2012 French legislative election
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 577 seats in the National Assembly 289 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 57.22% (first round) 55.40% (second round) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
|
Legislative elections were held in France on 10 and 17 June 2012 (and on other dates for small numbers of voters outside metropolitan France) to select the members of the 14th
All 577 single member seats in the assembly, including those representing
Background
Presidential election
The elections came a month after the presidential election won by François Hollande of the Socialist Party. Since 2002, legislative elections immediately follow the presidential ones. This was designed to limit the possibility of a cohabitation, whereby the President and his or her Prime Minister, backed by a parliamentary majority, would be of opposite parties. The aim was also to give the new president and his government a "double mandate", the election of the President being followed by that of a parliamentary majority enabling him to implement his policies.[3][4] This is what happened in 2002 and 2007.[5] Thus, in 2012, the Socialist Party has asked French citizens to "confirm" the result of the presidential election; Hollande's campaign director Pierre Moscovici argued it would not make sense to have elected a President only for him to be rendered "powerless" by the legislative election: "This President tomorrow must have a majority with which to govern". By contrast, the Union for a Popular Movement, on the right, has repeatedly asked that the left not be given "all the powers" through this election.[6][7][8][9] The legislative elections in France are often described as the "third round" of the presidential election.[5][7][9][10]
Ethnic and gender pluralism
In order to make possible the election of some candidates of non-European ethnic background (North African, Subsaharan African and West Indian) as well as for female candidates, the Socialist Party had, like in 2007, reserved several constituencies for them, 22 for ethnic minorities and 49% for women.[11][12][13]
At the end of the second round, there were 13 metropolitan deputies with non-European ethnic background, including two government members (Kader Arif, former Euro MP, and George Pau-Langevin, already deputy since 2007) who will be replaced by their alternate candidates:
- 6 with Algerian roots: Kheira Bouziane (PS), Pascal Cherki (PS), Jean-François Copé (UMP), Razzy Hammadi (PS), Chaynesse Khirouni(PS)
- 2 with Lebanese roots: Christian Assaf (PS), Henri Jibrayel (PS)
- 2 with Guadeloupean roots: Hélène Geoffroy (PS), George Pau-Langevin (PS)
- 1 with Tunisian roots: Pierre Lellouche (UMP) (and Razzy Hammadi, whose mother is a Tunisian)
- 1 with Chadian roots: Seybah Dagoma (PS)
- 1 with Brazilian roots: Eduardo Rihan Cypel (PS)
Among the 11 deputies who represent French citizens abroad, one is from Réunion, Corinne Narassiguin (PS), another has Chilean roots, Sergio Coronado (EELV) and a third one has Iranian roots, Pouria Amirshahi (PS).
Electoral system
A total of 6,603 candidates ran for the 577 seats, an average of 11 per constituency. Some 40% are women.
French expatriates elected their own MPs for the first time – voting early, from 23 to 26 May or on 2 or 3 June for the first round and from 6 to 12 June or on 16 or 17 June for the second, depending on their location and the method by which they cast their ballot. If an expatriate votes via the Internet, he or she has a week to do so from 23 to 26 May. A
The two-round system
Each of the 577 constituencies elects one representative to the National Assembly, in a two-round election. A candidate is elected in the first round if he or she obtains an absolute majority of the vote in his or her constituency and the votes of at least one quarter of all registered voters in the constituency. If a large number of voters abstain, an absolute majority of the vote may thus not be enough, although this rarely happens. (In the 2012 election, one surprising example was in Martinique's 3rd constituency, where incumbent MP Serge Letchimy of the Martinican Progressive Party received 63.29% of the vote, but narrowly failed to be immediately elected due to a very low turnout (30.67%).[18]) If no candidate is elected in the first round, then the two candidates who finished first and second in the first round advance automatically to the second for a runoff. They may be joined by the third- or even fourth-placed candidate; the second round is open to any candidate who has obtained the votes of at least 12.5% of registered voters in the constituency.[19] Low turnouts therefore decrease the likelihood of a three-person runoff (known in France as a triangulaire). In the second round, the candidate who obtains the most votes is elected; an absolute majority is not required. (In the unlikely event of a tie, the elder of the tied candidates is elected.)[20]
Candidates who advance to the second round have the option of withdrawing. Usually this happens in a triangulaire, where the party and/or candidate that finished third in the first round prefers to favour one of the two leading candidates. In the 2012 election, for example, third-placed UMP candidate Roland Chassain in the
Redistricting
The
Officially, the dual purpose of the redistricting was to ensure a more equal number of voters per constituency, but also to provide seats in the National Assembly to French citizens resident overseas. Thirty-three constituencies were abolished, and thirty-three new ones created. Of the latter, nineteen were in France, while the rest of the world was divided into eleven constituencies for French residents overseas.[25][26]
Parties
Main parties and their aims
The Socialist Party sought to obtain a parliamentary majority with which to implement its policies. Three possible scenarios could have occurred if the left won overall:
- The Socialist Party has an absolute majority of seats, and can govern alone, without having to rely on the support of smaller left-wing or centre-left parties.
- The Socialist Party has a majority with the support of its government partners: Europe Ecology – The Greens, the Radical Party of the Left (centre-left), and the small Citizen and Republican Movement.
