French regional elections, 2015

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French regional elections, 2015
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 First partySecond partyThird party
  EPP Summit, March 2015, Brussels (16839373686) (cropped).jpg Socialist rally Zenith 2007 05 29 n1.jpg Le Pen, Marine-9586.jpg
Leader Nicolas Sarkozy Jean-Christophe Cambadélis Marine Le Pen
Party LR PS FN
Regions won7 + 1 ( UDI )5 + 2 ( DVG )0
ChangeIncrease2.svg 5Decrease2.svg 15Steady2.svg
First round5,785,0735,019,7236,018,672
Percentage26.65%23.12%27.73%
Second round10,127,1967,263,5676,820,147
Percentage40.24%28.86%27.10%
French regional elections 2015 2nd Round.svg
Second round results by region.

Regional elections were held in France on 6 and 13 December 2015. At stake were the regional councils in metropolitan and overseas France as well as the Corsican Assembly and inaugural seats in the Assembly of French Guiana  (fr ) and Assembly of Martinique  (fr ), all for a six-year term. The Departmental Council of Mayotte, which also exercises the powers of a region, is the only region not participating in this election, having already been renewed on 2 April 2015. There are 18 Regional Presidencies at stake, with 13 in continental France and Corsica, and 5 overseas. Though they do not have legislative autonomy, these territorial collectivities manage sizable budgets. Moreover, regional elections are often taken as a mid-term opinion poll.

France Republic with mainland in Europe and numerous oversea territories

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

Corsican Assembly

The Corsican Assembly is the unicameral legislative body of the territorial collectivity of Corsica. It has its seat at the Grand Hôtel d'Ajaccio et Continental, in the Corsican capital of Ajaccio. After the 2017 territorial elections, the assembly will be expanded from 51 to 63 seats, with the executive council expanding from 9 to 11 members.

A territorial collectivity is a chartered subdivision of France, with recognized governing authority. It is the generic name for any subdivision with an elective form of local government and local regulatory authority. The nature of a French territorial collectivity is set forth in Article 72 of the French constitution of 1958, which provides for local autonomy within limits prescribed by law.

Contents

These elections were the first to be held for the redrawn regions- the 27 regions of France were amalgamated into 18, this went into effect on 1 January 2016. [1] [2]

Voting system

The regional elections are held in direct universal suffrage using proportional representation lists. The election is held over two rounds, with majority bonus. The lists must be gender balanced by alternatively have a male candidate and a female candidate from the top to the bottom of the list. Only lists with as many candidates as available seats [3] in every departement of the region may compete. Before 2004, lists could be presented only at the departement level, allowing smaller parties (e.g. Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition, Alsace d'abord, Lutte Ouvrière, Revolutionary Communist League) to be represented as such in the regional councils and thus forcing major parties to enter into negotiations to rule some regions.

Lutte Ouvrière political party in France

Workers' Struggle is the name by which the French Trotskyist political party Communist Union is usually known, after the name of its weekly paper. Arlette Laguiller has been its spokeswoman since 1973 and ran in each presidential election until 2012, when Nathalie Arthaud was the candidate. Robert Barcia (Hardy) was its founder and central leader. Lutte Ouvrière is a member of the Internationalist Communist Union. It emphasises workplace activity and has been critical of such recent phenomena as alter-globalization.

Revolutionary Communist League (France) French political party

The Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) was a Trotskyist political party in France. It was the French section of the Fourth International (Post-Reunification). It published the weekly newspaper Rouge and the journal Critique communiste. Established in 1974, it became the leading party of the far-left in the 2000s. It officially abolished itself on 5 February 2009 to merge with smaller factions of the far-left and form a New Anticapitalist Party.

Following the 1999 and 2003 electoral reforms, with a first implementation in 2004, a two-round runoff voting system is used to elect the regional presidents. [4] If no party gets at least 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round is held, which any party who got at least 10% in the first round may enter. Lists that obtain at least 5% of the vote in the first round may merge in the second round with a 'qualified list', which includes candidates from each merged list.

Two-round system voting system used to elect a single winner where a second round of voting is used if no candidate wins an absolute majority in the first round

The two-round system is a voting method used to elect a single winner, where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate. However, if no candidate receives the required number of votes, then those candidates having less than a certain proportion of the votes, or all but the two candidates receiving the most votes, are eliminated, and a second round of voting is held.

At the decisive round (first round if a list won 50%, the second round if not), the leading list receives a premium of 25% of the seats while the remaining seats are distributed among all lists who received at least 5% of votes. Thus, the majority bonus allows a leading list to have an absolute majority of seats in the Regional Council from one third of votes in the second round. The seats are distributed among the lists at the regional level but within each list, seats are allocated by departement branch in proportion to the number of votes in each department.

Opinion polls

National results

France uses a two-round runoff system to elect the regional presidencies, and as such not all seats contested will see a candidate elected in the first round.

First round

The first round election was held on 6 December 2015.

