Union of the Right and Centre Union de la droite et du centre | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | UDC |
Leader | Vacant |
Founder | Charles de Gaulle |
Founded | 1967 |
Political position | Centre-right |
Colours | Blue |
Senate | 165 / 348 |
National Assembly | 68 / 577 |
European Parliament | 8 / 79 |
Presidencies of Regional Councils | 6 / 17 |
Presidency of Departmental Councils | 57 / 94 |
The Union of the Right and Centre (French : Union de la droite et du centre; UDC) is a term used in France to designate an electoral alliance between the parties of the right and of the centre-right.
Throughout the Fifth Republic, the Gaullist party allied itself with smaller right and centre political formations in order to obtain a majority in the National Assembly or for local elections. Between 2002 and 2012, almost all of this movement was united in the Union for a Popular Movement which then defined itself as the "party of the right and of the centre".
The term is subsequently used for the lists and candidacies presented by The Republicans party and its centrist allies (Union of Democrats and Independents and The Centrists).
With a view to the legislative elections of June 2022, the president of LR Christian Jacob unveiled during a National Congress organized on May 7, 2022, an agreement providing for mutual withdrawals between the three formations, including 457 candidates invested by LR, 59 by the UDI, 26 by LC and one by Liberties and Territories. [1] [2]
The Union for a Popular Movement was a liberal-conservative political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was one of the two major parties in French politics along with the Socialist Party (PS). In May 2015, the party was succeeded by The Republicans.
Marielle de Sarnez was a French politician who served as Secretary of State for European Affairs under Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.
The Democratic Force was a centrist political party in France that existed from 1995 to 1998. It was led by François Bayrou, who went on to become leader of the Union for French Democracy (UDF) upon the party's disestablishment.
The far-right tradition in France finds its origins in the Third Republic with Boulangism and the Dreyfus affair. In the 1880s, General Georges Boulanger, called "General Revenge", championed demands for military revenge against Imperial Germany as retribution for the defeat and fall of the Second French Empire during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). This stance, known as revanchism, began to exert a strong influence on French nationalism. Soon thereafter, the Dreyfus affair provided one of the political division lines of France. French nationalism, which had been largely associated with left-wing and Republican ideologies before the Dreyfus affair, turned after that into a main trait of the right-wing and, moreover, of the far right. A new right emerged, and nationalism was reappropriated by the far-right who turned it into a form of ethnic nationalism, blended with anti-Semitism, xenophobia, anti-Protestantism and anti-Masonry. The Action française (AF), first founded as a journal and later a political organization, was the matrix of a new type of counter-revolutionary right-wing, which continues to exist today. During the interwar period, the Action française and its youth militia, the Camelots du Roi, were very active. Far right leagues organized riots.
The Centrists, known as The Centrists – New Centre since 2018, formerly known as New Centre and European Social Liberal Party, is a centre-right political party in France formed by the members of the Union for French Democracy (UDF) – including 18 of the 29 members of the UDF in the National Assembly) – who did not agree with François Bayrou's decision to found the Democratic Movement (MoDem) and wanted to support the newly-elected president Nicolas Sarkozy, continuing the UDF–Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) alliance.
Françoise Férat is a French politician and a member of the Senate of France. She represents the Marne department and is a member of the Centrist Alliance.
Bérengère Poletti is a French politician who served as a member of the National Assembly of France from 2002 to 2022, representing the 1st constituency of the Ardennes département, and is a member of the Republicans.
The Republican Right group, formerly the Union for a Popular Movement group from 2003 and 2015 and The Republicans group from 2015 to 2024, is a parliamentary group in the National Assembly including representatives of The Republicans (LR), formerly the Union for a Popular Movement.
The Republicans is a liberal-conservative political party in France, largely inspired by the tradition of Gaullism. The party was formed in 2015 as the refoundation of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), which had been established in 2002 under the leadership of then-President of France, Jacques Chirac.