- The Socialist Party and its aforementioned partners lack a majority alone, and require the support of the Left Front in order to govern. The Left Front has indicated that it would never bring down the Socialist government, but that it would not systematically support the government's policies, and would require support for some of its own policy proposals.[27]
The
The Left Front aimed to have a sizable group in Parliament, with which to have meaningful influence on the policies of the Socialist government.[27]
The
The Democratic Movement aimed to preserve its three seats, although its earlier ambitions were much higher. Opinion polls suggest the party may disappear from the Assembly completely, and is unlikely to obtain any additional seats.[27]
In all, twelve parties or alliances stood more than a hundred candidates. The Socialist Party had 459 candidates, and endorsed candidates of allied parties in other constituencies. The UMP had 501 candidates, and endorsed candidates of allied parties (most notably the
Also standing over a hundred candidates were:[28]
- Workers' Struggle: 536
- the New Anticapitalist Party: 329
- the Independent Ecological Alliance: 292
- Arise the Republic: 253
- an alliance of The Clover - The New Ecologists and the Humans, Animals, Nature Movement: 132
- the Independent Workers' Party: 103
- Pirate Party: 101
UMP position on the National Front
With the prospect of National Front candidates reaching the second round alongside the mainstream candidates of the left and right in a number of constituencies, the Socialist Party announced that it would withdraw its candidate from the second round in those constituencies, if and only if it appeared that the National Front candidate had a realistic prospect of winning. In such cases, the Socialists would support the UMP candidate as part of a "republican front" against the far right. The UMP, by contrast, refrained from saying it would withdraw and support a Socialist candidate in those same circumstances.[29]
Instead, 64% of UMP voters said they would favour an alliance between their own party and the extreme right for the legislative election.[30] Leading figures of the UMP rejected the possibility. Chantal Jouanno said she was worried it might be under consideration, leading party leader Jean-François Copé to assure her publicly "there will never be an alliance with the National Front".[31] Two days before the first round, Alain Juppé called upon party members to resist the "temptation" of local alliances with the far right, arguing on "moral", "pragmatic" and "tactical grounds", highlighting ideological and policy incompatibility and the National Front's stated aim to "break" and replace the UMP.[32]
The day after the first round, the UMP officially announced its position. The party told its candidates not to withdraw if they had entered the second round in third place behind a Socialist candidate and a candidate of the National Front. In addition, in constituencies where the second round was a runoff between the left and the National Front, the UMP would not support either candidate.[33] Roland Chassain, UMP candidate in the Bouches-du-Rhône's 16th constituency, immediately disobeyed the party line, announcing he was withdrawing from the second round and supporting the National Front candidate. He explained that he considered himself "closer to Marine Le Pen than to the Socialist Party".[21] In the Gard's 2nd constituency, third-placed UMP candidate Etienne Mourrut also publicly considered defying party instructions and withdrawing in favour of National Front candidate Gilbert Collard. Ultimately, he decided to comply with party instructions and remain in the race.[34]
Simultaneously,
Pierre Moscovici, Socialist Minister of Finance, stated on 12 June that the UMP had lost its way and its values and no longer knew what it stood for, in response to its position on the National Front.[42] Later that same day, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault accused the UMP of "preparing a strategic alliance with the National Front", adding: "I think it was underway with Nicolas Sarkozy, but now the UMP really is at a turning point".[43]
Campaign
The official campaign began, in metropolitan France, on 21 May. In every constituency, each candidate has a billboard outside every polling station, upon which to display a campaign poster. Campaign material is also distributed by candidates' supporters in the streets and in letterboxes, and many campaign posters are illegally displayed in the streets. Transmitting campaign material to voters by e-mail is, however, prohibited. Nationwide, parties represented in the National Assembly prior to the election (i.e., the
The leaflets of the candidates for the French nationals abroad (Français établis à l'étranger) seats were published online on the website of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.[46][47]
Opinion polls
Results
The election was won by the left, providing the new government with an absolute parliamentary majority. The parties of the presidential majority together have 55.97% of seats; with the Left Front providing them with
The Socialist Party (along with a small number of affiliated miscellaneous left candidates) obtained 300 seats, an absolute majority. Favoured by electoral alliances with the Socialist Party, its close allies, the Radical Party of the Left and the Citizen and Republican Movement, obtained respectively 13 and 2 seats, for a total of 315. This meant that the Socialists could govern without having to rely on the support of other left-wing parties – the Greens, or the Left Front.[50][51]
Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV), part of the government and of the presidential majority, also benefited from an electoral alliance with the Socialists, increasing its number of seats from just 4 to 18. (They immediately lost one, however, as EELV leader Cécile Duflot had to relinquish her seat in order to stay in government, and her seat went to her Socialist running mate.) This enabled the Greens to form an official parliamentary group. They become the third biggest party in the Assembly.[50][51]