ListVotesVotes %
Union of the Left 5,019,72323.12
Europe Ecology – The Greens 1,440,2266.63
Left Front 541,4092.49
Miscellaneous left 401,5171.85
French Communist Party 337,3901.55
Socialist Party 62,0700.29
Radical Party of the Left 4,2270.02
Total left-wing7,806,56235.96
 Union of the Right5,785,07326.65
France Arise 827,2623.81
Miscellaneous right 142,8360.66
Democratic Movement 85,4500.39
The Republicans 42,3460.20
Union of Democrats and Independents 1,8180.01
Total right-wing6,884,78531.72
National Front 6,018,67227.73
 Miscellaneous far-right34,0610.16
Total far-right6,052,73327.89
 Miscellaneous far-left 334,1401.54
 Regionalists273,4311.26
Popular Republican Union 189,0460.87
 Miscellaneous ecologists127,4510.59
 Miscellaneous other39,8830.18
Total22,609,602100
Registered voters/turnout45,298,64149.91

French regional elections 2015 1st Round.svg

Second round

Runoff elections were held on 13 December 2015 in regions where no candidate was able to win outright in the first round.

After the first round, the Socialist Party withdrew its lists in the regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Hauts-de-France, where they finished in third place, in an attempt to block the Front National from winning seats in the second round due to split opposition from the centre-left and centre-right blocs. [5] However, despite instructions from the party, the Socialist candidate chose to maintain his list in the region of Le Grand-Est, which similarly had them in third and the FN with a sizable lead after the first round. [6]

Socialist Party (France) French political party (1969– )

The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and was, for decades, the largest party of the French centre-left. The PS used to be one of the two major political parties in the French Fifth Republic, along with the Republicans. The Socialist Party replaced the earlier French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) in 1969, and is currently led by First Secretary Olivier Faure. The PS is a member of the Party of European Socialists (PES), the Socialist International (SI) and the Progressive Alliance.

Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur Administrative region of France

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur is one of the 18 administrative regions of France. Its capital is Marseille. The region is roughly coterminous with the former French province of Provence, with the addition of the following adjacent areas: the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin; the former Sardinian-Piedmontese county of Nice, whose coastline is known in English as the French Riviera, and in French as the Côte d'Azur; and the southeastern part of the former French province of Dauphiné, in the French Alps. Previously known by the acronym PACA, the region officially adopted the name Région Sud in December 2017. 4,935,576 people live in the region according to the 2012 census.

Hauts-de-France Administrative region of France

Hauts-de-France, is a region of France created by the territorial reform of French Regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its capital is Lille. The new region came into existence on 1 January 2016, after the regional elections in December 2015. France's Conseil d'État approved Hauts-de-France as the name of the region on 28 September 2016, effective 30 September 2016.

The result was a disappointment for the Front National, which was unable to win any of the regional presidencies in the face of concerted tactical voting. However, in both the north and the south, they managed to increase their share of the vote from the first round. [7] Of the 12 regions in mainland France, 7 were won by the Republicans and 5 were retained by the Socialists. [8]

ListVotesVotes %SeatsSeats %
Union of the Right10,127,19640.6381842.83
Union of the Left 7,263,56729.1452027.23
Miscellaneous left 622,3822.501447.54
Socialist Party 18,2880.07130.68
Total left-wing7,904,23731.7167735.45
National Front6,820,14727.3635818.74
Regionalists72,8290.29572.98
Total24,924,4091001914100
Registered voters/turnout44,832,73758.44

By region

The following table shows regional presidents before and after the elections, with merged regions shown alongside the region taking effect in 2016. The candidates on the left were the incumbents, whereas the candidates on the right were those elected (or re-elected) to the new regions. In the case of Corsica and Martinique, multiple presidencies were at stake.

Region President BeforeParty Region President AfterParty
Alsace Philippe Richert   LR Grand Est Philippe Richert   LR
Champagne-Ardenne Jean-Paul Bachy   DVG
Lorraine Jean-Pierre Masseret   PS
Aquitaine Alain Rousset   PS Nouvelle-Aquitaine Alain Rousset   PS
Limousin Gérard Vandenbroucke   PS
Poitou-Charentes Jean-François Macaire   PS
Auvergne René Souchon   PS Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Laurent Wauquiez   LR
Rhône-Alpes Jean-Jack Queyranne   PS
Burgundy François Patriat   PS Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Marie-Guite Dufay   PS
Franche-Comté Marie-Guite Dufay   PS
Brittany Pierrick Massiot   PS Brittany Jean-Yves Le Drian   PS
Centre-Val de Loire François Bonneau   PS Centre-Val de Loire François Bonneau   PS
Corsica Assembly Dominique Bucchini   PCF Corsica Assembly Jean-Guy Talamoni   CL
Executive Council Paul Giacobbi   DVG Executive Council Gilles Simeoni   FC
French Guiana Regional Council Rodolphe Alexandre   DVG French Guiana Assembly Rodolphe Alexandre   DVG
General Council Alain Tien-Liong   MDES
Guadeloupe Victorin Lurel   PS Guadeloupe Ary Chalus   DVG
Île-de-France Jean-Paul Huchon   PS Île-de-France Valérie Pécresse   LR
Languedoc-Roussilon Damien Alary   PS Occitanie Carole Delga   PS
Midi-Pyrénées Martin Malvy   PS
Réunion Didier Robert   LR Réunion Didier Robert   LR
Martinique Regional Council Serge Letchimy   PPM Martinique Assembly Claude Lise   RDM
General Council Josette Manin   BPM Executive Council Alfred Marie-Jeanne   MIM
Nord-Pas-de-Calais Daniel Percheron   PS Hauts-de-France Xavier Bertrand   LR
Picardy Claude Gewerc   PS
Lower Normandy Laurent Beauvais   PS Normandy Hervé Morin   UDI
Upper Normandy Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol   PS
Pays de la Loire Jacques Auxiette   PS Pays de la Loire Bruno Retailleau   LR
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Michel Vauzelle   PS Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Christian Estrosi   LR

