Radical Party (France)
Radical Party Parti radical | ||
---|---|---|
Presidency of Departmental Councils 0 / 95 | ||
Website | ||
parti-radical | ||
Part of Radicalism |
This article is part of a series on |
Liberalism in France |
---|
The Radical Party (French: Parti radical), officially the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party (French: Parti républicain, radical et radical-socialiste), is a liberal[2] and social-liberal[3] political party in France. Since 1971, to prevent confusion with the Radical Party of the Left (PRG), it has also been referred to as Parti radical valoisien, after its headquarters on the rue de Valois. The party's name has been variously abbreviated to PRRRS, Rad, PR and PRV. Founded in 1901, the PR is the oldest active political party in France.
Coming from the
History
Radicals before the party (1830–1901)
After the collapse of
After the installation of the constitutional
The Radicals took a major part in the
From opposition, Radicals criticized Bonaparte's autocratic rule and attacks on civil liberties. At the end of the 1860s, they advocated with the Belleville Programme (supported by Léon Gambetta) the election of civil servants and mayors, the proclamation of the so-called "great liberties", free public teaching and the separation of church and state.[9]
After the collapse of the
In the 1890s, competition from the growing
The Radical-Socialist and Radical Republican Party was the first large political party established at a national level in France, which contrasted with previous parliamentary groups that were formed spontaneously by likeminded independent lawmakers elected through purely local electoral committees. The first congress of the Radical Party was held in June 1901. Delegates represented 476 election committees, 215 editorial boards of Radical newspapers and 155 Masonic lodges as well as lawmakers, mayors and municipal councillors.[13] However, it was not until 1914 that the Radical-Socialist Party imposed strict discipline on its parliamentary deputies, requiring them to sit exclusively in a single Radical-Socialist legislative caucus.
The existence of a national party immediately changed the political scene. Several Radical independents had already been presidents of the Council (
Early years: the Radical Republic (1901–1919)
At
After the withdrawal of the Socialist ministers from the government following the
For the latter part of the Third Republic (1918–1940), the Radical-Socialists, generally representing the anti-clerical segment of peasant and petty-bourgeois voters, were usually the largest single party in parliament, but with their anti-clerical agenda accomplished the party lost their driving force. Its leader before World War I Joseph Caillaux was generally more noted for his advocacy of better relations with Germany than for his reformist agenda.
During World War I (1914–1918), the Radical-Socialist Party was the keystone of the Sacred Union while the most prominent Independent Radical Georges Clemenceau led the cabinet again from 1917 to 1919. He appeared as the "architect of victory", but his relationship with the Radical-Socialist Party deteriorated. The Radical-Socialists and the Independent Radicals entered the 1919 legislative election in opposing coalitions, thus Clemenceau's alliance of the right emerged victorious.
Between World Wars (1919–1946)
By the end of World War I, the Radical-Socialist Party, now led by Édouard Herriot, were generally a moderate centre-left party faced with the governmental dominance of the socially-conservative liberal parties to its right (see Independent Radicals and Democratic Alliance) and pressure from its left by the rise of support for the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and French Communist Party (PCF). With these political forces, Radical-Socialists shared anti-clericalism and the struggle for "social progress", but unlike the other left parties the Radical-Socialists defended the principle of strict parliamentary action and the defence of private property, at least that of smallholders and small business. Additionally, the Radical-Socialist Party had thought before 1914 that its old adversaries among the Catholic, monarchist and traditionalist right had been weakened once and for all, instead these emerged reinvigorated by World War I.[16]
In 1924, Radical-Socialists formed electoral alliances with the SFIO. The Cartel des Gauches (Coalition of the Left) won the 1924 legislative election and Herriot formed a government. However, the Radical-Socialists gradually drifted to the right, moving from left-Republican governments supported by the non-participating Socialists to a coalition of "Republican concentration" with the centre-right Independent Radicals and the more socially-conservative liberal parties in 1926.[17]
Two years later at the
The party claimed 120,000 members in the 1930s, however, these figures were inflated by competitors purchasing party memberships in bulk to influence inner-party votes.[18]
The second Cartel des gauches won the
This pattern of initial alliance with a socialist party unwilling to join in active government followed by disillusionment and alliance with the centre-right seemed to be broken in 1936, when the Popular Front electoral alliance with the Socialists and the Communists led to the accession of Socialist leader Léon Blum as President of the Council in a coalition government in which the Radical-Socialist leaders Édouard Daladier and Camille Chautemps (representing left and right of the Radical-Socialist Party, respectively) took important roles. For the first time in its history, the Radical-Socialist Party obtained fewer votes than the SFIO.
Over the tempestuous life of the coalition, the Radical-Socialists began to become concerned at the perceived radicalism of their coalition partners. Hence, they opposed themselves to Blum's intention to help the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), forcing him to adopt a non-interventionist policy. Following the failure of Blum's second government in April 1938, Daladier formed a new government in coalition with the liberal and conservative parties.