The Left Front, which decided to stand alone after electoral alliance negotiations with the Socialists broke down, lost half its seats (from 19 down to 10), despite a substantial increase in the number of votes its received. It no longer has enough seats (15) to be recognised as a parliamentary group on its own,
The Union for a Popular Movement (and affiliated miscellaneous right candidates), now the main opposition party, lost 112 seats, and several of its prominent members were defeated. In particular, 20 of the 41 members of the "Popular Right" (hard right) faction of the party standing for re-election lost their seats – most notably,
The Democratic Movement (MoDem) lost its leader,
The far right obtained representatives in the Assembly for the first time since the 1997 election. Party leaders
In overseas departments and territories, several local parties gained or maintained representation. The
The far left parties, as well as the Pirate Party and the small environmentalist parties, failed to reach the second round in any constituency.[64]
Europe Ecology – The Greens 1,418,264 | 5.46 | 1 | 829,036 | 3.60 | 16 | 17 | | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Miscellaneous right | 910,034 | 3.51 | 1 | 417,940 | 1.81 | 14 | 15 | ||||||||
Miscellaneous left | 881,555 | 3.40 | 1 | 709,395 | 3.08 | 21 | 22 | ||||||||
New Centre | 569,897 | 2.20 | 1 | 568,319 | 2.47 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||
Centre for France | 458,098 | 1.77 | 0 | 113,196 | 0.49 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Radical Party of the Left | 428,898 | 1.65 | 1 | 538,331 | 2.34 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||
Radical Party | 321,124 | 1.24 | 0 | 311,199 | 1.35 | 6 | 6 | ||||||||
Far-left | 253,386 | 0.98 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
Ecologists | 249,068 | 0.96 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
Centrist Alliance | 156,026 | 0.60 | 0 | 123,132 | 0.53 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Regionalists and separatists[a] | 145,809 | 0.56 | 0 | 135,312 | 0.59 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Far-right[b] | 49,499 | 0.19 | 0 | 29,738 | 0.13 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Others | 133,752 | 0.52 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
Total | 25,952,859 | 100.00 | 36 | 23,029,308 | 100.00 | 541 | 577 | ||||||||
Valid votes | 25,952,859 | 98.42 | 23,029,308 | 96.15 | |||||||||||
Invalid/blank votes | 416,267 | 1.58 | 923,178 | 3.85 | |||||||||||
Total votes | 26,369,126 | 100.00 | 23,952,486 | 100.00 | |||||||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 46,082,104 | 57.22 | 43,233,648 | 55.40 | |||||||||||
Source: Ministry of the Interior |
- ^ Both seats won by the Martinican Independence Movement
- ^ Seat won by League of the South
Gains and losses
Based on notional party affiliation on dissolution after redistricting, regardless of party affiliation on previous election.
Party | Unseated | Gained | Net Result | |
---|---|---|---|---|
PC (Communist Party) | 6 | 1 | -5 | |
FASE (Communist dissidents) | 1 | 0 | -1 | |
PG (Party of the Left) | 2 | 0 | -2 | |
Left-wing Regionalists | 0 | 2 | +2 | |
Left Front and allies | 9 | 3 | -6 | |
PS (Socialist Party) | 3 | 99 | +96 | |
MRC (Citizens' Republican Movement) | 0 | 2 | +2 | |
PRG (Radical Party of the Left) | 2 | 7 | +5 | |
Miscellaneous Left | 3 | 9 | +6 | |
EELV (Greens) | 1 | 14 | +13 | |
Left-Wing Presidential Majority | 9 | 131 | +122 | |
Modem (Democratic Movement) | 2 | 1 | -1 | |
Center For France | 2 | 1 | -1 | |
NC (New Centre) | 8 | 0 | -8 | |
AC (Centrist Alliance) | New party | 2 | +2 | |
PRV (Radical Party) | 10 | 2 | -8 | |
UMP (Union for a Popular Movement) | 105 | 1 | -104 | |
Miscelleanous Right | 5 | 6 | +1 | |
MPF (Movement For France) | 1 | 0 | -1 | |
Parliamentary Right (UMP and allies) | 129 | 11 | -118 | |
FN (National Front) | 0 | 2 | +2 | |
Others | 0 | 1 | +1 | |
Other Right | 0 | 3 | +3 |
Based on notional distribution of seats before dissolution and after the 2010 redistricting, 149 seats switched party (26% of the National Assembly, more than in any of the three previous elections). 8 seats switched from the left to the right, 9 from the extreme-left to the left, 119 from the right to the left, 3 from the right to the extreme-right, 3 from the right to the extreme-left, 2 from Modem to the left, 1 from the right to Modem. Four seats switched party within the left (two from PS to PRG, one from PRG to PS, one from PS to EELV) as a result of coalition agreements.
Notable individual results
Government ministers
It is not compulsory in France for a government minister to obtain an electoral mandate, but ministers usually do seek the legitimacy it implies. As no person may simultaneously be a member of the executive and the legislature, any government minister elected to Parliament must immediately resign from their newly obtained seat in the Assembly, in order to remain a minister.[65] Their running mate then takes their seat, and holds it until and unless they cease to be a minister, whereupon they revert to being a member of the Assembly. Prior to the 2012 election, new Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault ruled that any minister who stood in the election and was beaten would have to resign from government. Two ministers, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and Christiane Taubira, opted to withdraw their candidacies in their respective constituencies. Twenty-five ministers (including Ayrault) did decide to stand, while the remaining eight had never expressed an intention to do so.[66]
All government ministers standing as candidates were elected or re-elected, and were thus able to remain in government. Specifically, they fared as follows:[67]
Minister | Party | Constituency | Result | Running mate (actual MP if elected) |
Remarks | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jean-Marc Ayrault | PS | Loire-Atlantique's 3rd | Re-elected in the first round (56.21%) | Jean-Pierre Fougerat | |||
Laurent Fabius | PS | Seine-Maritime's 4th | Re-elected in the first round (52.81%) | Guillaume Bachelay | |||