The following table shows each major party's performance by region. The bolded candidates received the most votes, and were thus elected president of their respective regions.

Region Union of the Right Union of the Left National Front Regionalists
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Laurent Wauquiez
1,201,528 (40.61%)		 Jean-Jack Queyranne
1,089,791 (36.84%)		 Christophe Boudot
667,084 (22.55%)
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté François Sauvadet
382,177 (32.89%)		 Marie-Guite Dufay
402,941 (34.68%) 		Sophie Montel
376,902 (32.44%)
Brittany Marc Le Fur
387.836 (29.72%)		 Jean-Yves Le Drian
670,754 (51.41%) 		Gilles Pennelle
246,177 (18.87%)
Centre-Val de Loire Philippe Vigier
355,475 (34.58%)		 François Bonneau
364,211 (35.43%) 		Philippe Loiseau
308,422 (30.0%)
Corsica José Rossi
40,480 (27.07%)		 Paul Giacobbi
42,607 (28.09%)		 Christophe Canioni
13,599 (9.09%)		 Gilles Simeoni
52,839 (35.34%)
French Guiana Rodolphe Alexandre
21,163 (54.55%) 		Alain Tien-Liong
17,361 (45.45%)
Grand Est Philippe Richert
1,060,029 (48.4%)		 Jean-Pierre Masseret
339,749 (15.51%)		 Florian Philippot
790,141 (36.08%)
Guadeloupe Victorin Lurel
72,721 (42.48)		 Ary Chalus [9]
98,464 (57.42%)
Hauts-de-France Xavier Bertrand
1,389,316 (57.7%)		Withdrew Marine Le Pen
1,015,649 (42.23%)
Île-de-France Valérie Pécresse
1,629,249 (43.8%)		 Claude Bartolone
1,569,093 (42.18%)		 Wallerand de Saint-Just
521,383 (14.02%)
Martinique Serge Letchimy
70,776 (45.86%)		 Alfred Marie-Jeanne
83,541 (54.14%)
Normandy Hervé Morin
495,591 (36.43%)		 Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol
490,840 (36.08%)		 Nicolas Bay
374,089 (27.5%)
Nouvelle-Aquitaine Virginie Calmels
798,142 (34.06%)		 Alain Rousset
1,037,330 (44.27%) 		Jacques Colombier
507,660 (21.67%)
Occitanie Dominique Reynié
520,011 (21.32%)		 Carole Delga
1,092,969 (48.81%) 		Louis Aliot
826,023 (33.87%)
Pays de la Loire Bruno Retailleau
620,245 (42.7%)		 Christophe Clergeau
545,637 (37.56%)		 Pascal Gannat
286,723 (19.74%)
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Christian Estrosi
1,073,485 (54.78%)		Withdrew Marion Maréchal-Le Pen
886,147 (45.22%)
Réunion Didier Robert
173,592 (52.69%)		 Huguette Bello
155,896 (47.31%)

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References

  1. ↑ La carte à 13 régions définitivement adoptée, Le Monde, 17 December 2014, accessed 2 January 2015
  2. ↑ "LOI n° 2015–29 du 16 janvier 2015 relative à la délimitation des régions, aux élections régionales et départementales et modifiant le calendrier électoral – Legifrance" . Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  3. ↑ also compulsory in French municipal elections
  4. ↑ "French regional elections results". France in the United Kingdom - La France au Royaume-Uni. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  5. ↑ Siraud, Mathilde. "Face au FN, le PS choisit le "barrage républicain" contre l'avis de ses candidats". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Régionales/Grand-Est: Masseret (PS) maintient sa liste". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "France's far-right National Front loses a round, but they will be back". The Economist . 13 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  8. ↑ http://www.lemonde.fr/elections-regionales-2015/article/2015/12/13/les-resultats-des-elections-region-par-region_4831146_4640869.html
  9. ↑ Whilst not strictly a regionalist platform, Ary Chalus' list included a combination of local parties, socialists and conservative dissidents opposed to the list of the Socialist Party and its allies.
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