June 1946 French legislative election

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June 1946 French legislative election
Flag of France.svg
  1945 2 June 1946 1946 (Nov)  

All 586 seats to the French National Assembly
294 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout81.85% (Steady2.svg 0.0 pp)
 Majority partyMinority partyThird party
  Georges Bidault.jpg Maurice Thorez en 1948.jpg Mollet Harcourt 1948.jpg
Leader Georges Bidault Maurice Thorez Guy Mollet
Party MRP PCF SFIO
Leader's seat Loire Seine Pas-de-Calais
Last election150 seats159 seats146 seats
Seats won166153128
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 16Decrease2.svg 6Decrease2.svg 18
Popular vote5,589,2135,145,3254,187,747
Percentage28.22%25.98%21.14%

 Fourth partyFifth party
  No image available.svg Michel Clemenceau (cropped).png
Leader Jean-Paul David Michel Clemenceau
Party RGR PRL
Leader's seat Seine-et-Oise
Last election35 seats (Radicals and allies)New party
Seats won5235
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 17New party
Popular vote2,299,963
Percentage11.61%

French legislative election, June 1946.svg
PCF 153, SFIO 129, RGR 52, Mod. 78, MRP 166, Misc. 9

Prime Minister before election

Félix Gouin
SFIO

Elected Prime Minister

Georges Bidault
MRP

Legislative elections were held in France on 2 June 1946 to elect the second post-war Constituent Assembly designated to prepare a new constitution. The ballot system used was proportional representation.

Contents

After the liberation of France in the Second World War, three parties dominated the political scene due to their participation in the Resistance to the German occupation: the French Communist Party (PCF), the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO, socialist party) and the Popular Republican Movement (MRP) Christian democratic party. They formed a provisional government led by General Charles de Gaulle.

General de Gaulle advocated a strong presidential government. He felt that the "regime of the parties" under the French Third Republic's system of parliamentary government (characterised by its political instability and ever-changing coalitions) was a cause of the 1940 collapse. However, the three main parties considered parliamentary democracy to be inseparable from the ideology of French republicanism. To them, de Gaulle's project appeared to be a rebirth of Bonapartism. In January 1946, de Gaulle resigned from the Cabinet.

The socialist Félix Gouin succeeded him. A first constitutional draft was approved by the National Assembly. It was supported by the Communists and the Socialists. It concentrated power in a unicameral Assembly and abolished the Senate of France. The Christian-Democrats campaigned for the "No" with de Gaulle and the opponents to a constitutional change (the classical Right and the Rally of the Republican Lefts dominated by the Radical Party).

The "No" coalition warned the voters against the danger of a "dictatorship" of an Assembly dominated by the Marxists, which could question the existence of private property. In the "Yes" coalition, the SFIO refused the Communist proposition of a common campaign. Finally, the "No"s won by 53% of the votes (May 1946 French constitutional referendum).

Consequently, a new National Assembly was elected in order to elaborate a new constitutional draft. The MRP, which led the "No" coalition, became the largest party with more votes and seats than the PCF. The Communists and the Socialists no longer formed a majority, so the MRP was a necessary partner for the writing of a constitutional text. Its leader Georges Bidault took the lead role in the provisional government.

Results

Parties and coalitionsAbbr.Votes %Seats
Popular Republican Movement (Mouvement républicain populaire)MRP5,589,21328.22166
French Communist Party (Parti communiste français)PCF5,145,32525.98153
French Section of the Workers International (Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière)SFIO4,187,74721.14128
Total "Three-parties alliance"14,922,28575.34447
Moderates (Right-wing and UDMA) (Modérés)PRL/CNI2,538,16712.8278
Rally of Republican Lefts (Rassemblement des gauches républicaines)RGR2,299,96311.6152
Miscellaneous44,9150.239
Total20,215,200100586
Abstention: 18.15%
Popular vote
MRP
28.22%
PCF
25.98%
SFIO
21.14%
PRL
12.82%
RGR
11.61%
Others
0.23%
Parliamentary seats
MRP
31.06%
PCF
29.52%
SFIO
17.41%
PRL
12.29%
RGR
11.77%
Others
1.54%

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References

    Parliamentary Groups

    PartySeats
      Popular Republican Movement 166
      French Communist Party 153
      French Section of the Workers' International 128
      Republican Party of Liberty 35
      Radical Party 32
      Independent Republicans 32
      Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance 20
    Democratic Union of the Algerian Manifesto 11
      Non-inscrits 9
    Total586