Delphine Batho | PS | Deux-Sèvres's 2nd | Re-elected in the first round (53.18%) | Jean-Luc Drapeau | |||
Bernard Cazeneuve | PS | Manche's 4th | Elected in the first round (55.39%) | Geneviève Gosselin | Manche's 5th before redistricting (PS hold) | ||
Victorin Lurel | PS | Guadeloupe's 4th | Re-elected in the first round (67.23%) | Hélène Vainqueur-Christophe | |||
Frédéric Cuvillier | PS | Pas-de-Calais's 5th | Re-elected in the first round (50.66%) | Thérèse Guilbert | |||
Benoît Hamon | PS | Yvelines's 11th | Elected in the second round (55.38%) | Jean-Philippe Mallé | Seat gained from the UMP | ||
Aurélie Filippetti | PS | Moselle's 1st | Elected in the second round (59.04%) | Gérard Terrier | Incumbent for Moselle's 8th, seat abolished in redistricting. Seat gained from the UMP (swing: 11.44%) | ||
Stéphane Le Foll | PS | Sarthes's 4th | Elected in the second round (59.45%). | Sylvie Tolmont | Seat gained from the UMP. (It had been won by UMP Prime Minister François Fillon in 2007.) | ||
George Pau-Langevin | PS | Paris's 15th | Elected in the second round. Awaiting specific results |
Fanélie Carrey- Comte | Paris's 21st before redistricting (PS hold) | ||
Marie-Arlette Carlotti | PS | Bouches-du-Rhône' 5th | Elected in the second round. Awaiting specific results |
Avi Assouly | Seat gained from the UMP | ||
Cécile Duflot | EELV | Paris's 6th | Elected in the second round. Awaiting specific results |
Danièle Hoffman-Rispal[68] | Redistricted from former Paris's 6th and Paris's 7th. Technically Greens gain from PS (although Duflot will keep her cabinet post and incumbent Hoffman-Ripsal will sit in the National Assembly) | ||
Pierre Moscovici | PS | Doubs's 4th | Re-elected in the second round. Awaiting specific results |
Frédéric Barbier | |||
François Lamy | PS | Essonne's 6th | Re-elected in the second round (57.77%) | Jérôme Guedj | |||
Sylvia Pinel | PRG | Tarn-et-Garonne's 2nd | Re-elected in the second round (59.86%) | Jacques Moignard[69] | |||
Marisol Touraine | PS | Indre-et-Loire's 3rd | Re-elected in the second round (60.21%) | Jean-Marie Beffara | |||
Jérôme Cahuzac | PS | Lot-et-Garonne's 3rd | Re-elected in the second round. Awaiting specific results |
Jean-Claude Gouget[70] | |||
Manuel Valls | PS | Essonne's 1st | Re-elected in the second round (65.58%) | Carlos Da Silva | |||
Genevieve Fioraso
|
PS | Isère's 1st | Re-elected in the second round (58.34%) | Olivier Véran | |||
Alain Vidalies | PS | Landes's 1st | Re-elected in the second round (59.12%) | Florence Delaunay | |||
Marylise Lebranchu | PS | Finistère's 4th | Re-elected in the second round. Awaiting specific results |
Gwenegan Bui | |||
Michèle Delaunay | PS | Gironde's 2nd | Re-elected in the second round (58.44%) | Vincent Feltesse | |||
Valérie Fourneyron | PS | Seine-Maritime's 1st | Re-elected in the second round (57.96%) | Pierre Léautey | |||
Kader Arif | PS | Haute-Garonne's 10th | Elected in the second round (57.78%) | Émilienne Poumirol |
Others
Other notable national political figures fared as follows:[67][71]
Elected or re-elected:
Candidate | Party | Constituency | Result | Notability | Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Noël Mamère | EELV | Gironde's 3rd | Re-elected in the first round (51.98%) | Former presidential candidate | ||
Élisabeth Guigou | PS | Seine-Saint-Denis's 6th | Elected in the second round in a walkover | Former minister; originator of the 2000 law on the presumption of innocence (loi Guigou) | Sole candidate in the second round following Patrick Le Hyaric's withdrawal | |
Marie-George Buffet | FG | Seine-Saint-Denis's 4th | Elected in the second round in a walkover | Former minister; former General Secretary of the Communist Party; former presidential candidate. | Sole candidate in the second round following Najia Amzal's withdrawal | |
Malek Boutih | PS | Essonne's 10th | Elected in the second round (56.84%) | Former president of SOS Racisme | ||
Henri Guaino | UMP | Yvelines's 3rd | Elected in the second round (61.85%) | Former special adviser to President Nicolas Sarkozy | ||
Jean-François Copé | UMP | Seine-et-Marne's 6th | Re-elected in the second round (59.53%) | General Secretary of the UMP | ||
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet | UMP | Essonne's 4th | Re-elected in the second round (51.48%) | Former minister | ||
François Fillon | UMP | Paris's 2nd | Re-elected in the second round Awaiting specific results |
Former Prime Minister | ||
Valérie Pécresse | UMP | Yvelines's 2nd | Re-elected in the second round (58.67%) | Former minister | ||
François Baroin | UMP | Aube's 3rd | Re-elected in the second round Awaiting specific results |
Former minister | ||
Bruno Le Maire | UMP | Eure's 1st | Re-elected in the second round (57.97%) | Former minister | ||
Luc Chatel | UMP | Haute-Marne's 1st | Re-elected in the second round (55.06%) | Former minister | ||
Laurent Wauquiez | UMP | Haute-Loire's 1st | Re-elected in the second round (63.95%) | Former minister | ||
Xavier Bertrand | UMP | Aisne's 2nd | Re-elected in the second round (50.25%) | Former minister | Retained his seat by a margin of 222 votes (0.5%). Swing: -3.03% | |
David Douillet | UMP | Yvelines's 12th | Elected in the second round (54.59%) | Former minister; former Olympic judo champion | ||
Thierry Mariani | UMP | Expatriates' 11th | Elected in the second round Awaiting specific results |
Former minister | ||
Éric Woerth | UMP | Oise's 4th | Re-elected in the second round (59.23%) | Former minister | ||
Bernard Accoyer | UMP | Haute-Savoie's 1st | Re-elected in the second round (56.06%) | Former President of the National Assembly
|
||
Hervé Morin | NC | Eure's 3rd | Re-elected in the second round (53.17%) | President of the New Centre; former minister | ||
Jean Lassalle | MoDem | Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 4th
|
Re-elected in the second round (50.98%) | Leading member of the Democratic Movement | ||
Jean-Louis Borloo | PR | Nord's 21st | Re-elected in the second round (55.83%) | President of the Radical Party; former minister | ||
Marion Maréchal-Le Pen
|
FN | Vaucluse's 3rd constituency | Elected in the second round (42.09%) | Granddaughter of Jean-Marrie Le Pen | ||
