2007 French legislative election
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All 577 seats in the National Assembly 289 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 60.42% (first round) 59.98% (second round) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Legislative elections were held in France on 10 June and 17 June 2007 to elect the 13th
Taking place so shortly after the presidential poll, these elections provided the newly elected president with a legislative majority in line with his political objectives – as was the case in 2002, when presidential victor
Election system
The procedure by which deputies are elected is a mixture of
In most cases, there are only two candidates remaining for the second round: one left-wing (generally from the Socialist Party) and one right-wing (generally from the Union for a Popular Movement). Triangulaires happen when a third candidate reaches the second round and refuses to either abandon his candidacy or to enter any form of electoral alliance. In 2007, only one constituency experienced a triangulaire in the second round (in which Jean Lassalle, a MoDem candidate, was elected).
The
Campaign
Opinion polls and seat projections gave
Socialist Party
The Socialist Party's defeated 2007 presidential candidate, Ségolène Royal, also campaigned on behalf of her party, even though she did not run for re-election as a deputy in Deux-Sèvres. The Socialists sought to prevent the UMP from winning too wide a majority that would give Sarkozy "full powers".
Union for French Democracy
Between the two rounds of the presidential election, the
Interest in one local election race surrounded Gérard Vignoble of the UDF, who had represented Roubaix since 1988. Vignoble announced that he would not stand again since this would put him against cardiologist Salem Kacet of the UMP, who had operated on him in 1999 and saved his life. The two candidates had become close friends. Vignoble said that it was impossible for him to come to any other decision.[3] Nevertheless, Kacet still failed to take the seat, the winner being the Socialist Dominique Baert.
French Communist Party
The Communists hoped that their vote would hold up following their lowest percentage vote ever (1.93%) in the presidential race in May. While polls seemed unfriendly to the Communists, with some predicting less than 10 seats for the party, the second round's left surge prevented a massive Communist defeat. Although losing seats, they were able to gain or hold 15 seats. However, the PCF lost previously safe seats.
VAT polemic
During the electoral TV programme of the first round, the former Socialist Prime Minister
Opinion polls
Results
Contrary to the polls, the UMP lost ground, but it maintained a workable majority. The Socialists unexpectedly gained seats. Their plea to voters to prevent an overwhelming UMP dominance of the legislature appears to have paid off, providing the Socialists with a measure of redemption from the election loss. UDF splinter groups, François Bayrou's MoDem and the New Centre, contested their first elections. MoDem won 4 seats (including Mayotte regionalist Abdoulatifou Aly), while the New Centre was able to form a parliamentary group, with 22 seats. It remains to be seen whether Bayrou's party, which polled the third highest vote (7.61% in round one), will develop into a major political force. Their result is an improvement on the UDF's result of 4.9% in 2002. The National Front (FN) polled its lowest vote since its splash onto the political scene in 1986. The FN lost more than 60% of its support base since 2002. Support for the Communist Party also declined, and they saw a loss of several seats, whilst several other left-wing parties won nine new seats. The Greens gained one new seat, despite a fall in their vote. One of the most stunning results was the surprise defeat of UMP party leader Alain Juppé by the Socialist Party candidate Michèle Delaunay. Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres was defeated as well losing to Socialist Party candidate Jean-Patrick Gille. The far right did not win any seats.
Party | First round | Second round | Total seats | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
Union for a Popular Movement | 10,289,737 | 39.54 | 98 | 9,460,710 | 46.36 | 215 | 313 | |
Socialist Party | 6,436,520 | 24.73 | 1 | 8,624,861 | 42.27 | 185 | 186 | |
UDF–Democratic Movement | 1,981,107 | 7.61 | 0 | 100,115 | 0.49 | 3 | 3 | |
National Front | 1,116,136 | 4.29 | 0 | 17,107 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 | |
French Communist Party | 1,115,663 | 4.29 | 0 | 464,739 | 2.28 | 15 | 15 | |
Far-left | 888,250 | 3.41 | 0 | 0 | ||||
The Greens | 845,977 | 3.25 | 0 | 90,975 | 0.45 | 4 | 4 | |
Miscellaneous right | 641,842 | 2.47 | 2 | 238,588 | 1.17 | 7 | 9 | |
Presidential majority[a] | 616,440 | 2.37 | 8 | 433,057 | 2.12 | 14 | 22 | |
Miscellaneous left | 513,407 | 1.97 | 0 | 503,556 | 2.47 | 15 | 15 | |
Radical Party of the Left | 343,565 | 1.32 | 0 | 333,194 | 1.63 | 7 | 7 | |
Movement for France | 312,581 | 1.20 | 1 | 1 | ||||
Miscellaneous | 267,760 | 1.03 | 0 | 33,068 | 0.16 | 1 | 1 | |
Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions | 213,427 | 0.82 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Ecologists | 208,456 | 0.80 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Regionalists and separatists[b] | 133,473 | 0.51 | 0 | 106,484 | 0.52 | 1 | 1 | |
Far-right | 102,124 | 0.39 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Total | 26,026,465 | 100.00 | 110 | 20,406,454 | 100.00 | 467 | 577 | |
Valid votes | 26,026,465 | 98.13 | 20,406,454 | 96.58 | ||||
Invalid/blank votes | 495,357 | 1.87 | 722,585 | 3.42 | ||||
Total votes | 26,521,822 | 100.00 | 21,129,039 | 100.00 | ||||
Registered voters/turnout | 43,895,833 | 60.42 | 35,225,248 | 59.98 | ||||
Source: Ministry of the Interior |
- ^ Including New Centre, which won 20 of the 22 seats.[4]
- ^ Seat won by the Martinican Independence Movement
Parliamentary groups in the National Assembly
Group | Leader | Parties | Seats | Caucusing | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UMP Group | Jean-François Cope
|
UMP, DVD | 314 | 6 | 320 | |
Radical, and Citizen Group (Groupe socialiste, radical, et citoyen)
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Jean-Marc Ayrault | PS, PRG, DVG, MRC | 186 | 18 | 204 | |
Democratic and Republican Left group | Jean-Claude Sandrier | PCF, VEC, DVG, MIM | 24 | 0 | 24 | |
New Centre-Presidential Majority
|
François Sauvadet | NC-PSLE, MAJ, DVD | 20 | 3 | 23 | |
Non-Inscrits | MoDem, DLR, MPF | 6 | 0 | 6 | ||
Total | 551 | 26 | 577 |
See also
References
- ^ Le Canard enchaîné, 6 June 2007, "Une proportionnelle dans le tiroir" (in French)
- ^ Observations of the Constitutional Council Archived 22 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 7 July 2007 (in French)
- ^ source: France 2 news, Thursday, 17 May 2007
- ^ "Elections held in 2007". Inter-Parliamentary Union.