Renaissance (RE) is a political party in France that is typically described as liberal and centrist or centre-right. The party was originally known as En Marche ! (EM) and later La République En Marche !, before adopting its current name in September 2022. RE is the leading force of the centrist Ensemble coalition, coalesced around Emmanuel Macron's original presidential majority.
Presidential elections were held in France on 10 and 24 April 2022. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held, in which Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen and was re-elected as President of France. Macron, from La République En Marche! (LREM), had defeated Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, once already in the 2017 French presidential election, for the term which expired on 13 May 2022. Macron became the first president of France to win a re-election bid since Jacques Chirac won in 2002.
Agir, officially Agir, la droite constructive, was a political party in France, established on 26 November 2017. The majority of its founding members were previously associated with the Constructive faction within the centre-right Republicans. Styling itself as a "liberal, social, European, humanist and reformist" party, Agir was founded by a group of 19 established politicians as an alternative to The Republicans. The party merged with Renaissance as an "associate party" in 2022.
Legislative elections were held in France on 12 and 19 June 2022 to elect the 577 members of the 16th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. The elections took place following the 2022 French presidential election, which was held in April 2022. They have been described as the most indecisive legislative elections since the establishment of the five-year presidential term in 2000 and subsequent change of the electoral calendar in 2002. The governing Ensemble coalition remained the largest bloc in the National Assembly but substantially lost its ruling majority, resulting in the formation of France's first minority government since 1993; for the first time since 1997, the incumbent president of France did not have an absolute majority in Parliament. As no alliance won a majority, it resulted in a hung parliament for the first time since 1988.
Horizons is a centre-right political party in France founded in October 2021 by Édouard Philippe, at the time mayor of Le Havre and former Prime Minister of France.
Ensemble is a liberal political coalition in France created by Emmanuel Macron. Formed in November 2021 as Ensemble Citoyens, it makes up the presidential majority and includes Renaissance, Democratic Movement (MoDem), Horizons, En commun, and the Progressive Federation. The coalition included the parties Agir and Territories of Progress (TDP) until they were merged into the rebranded Renaissance. Ensemble has mainly been described as being centrist, and sometimes as centre-right on the political spectrum.
Reconquête, stylized as Reconquête!, is a ultra-nationalist political party in France founded in late 2021 by Éric Zemmour, who has since served as its leader. He was a far-right candidate in the 2022 presidential election, in which he placed fourth with just over 7% of the vote as the best newcomer.
The New Ecological and Social People's Union was a left-wing electoral alliance of political parties in France. Formed on May Day 2022, the alliance included La France Insoumise (LFI), the Socialist Party (PS), the French Communist Party (PCF), The Ecologists (LE), Ensemble! (E!), and Génération.s (G.s), and their respective smaller partners. It was the first wide left-wing political alliance since the Plural Left in the 1997 French legislative election. Over 70 dissident candidates who refused the accord still ran.
Legislative elections were held in France on 30 June and 7 July 2024 to elect all 577 members of the 17th National Assembly of the Fifth French Republic. The election followed the dissolution of the National Assembly by President Emmanuel Macron, triggering a snap election after the National Rally (RN) made substantial gains and Macron's Besoin d'Europe electoral list lost a significant number of seats in the 2024 European Parliament election in France.
The Republican alliance crisis was triggered by the formation of the Union of the Far-Right, an alliance between Éric Ciotti, the president of The Republicans (LR), and the National Rally (RN) ahead of the 2024 French legislative election. LR MPs and senators questioned claims the alliance was revolutionary. The senior members unanimously removed its president for unsanctioned negotiations and disrespect for party statutes, which was unprecedented in France. This broke the traditional cordon sanitaire against the far-right, a major party allying with the National Rally.
The Union of the Right for the Republic, formerly known as the Association ofFriends of Éric Ciotti and On the Right! Friends of Éric Ciotti, is a French political party founded in 2012 by Éric Ciotti, former president of The Republicans (LR). The party took its current name following the crisis within The Republicans due to the 2024 legislative election.