Gilbert Collard | FN | Gard' 2nd | Elected in the second round (42.82%) | Celebrity lawyer | ||
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan | DLR | Essonne's 8th | Re-elected in the second round (61.39%) | 2012 presidential candidate |
Beaten:
Candidate | Party | Constituency | Result | Notability | Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ségolène Royal | PS | Charente-Maritime's 1st | Beaten in the second round (37.03%) | 2007 presidential election runner-up | ||
Jack Lang | PS | Vosges's 2nd | Beaten in the second round Awaiting specific results |
Veteran politician; former minister; creator of the internationally celebrated Fête de la Musique; originator of the Lang Law | ||
Claude Guéant | UMP | Hauts-de-Seine's 9th | Beaten in the second round (38.41%) | Former minister | ||
Nadine Morano | UMP | Meurthe-et-Moselle's 5th | Beaten in the second round (44.33%) | Former minister | Defeated incumbent. Swing: -8.49% | |
Frédéric Lefebvre | UMP | Expatriates' 1st | Beaten in the second round Awaiting specific results |
Former minister | ||
Michèle Alliot-Marie | UMP | Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 6th | Beaten in the second round (48.38%) | Former minister | Defeated incumbent. Swing: -9.99% | |
François Bayrou | MoDem | Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 2nd | Beaten in three-way runoff against PS and UMP (second with 30.17%) | President of the Democratic Movement; former minister | Defeated incumbent (swing −31.04%) | |
Marine Le Pen | FN | Pas-de-Calais's 11th | Beaten in the second round (49.89%) | 2012 presidential candidate; president of the National Front | ||
Louis Aliot | FN | Pyrénées-Orientales's 1st | Beaten in the second round (23.24%) | Vice-president of the National Front | ||
Jean-Luc Mélenchon | FG | Pas-de-Calais's 11th | Beaten; third in the first round (21.46%) | 2012 presidential candidate; co-president of the Left Party; former minister | ||
Rama Yade | PR | Hauts-de-Seine's 2nd | Beaten; third in the first round (13.84%) | Former minister | ||
Nathalie Arthaud | LO | Seine-Saint-Denis's 6th | Beaten; sixth in the first round (2.47%) | 2012 presidential candidate | ||
Philippe Poutou | NPA | Gironde's 5th | Beaten; eighth in the first round (2.12%) | 2012 presidential candidate | ||
Maxime Rouquet
|
PP | Yvelines's 10th | Beaten; seventh in the first round (1.82%) | Co-president of the Pirate Party | ||
Jean-Marc Governatori | AEI | Alpes-Maritimes's 1st
|
Beaten; eighth in the first round (0.71%) | General secretary of the Independent Ecological Alliance |
Notable races
These constituencies attracted particular media interest, due to the presence of a notable candidate facing for example unexpected difficulties, or on the contrary an unexpectedly easy race, or due to the prospect of a significant and meaningful change in fortune for a party. Libération published a list of "twenty-five constituencies to watch out for", with commentaries.[72] France 24 identified eleven "constituencies to watch out for".[73]
Pas-de-Calais 11th
For the first time, two major
On the first round, Le Pen won a plurality of the vote. The left-wing vote was split, with the Socialist candidate Philippe Kemel receiving more votes than Mélenchon. All three candidates qualified for the run-off, but Mélenchon withdrew and supported Kemel for the second round. Kemel narrowly won the seat (retaining it for the Socialist Party) with 50.1% of the vote, defeating Marine Le Pen.[83]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
PS | Philippe Kemel | 26,812 | 50.11 | -11.55 | |
FN
|
Marine Le Pen | 26,694 | 49.89 | n/a | |
Turnout | 55,712 | 59.18 | +1.94 | ||
PS hold | Swing | -11.55 |
Pyrénées-Atlantiques 2nd
Attention was also drawn to the Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 2nd constituency, where presidential candidate François Bayrou of the centrist Democratic Movement was hoping to retain his seat. Bayrou had held the seat continuously since 1988, but the press raised the possibility that he might this time be beaten. Until 2002, the mainstream right had not stood a candidate against him, and in 2007 the candidate of the Union for a Popular Movement had withdrawn in his favour in the second round. Following Bayrou's personal endorsement of François Hollande for the second round of the 2012 presidential election, however, the UMP maintained a candidate against him. He also had to contend with a Socialist opponent, despite there having been talk in the Socialist Party of not standing a candidate in his constituency, as a gesture of acknowledgment for his endorsement of Hollande.[85]
Bayrou was defeated, with the seat going to Socialist candidate Nathalie Chabanne.[86]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
PS | Nathalie Chabanne | 20,090 | 42.78 | +3.99 | |
MoDem | François Bayrou | 14,169 | 30.17 | -31.04 | |
UMP | Éric Saubatte | 12,700 | 27.04 | n/a | |
Turnout | 48,151 | 61.99 | -0.75 | ||
PS gain from MoDem | Swing |
Charente-Maritime 1st
In Charente-Maritime's 1st constituency, no candidate of the right, centre or far right reached the second round. The second round was between Ségolène Royal, the Socialist Party's candidate to the 2007 presidential election (who obtained 32.03% in the first round) and a dissident Socialist, Olivier Falorni (28.91%).[88]
Falorni won the seat, defeating Royal by a comfortable margin.[89]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DVG | Olivier Falorni | 38,539 | 62.97 | n/a | |
PS | Ségolène Royal | 22,667 | 37.03 | -18.02 | |
Turnout | 63,247 | 64.05 | -0.08 | ||
DVG gain from PS | Swing |
Paris 4th
In well-off Paris's 4th constituency, the opposite situation arose: the two candidates qualified for the second round were both from the right: Bernard Debré for the UMP (45.07% in the first round), and Brigitte Kuster, a UMP dissident (23.01%). Immediately after the first round, however, Kuster withdrew. There was a second round nonetheless, but with only one candidate, who needed simply to receive one vote in order to be elected.[91] This configuration also happened in several constituencies on the left (see subsection "The two-round electoral system", below).
