This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2008) |
![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 491 seats to the French National Assembly 246 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turnout | 82.8% (![]() 84.7% ( ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() |
---|
Legislative elections were held in France on 12 and 19 March 1978 to elect the sixth National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.
On 2 April 1974 President Georges Pompidou died. The non-Gaullist center-right leader Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was elected to succeed him. Because the Gaullist UDR was the largest party in the pro-Giscard majority in the Assembly, Giscard chose Jacques Chirac to lead the cabinet. This period was one of renovation for Gaullism.
The presidential will to "govern towards the center" and to promote a "modern liberal society" disconcerted the Gaullist party. The Abortion Act and the reduction of the age of majority to 18 years worried a part of the conservative electorate. Furthermore, a personal conflict opposed the two heads of the executive. In August 1976, Chirac resigned because he considered that he "(had) not the means to carry on (his) function of Prime Minister".
Three months later, the UDR was replaced by the Rally for the Republic (Rassemblement pour la République or RPR). This, Chirac's electoral machine, was officially a member of the Presidential Majority, but frequently criticized the liberal and pro-European policy of President Giscard d'Estaing and his new Prime minister Raymond Barre. The executive duo reacted by federating the non-Gaullist center-right in the Union for French Democracy (Union pour la démocratie française or UDF).
While the right-wing majority was divided and the economic situation deteriorated, the "Union of Left" won the mid-term local elections. According to the polls, it was the favourite to win the legislative election. In his Verdun-sur-le-Doubs speech, President Giscard d'Estaing warned the French voters that he could not prevent the enforcement of the left-wing Common programme if the "Union of Left" won. However, Socialists and Communists did not update their Common programme due to increasing tension between the two parties resulting from the PS gaining in electoral success at the PCF's expense.
For the first time since 1936, the Socialists obtained more votes than the Communists. Furthermore, the French electorate appeared evenly shared between four equivalent political parties (RPR, UDF, PS, PCF). Raymond Barre was confirmed as Prime Minister. Until the 2007 elections, it was the last time that either the right or the left had won back-to-back legislative elections.
Party | First round | Second round | Total seats | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
Rally for the Republic | 6,462,462 | 22.63 | 31 | 6,651,756 | 26.11 | 119 | 150 | |
Socialist Party | 6,451,151 | 22.59 | 1 | 7,212,916 | 28.31 | 103 | 104 | |
Union for French Democracy | 6,128,849 | 21.46 | 26 | 5,907,603 | 23.19 | 98 | 124 | |
French Communist Party | 5,870,402 | 20.55 | 4 | 4,744,868 | 18.62 | 82 | 86 | |
Far-left | 953,088 | 3.34 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Miscellaneous | 793,274 | 2.78 | 0 | 57,418 | 0.23 | 1 | 1 | |
Presidential majority | 684,985 | 2.40 | 6 | 305,763 | 1.20 | 10 | 16 | |
Ecologists | 612,100 | 2.14 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Radical Movement of the Left | 603,932 | 2.11 | 0 | 595,478 | 2.34 | 10 | 10 | |
Total | 28,560,243 | 100.00 | 68 | 25,475,802 | 100.00 | 423 | 491 | |
Valid votes | 28,560,243 | 98.00 | 25,475,802 | 97.21 | ||||
Invalid/blank votes | 581,736 | 2.00 | 730,908 | 2.79 | ||||
Total votes | 29,141,979 | 100.00 | 26,206,710 | 100.00 | ||||
Registered voters/turnout | 35,204,152 | 82.78 | 30,956,076 | 84.66 | ||||
Source: Roi et President, IPU, Quid |
Jacques René Chirac was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.
Gaullism is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withdrew French forces from the NATO Command Structure, forced the removal of Allied bases from France, as well as initiated France's own independent nuclear deterrent programme. His actions were predicated on the view that France would not be subordinate to other nations.
The Rally for the Republic was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaullist politics. On 21 September 2002, the RPR was merged into the Union for the Presidential Majority, later renamed the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).
The Union for French Democracy was a centre-right political party in France. The UDF was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the political right in France. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's 1976 book, Démocratie française.
Regional elections in were held in France on 21 and 28 March 2004. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 regions which, although they do not have legislative powers, manage sizeable budgets. The results were a triumph for the parties of the left, led by the French Socialist Party (PS) in alliance with minor parties, including the French Communist Party (PCF), the Left Radical Party (PRG) and The Greens. The left has usually fared moderately well in regional elections, but this was their best result since the regional system was introduced.
Raymond Octave Joseph Barre was a French right-wing politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents. He later served as Prime Minister under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing from 1976 until 1981. As a candidate for the presidency in 1988, he came in third and was eliminated in the first round. He was born in Saint-Denis, on the French island of Réunion, and then still a colony.
Presidential elections were held in France on 26 April 1981, with a second round on 10 May. François Mitterrand defeated incumbent president, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing to become the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic. It is the first presidential election in French history that an incumbent president actively seeking reelection was denied a second term.
Marielle de Sarnez was a French politician who served as Secretary of State for European Affairs under Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.
Presidential elections were held in France in 1974, following the death of President Georges Pompidou. They went to a second round, and were won by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing by a margin of 1.6%. It is to date the closest presidential election in French history.
Presidential elections were held in France on 1 June 1969, with a second round on 15 June. They occurred due to the resignation of President Charles de Gaulle on 28 April 1969. De Gaulle had decided to consult the voters by referendum about regionalisation and the reform of the Senate, and he had announced he would resign if it resulted in a "no" vote. On 27 April, 53.5% of the voters had voted "no".
The Republican Party was a liberal conservative political party in France founded in 1977. It replaced the National Federation of the Independent Republicans that was founded in 1966. It was created by the then-President of France, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. It was known to be conservative in domestic, social and economic policies, pro-NATO, and pro-European.
Legislative elections were held in France on 21 and 28 March 1993, to elect the tenth National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.
Legislative elections were held in France on 5 and 12 June 1988, to elect the ninth National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, one month after the re-election of François Mitterrand as President of France.
The French legislative elections took place on 16 March 1986 to elect the eighth National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. Contrary to other legislative elections of the Fifth Republic, the electoral system used was that of party-list proportional representation.
Legislative elections were held in France on 14 and 21 June 1981, to elect the seventh National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.
French legislative elections took place on 4 and 11 March 1973 to elect the fifth National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. The results were "mediocre" for the Gaullists.
French legislative elections took place on 5 and 12 March 1967 to elect the third National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. Although the Gaullists retained their absolute majority, the results made it clear that Charles de Gaulle's position was weakening, as the French Communist Party and the Socialists achieved 40% representation in parliament.
Michel Poniatowski was a French politician, member of a legitimized line of Poland's princely Poniatowski family. He was a founder of the Independent Republicans and a part of the administration for President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. Poniatowski served as Minister of Health from 1973 to 1974 and Minister of the Interior in the Giscard d'Estaing government from 1974 to 1977. He was a founder and honorary president of the Union for French Democracy.
The Centre of Social Democrats was a Christian-democratic and centrist political party in France. It existed from 1976 to 1995 and was based directly and indirectly on the tradition of the Popular Republican Movement (MRP). The CDS was one of the co-founding parties of the European People's Party, and later merged into the Democratic Force.
Centrism in France has played a major role in French politics over many decades. This page presents the parties, political movements and personalities linked to Centrism in France according to their political traditions or their background. The different families of centrism are presented in the different sections.