democrats 13
Right
  Independent Republicans of Social Action and Agrarian Group 40
  Republican Federation and Independents of the National and Republican Union 60
  Republican Independents 13
Total610
% vote for the Front Populaire in 1936 FP1936.png
% vote for the Front Populaire in 1936

[2] [3]

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References