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UMP | Bernard Debré | 20,526 | 100 | n/a | |
Turnout | 25,696 | 38.13 | n/a | ||
UMP hold | Swing | n/a |
Hauts-de-Seine 9th
The Hauts-de-Seine's 9th constituency, traditionally a very safe seat for the right, raised unexpected difficulties for UMP candidate and former Minister of the Interior Claude Guéant. A dissident member of the UMP, Thierry Solere, contested his legitimacy, stood against him, and reached the second round, precipitating a three-way runoff between two candidates of the right and one of the left.[92][93]
Solere narrowly won the seat, obtaining votes from the left given Gueant's unpopularity on that side. The total share of the vote for left-wing candidates was 28%, in the first round, plus 4% for the Modem candidate.[94]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DVD | Thierry Solere | 13,912 | 39.35 | n/a | |
UMP | Claude Guéant | 13,578 | 38.41 | n/a | |
PS | Martine Even | 7,864 | 22.24 | n/a | |
Turnout | 35,918 | 58.86 | n/a | ||
DVD gain from UMP | Swing | n/a |
Meurthe-et-Moselle 5th
This constituency drew attention due to the behaviour and situation of UMP candidate Nadine Morano, who had been Minister for Professional Training in François Fillon's government from 2010 to 2012. She finished second in the first round (34.33%) behind Socialist candidate Dominique Potier (39.29%) and, in the hopes of obtaining more votes in the second, appealed explicitly to the voters of the eliminated National Front, on the grounds of "common values" in what she called a "duel between the right and the left". She defined her common values with far right voters as including "control over immigration, refusing to give foreigners the right to vote" and "the protection of our borders". After she had published an appeal in a far right newspaper, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and the leader of the Greens and Minister for Housing Cécile Duflot both described her behaviour as symptomatic of a worrying shift of part of the right towards the extreme right; Ayrault accused her of renouncing her party's values to try and save her seat.[95][96] Her situation made headlines again when humorist Gérald Dahan phoned her, pretending to be National Front vice-president Louis Aliot, and recorded her expressing her sympathy and closeness to the National Front. François Fillon publicly rebuked her for not having immediately hung up, saying "we don't talk to the leaders of the National Front. We must reject all forms of extremism". Morano hit back, telling him she was a "free politician".[97][98]
Morano, the incumbent, lost her seat to Socialist candidate Dominique Potier by a 10% margin.[99]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
PS | Dominique Potier | 25,122 | 55.67 | +8.49 | |
UMP | Nadine Morano | 20,006 | 44.33 | -8.49 | |
Turnout | 47,046 | 61.34 | -0.01 | ||
PS gain from UMP | Swing | +8.49 |
Bouches-du-Rhône 5th
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
PS | Marie-Arlette Carlotti | 20,212 | 51.81 | ||
UMP | Renaud Muselier | 18,799 | 48.19 | ||
Turnout | |||||
PS gain from UMP | Swing |
Essonne 8th
In addition to Marine Le Pen, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and François Bayrou, three candidates from the presidential election were standing in this legislative election.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DLR
|
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan | 25,989 | 61.39 | ||
PS | Aude Bristot | 16,342 | 38.61 | ||
Turnout | 43,077 | 57.18 | |||
DLR hold
|
Swing | +4.01 |
Notes and references
- ^ "France sets 2012 presidential election dates". BBC News. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ^ "Les dates de la présidentielle 2012 fixées". Le Figaro (in French). 11 May 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ISBN 978-2729831868), p. 10
- ^ "Tout bien réfléchi, c'est oui", L'Express, 21 September 2000
- ^ a b "Un " troisième tour " déterminant", Ouest France, 30 May 2012
- ^ "Gauche et droite fourbissent déjà leurs armes pour les législatives", La Dépêche, 6 May 2012
- ^ a b "Législatives : le PS veut "une majorité nette", l'UMP veut limiter la casse", Le Monde, 8 May 2012
- ^ "Legislatives : un enjeu décisif", Le Petit Bleu, 29 May 2012
- ^ a b "Législatives. Le "troisième tour" en vue", Le Télégramme, 8 May 2012
- ^ "La bataille des législatives est lancée en France", Le Matin, 21 May 2012
- ^ Karine Perret, "Le délicat dossier des investitures aux législatives examiné par le PS", Agence France-Presse, 20 November 2011
- ^ Lionel Laparade, "Législatives : la "diversité" diversement appréciée", La Dépêche du Midi, 29 November 2011
- ^ Sylvia Zappi, Législatives : la "diversité" progresse peu au PS, Le Monde, 30 November 2011