After the 29 September 1938
Furthermore, Daladier moved increasingly to the right, notably repealing the
Fourth Republic (1946–1958)
After World War II, the Radicals, like many of the other political parties, were discredited by the fact that many of their members had voted to grant emergency powers to Marshal Philippe Pétain, although senior Radical leaders as Édouard Herriot, then President of the Chamber of Deputies (the parliamentary Speaker), had been ambivalent.
The Radical-Socialist Party was reconstituted and formed one of the important parties of the Fourth Republic (1946–1958), but never recovered its dominant pre-war position. It failed to prevent the adoption of the projects of the three-parties coalition (nationalizations and the welfare state). Along with Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance, it set up an electoral umbrella-group, the Rally of Republican Lefts (RGR). From 1947, after the split of the governmental coalition it participated to the Third Force coalition with the SFIO, the Christian-democratic Popular Republican Movement and the conservative-liberal National Centre of Independents and Peasants.
In the early years of the Fourth Republic, the party returned to the moderate left under the leadership of
Mendès-France hoped to make the Radicals the party of the mainstream centre-left in France, taking advantage of the difficulties of the SFIO. The more conservative elements in the party led by
The Fourth Republic was characterized by constant parliamentary instability because of divisions between major parties over the Algerian War, which was officially called a "public order operation" until the 1990s. Mendès-France opposed the war and colonialism while the SFIO led by Prime Minister
In the midst of this parliamentary instability and divisions of the political class,
The Radical Party supported de Gaulle at this crucial moment, leading Mendès-France to quit the party. Opposed to the proposed constitution, Mendès-France campaigned for the "no" on 28 September 1958 referendum. However, the new Constitution was finally adopted and proclaimed on 4 October 1958.
Fifth Republic (1958–present)
Popular figure Pierre Mendès-France quit the Radical Party, which had crossed the threshold to the centre-right, as early moderate Republicans did at the beginning of the Third Republic, when the Radical Party, appearing to their left, pushed them over the border between the left-wing and the right-wing, a process dubbed sinistrisme.
Mendès-France then founded the Centre d'Action Démocratique (CAD), which would later join the
The Radical Party returned from support of the government to opposition in 1959 and declined throughout all the 1960s. Allied with the SFIO in the Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left, it supported François Mitterrand for the 1965 presidential election. This federation later split in 1968.
Under the leadership of Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, President since 29 October 1969 issued from the left-wing, the party again made tentative moves to the left in the 1970s, but stopped short of an alliance with Socialist Party (PS) leader François Mitterrand and his Communist allies, leading to a final split in 1972 when the remaining centre-left Radicals left the party and eventually became the Movement of the Radical-Socialist Left. This group, which wanted to be a part of the left-wing Common Programme, broke away to create the Movement of the Left Radicals (MRG) and at the 1974 presidential election, supported Mitterrand, the candidate of the left-wing.
Radical Party valoisien
Henceforth, the Radical Party began to be known as valoisien, from the location of its national headquarters at the
Following the left-wing scission in 1971, the Radical Party valoisien maintained the judicial rights to the official name of Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and is its legal continuation.
After the failure of the alliance with the Christians Democrats into the Reforming Movement, the Radical Party maintained its influence by participating in the foundation of Giscard d'Estaing's
Associate party of the UMP
An important split took place after the
After Chirac's re-election in 2002, most radicals participated to the creation of his new party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). The Radical Party then quit the UDF to associate itself with the UMP, sharing its memberships and budget with the latter. However, some members such as Thierry Cornillet continue to be part of UDF. It was then headed by Jean-Louis Borloo and André Rossinot.