- ^ "French Face a Battle to Control Parliament". The New York Times. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ "6 591 candidatures déposées pour les législatives Archived 21 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine", Libération, 19 May 2012
- ^ Elections législatives. Dates et modalités Archived 3 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- ^ Alexandre Léchenet and Maxime Le Roux, "Les Français de l'étranger peuvent voter par Internet", Le Monde, 23 May 2012
- ^ "Résultats du 1er tour – 10 juin 2012 dans la 3ème circonscription de la Martinique", Le Monde
- ^ "Two-Round System". Electoral Reform Society. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- ^ "Les modalités d'élection en France" Archived 2 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, French Ministry of the Interior
- ^ a b "A Arles, l'UMP Roland Chassain se retire au profit du FN", Le Monde, 11 June 2012
- ^ "Législatives: accords de désistement PS-Front de gauche-Verts en Ile-de-france", L'Humanité, 11 June 2012
- Agence France Presse(in French). 18 February 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ^ "Étude sur le redécoupage électoral: Une initiative de Regards Citoyens" (in French). Regards Citoyens. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ^ "REDECOUPAGE ELECTORAL – 11 députés pour les Français de l'étranger" Archived 30 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Le Petit Journal, 22 October 2009
- ^ "Les élections législatives", National Assembly
- ^ a b c d e f "Les enjeux des législatives, parti par parti", Le Monde, 5 June 2012
- ^ a b "La gauche est favorite, mais quelle gauche ?", Le Monde, 9 June 2012
- ^ "Désistement républicain : face au FN, le PS ferme et l'UMP flou", Le Monde, 25 May 2012
- ^ "64% des électeurs de M. Sarkozy souhaitent une alliance avec le FN pour les législatives", Le Monde, 24 April 2012
- ^ "Législatives. Pas d’alliance UMP-FN promet Copé", Ouest-France, 26 May 2012
- ^ "Juppé appelle à résister à la "tentation" d'alliances avec le FN", Libération, 8 June 2012
- ^ "L'UMP ne fera alliance ni avec la gauche ni avec le FN", Le Monde, 11 June 2012
- ^ "Gard : Étienne Mourrut se maintient face à Gilbert Collard", Le Point, 12 June 2012
- ^ "Nadine Morano en appelle au FN", Le Nouvel Observateur, 11 June 2012
- ^ "UMP-FN : quelques brèches sur le terrain dans la ligne décidée à Paris", France Info, 11 June 2012
- ^ "FN: interview de Morano dans Minute", Le Figaro, 12 June 2012
- ^ "Nadine Morano tente de séduire les électeurs FN dans "Minute"", Le Monde, 12 June 2012
- ^ "Juppé se désolidarise du député UMP Garraud après ses propos sur le FN", Libération, 13 June 2012
- ^ "La gauche veut un front républicain anti-FN, l'UMP refuse", Reuters, 11 June 2012
- ^ "La candidate socialiste se maintient contre Marion Maréchal-Le Pen", Libération, 11 June 2012
- ^ "Moscovici : "que reste-t-il de la droite ?"", Europe 1, 12 June 2012
- ^ "Ayrault: l’UMP prépare une "alliance stratégique avec le FN"", Libération, 12 June 2012
- ^ "La campagne officielle des élections législatives débute lundi 21 mai", France Télévisions, 21 May 2012
- ^ "Législatives: c'est parti pour la campagne officielle", L'Express, 21 May 2012
- ^ "Elections législatives, Liste des candidats et circulaires (premier tour)". Diplomatie.gouv.fr. Archived from the original on 22 May 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ "Elections législatives, Liste des candidats et circulaires (second tour)". Diplomatie.gouv.fr. Archived from the original on 13 June 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ "Il y aura 40% de nouveaux députés à l'Assemblée", Libération, 17 June 2012
- Radio New Zealand International. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- ^ a b c d "La gauche triomphe, hécatombe à droite : les 10 points à retenir des législatives", Le Monde, 18 June 2012
- ^ a b "Estimations du 2nd tour – 17 juin 2012", Le Monde
- ^ "Le Front de gauche, grand perdant des législatives", Le Monde, 18 June 2012
- ^ "Victoire écrasante d’Huguette Bello", Linfo, 11 June 2012
- ^ "Le Front de gauche réussit à constituer un groupe à l'Assemblée", Le Monde, 25 June 2012
- ^ "Premières autocritiques sur la stratégie droitière de l'UMP", Le Monde, 18 June 2012
- ^ a b "Bayrou quitte une Assemblée où le centre perd en influence", Le Point, 17 June 2012
- ^ "Mayotte : une claque pour le député Abdoulatifou Aly", Le Monde, 10 June 2012
- ^ "François Bayrou battu : le centre est-il mort ?", Le Nouvel Observateur, 17 June 2012
- ^ "Guyane : deux députés de gauche élus", Le Monde, 17 June 2012
- ^ "La Martinique choisit deux députés indépendantistes", Le Monde, 17 June 2012
- ^ "Mayotte bascule à gauche", Le Monde, 17 June 2012
- ^ "Nouvelle-Calédonie : désaveu pour le R-UMP", Le Monde, 17 June 2012
- ^ "Polynésie française : le parti de Gaston Flosse remporte les trois sièges", Le Monde, 17 June 2012
- ^ "Pas de percée aux législatives pour le parti pirate", Le Monde, 11 June 2012
- ^ Staff (11 June 2012). "Electoral paradoxes in France and elsewhere". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
- ^ ""Législatives : Christiane Taubira renonce, Michel Sapin comme suppléant", RTL, 19 May 2012
- ^ a b "Le résultat des principaux candidats aux législatives", Le Monde, 11 June 2012
- ^ This is an EELV-PS ticket. Cécile Duflot will remain a government minister and her seat will go to the Socialist incumbent. C.f.: "Législatives : à quoi servent les suppléants ?", France Télévisions, 25 May 2012
- ^ Moignard is a Socialist: "Les élus PS en Tarn et Garonne: Jacques Moignard" Archived 23 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Socialist Party website
- ^ "Gouget : le suppléant sur le devant", Sud-Ouest, 21 May 2012
- ^ "Législatives : le sort de 100 personnalités à la loupe", Le Parisien, 11 June 2012
- ^ "Royal, Lefebvre, Le Pen et les autres... 25 circonscriptions à surveiller", Libération, 16 June 2012
- ^ "2e tour : les circonscriptions à suivre", France 24
- ^ In 2007, third man François Bayrou was unsuccessfully challenged in his constituency by presidential candidate Frédéric Nihous, of a small party favouring the interests of hunters and fishers.
- ^ "Législatives : face à Marine Le Pen, Jean-Luc Mélenchon se présente comme la " relève " de la gauche à Hénin-Beaumont (VIDEO)", La Voix du Nord, 12 May 2012
- ^ "France election: Le Pen and Melenchon duel for northern town", BBC News, 8 June 2012
- ^ "Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon face off again for French votes", The Telegraph, 3 June 2012
- ^ "France's champion of the left sends a challenge to Marine Le Pen", The Guardian, 26 May 2012
- ^ "Marine Le Pen challenged on home turf", Die Welt, 12 May 2012
- Tagesschau, 7 June 2012
- ^ "Wahlkampf in Frankreichs Norden: Duell der Populisten", Der Spiegel, 5 June 2012
- ^ "Wahlkampf bei den Ch'tis", Die Tagezeitung, 6 June 2012
- ^ "Résultats du 2nd tour – 17 juin 2012 dans la 11ème circonscription du Pas-de-Calais", Le Monde
- ^ "PAS DE CALAIS (62) > 11ème circonscription". Elections.interieur.gouv.fr. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ "Là où François Bayrou pourrait perdre son siège de député", Le Monde, 21 May 2012
- ^ "Résultats du 2nd tour – 17 juin 2012 dans la 2ème circonscription des Pyrénées-Atlantiques", Le Monde
- ^ "PYRENEES ATLANTIQUES (64) > 2ème circonscription". Elections.interieur.gouv.fr. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ ’"A La Rochelle, le dissident Falorni sera bien candidat face à Royal", Le Monde, 11 June 2012
- ^ "Large victoire pour le PS, large défaite pour Royal", Libération, 17 June 2012
- ^ "CHARENTE MARITIME (17) > 1ère circonscription". Elections.interieur.gouv.fr. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ "Bernard Debré bientôt réélu député par forfait", Le Monde, 11 June 2012
- ^ "Claude Guéant est en difficulté à Boulogne-Billancourt", Le Monde, 11 June 2012
- ^ "Un parachutage pas si doré pour Guéant" Archived 15 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Le Journal du Dimanche, 11 June 2012
- ^ "Résultats du 2nd tour – 17 juin 2012 dans la 9ème circonscription des Hauts-de-Seine", Le Monde
- ^ "À Toul, Nadine Morano drague ouvertement l'électorat frontiste", France 24, 12 June 2012
- ^ "Duflot et Ayrault fustigent les appels de Morano au FN", Libération, 15 June 2012
- ^ "Sur le FN, Fillon recadre Morano, qui l'envoie paître", Libération, 15 June 2012
- ^ "Dahan piège Morano, Fillon la désavoue", La Voix du Nord, 15 June 2012
- ^ "Résultats du 2nd tour – 17 juin 2012 dans la 5ème circonscription de Meurthe-et-Moselle", Le Monde
- ^ "À Marseille, la ministre Carlotti sort le député Muselier", Le Point, 17 June 2012
- ^ "Marseille: mission accomplie pour Carlotti" Archived 19 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Marianne, 17 June 2012
- ^ "BOUCHES DU RHONE (13) > 5ème circonscription". Elections.interieur.gouv.fr. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ "Dupont-Aignan n'est pas inquiété dans l'Essonne", Le Journal du Dimanche, 11 June 2012
- ^ "Résultats des élections législatives : 5ème circonscription de la Gironde", Le Monde
- ^ "Résultats du 1er tour – 10 juin 2012 dans la 6ème circonscription de Seine-Saint-Denis", Le Monde
- ^ "ESSONNE (91) > 8ème circonscription". Elections.interieur.gouv.fr. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
External links
- (in French) Official results
- (in French) Breakdown of full results, Liberation Archived 10 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- (in French) Opinion poll tracker with data