After the rise of
During the 7th term of the European Parliament, three Radical MEPs sat with the European People's Party Group (EPP) along with the UMP.[20]
The Alliance
On 7 April 2011, Borloo announced the creation of a centrist coalition. During a party congress on 14–15 May, the Radicals decided to cut their ties with Sarkozy's
During the
Elected officials
- Deputies: Alfred Almont (Martinique), Edwige Antier (Paris), Paul Aubry (Haut-Marne), Jean-Louis Bernard (Loiret), Jean-Louis Borloo (Nord), Claire Bouchet (Hautes-Alpes), Alain Ferry (Bas-Rhin), Jean Grenet (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Laurent Hénart (Meurthe-et-Moselle), Françoise Hostalier (Nord), Yves Jégo (Seine-et-Marne), Robert Lecou (Hérault), Jean Leonetti (Alpes-Maritimes), François Loos (Bas-Rhin), Alain Marc (Aveyron), Franck Marlin (Essonne), Frédéric Reiss (Bas-Rhin), Franck Reynier (Drôme), Arnaud Richard (Yvelines), François Scellier (Val-d'Oise), André Wojciechowski (Moselle), Michel Zumkeller(Territoire de Belfort)
- Senators: Jean-Paul Alduy (Pyrénées-Orientales), Alain Chatillon (Haute-Garonnne), Sylvie Goy-Chavent (Ain), Pierre Jarlier (Cantal), Sophie Joissains (Bouches-du-Rhône), Aymeri de Montesquiou (Gers)
- MEPs: Dominique Riquet (Nord-Ouest)
Leadership
Party presidents:
- Gustave Mesureur (1901–1902)
- Jean Dubief (1902–1903)
- Maurice Fauré (1903–1904)
- Maurice Berteaux(1904–1905)
- Émile Combes (1905–1906)
- Camille Pelletan (1906–1907)
- Auguste Delpech (1907–1908)
- Louis Lafferre (1908–1909)
- Ernest Vallé (1909–1910)
- Émile Combes (1910–1913)
- Joseph Caillaux (1913–1917)
- Charles Debierre (1917–1918)
- André Renard (1918–1919)
- Édouard Herriot (1919–1920)
- Maurice Sarraut (1920–1927)
- Édouard Daladier (1927–1931)
- Édouard Herriot (1931–1936)
- Édouard Daladier (1936–1944)
- Édouard Herriot (1944–1957)
- Édouard Daladier (1957–1958)
- Félix Gaillard (1958–1961)
- Maurice Faure (1961–1965)
- René Billères (1965–1969)
- Maurice Faure (1969–1971)
- Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber (1971–1975)
- Gabriel Péronnet (1975–1977)
- Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber (1977–1979)
- Didier Bariani (1979–1983)
- André Rossinot (1983–1988)
- Yves Galland (1988–1993)
- André Rossinot (1993–1997)
- Thierry Cornillet (1997–1999)
- François Loos (1999–2003)
- André Rossinot (2003–2005)
- Jean-Louis Borloo and André Rossinot (co-presidents, 2005–2007)
- Jean-Louis Borloo (2007–2014)
- Laurent Hénart (since 2014)
Election results
Legislative elections
Date | Leader | Votes | Seats | Position | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First round | % | Second round | % | # | ± | Size | |||
1902 | Émile Combes | 853,140 | 10.14 | – | – | 104 / 589
|
30 | 3rd | Coalition |
1906 | Émile Combes | 2,514,508 | 28.53 | – | – | 132 / 585
|
28 | 1st | Coalition |
1910 | Émile Combes | 1,727,064 | 20.45 | – | – | 148 / 587
|
16 | 1st | Coalition |
1914 | Joseph Caillaux | 1,530,188 | 18.15 | – | – | 140 / 592
|
8 | 1st | Coalition |
1919 | Édouard Herriot | 1,420,381 | 17.43 | – | – | 86 / 616
|
54 | 2nd | Coalition |
Part of coalition with the Republican-Socialist Party, which won 106 seats in total | |||||||||
1924 | Édouard Herriot | 1,612,581 | 17.86 | – | – | 139 / 584
|
53 | 2nd | Coalition |
Part of coalition with the Republican-Socialist Party, which won 167 seats in total | |||||||||
1928 | Édouard Daladier | 1,682,543 | 17.77 | – | – | 120 / 602
|
19 | 3rd | Coalition |
1932 | Édouard Herriot | 1,836,991 | 19.18 | – | – | 157 / 605
|
37 | 1st | Coalition |
1936 | Édouard Daladier | 1,422,611 | 14.45 | – | – | 111 / 612
|
46 | 3rd | Coalition |
1945 | Édouard Herriot | 2,018,665 | 10.54 | – | – | 60 / 586
|
51 | 5th | Coalition |
I 1946 | Édouard Herriot | 2,295,119 | 11.54 | – | – | 39 / 522
|
31 | 5th | Opposition |
II 1946 | Édouard Herriot | 2,381,385 | 12.40 | – | – | 55 / 544
|
16 | 5th | Opposition |
1951 | Édouard Herriot | 1,887,583 | 11.13 | – | – | 67 / 544
|
12 | 6th | Coalition |
Part of the Rally of Republican Lefts, which won 77 seats in total | |||||||||
1956 | Édouard Herriot | 2,381,385 | 12.40 | – | – | 54 / 544
|
13 | 5th | Coalition |
1958 | Félix Gaillard | 2,695,287 | 13.15 | 1,398,409 | 7.77 | 37 / 576
|
17 | 5th | Coalition |
1962 | Maurice Faure | 1,429,649 | 7.8 | 1,172,711 | 7.69 | 42 / 485
|
5 | 3rd | Opposition |
1967 | René Billères | 4,207,166 | 18.79 | 4,505,329 | 24.08 | 24 / 487
|
18 | 2nd | Opposition |
Part of the Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left, which won 118 seats in total | |||||||||
1968 | René Billères | 3,660,250 | 16.53 | 3,097,338 | 21.25 | 15 / 487
|
9 | 2nd | Opposition |
Part of the Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left, which won 57 seats in total | |||||||||
1973 | JJ Servan-Schreiber | 2,967,481 | 12.51 | 1,631,978 | 6.96 | 4 / 490
|
11 | 4th | Opposition |
Part of the Reformist Movement, which won 32 seats in total | |||||||||
1978 | JJ Servan-Schreiber | 6,128,849 | 21.46 | 5,907,603 | 23.19 | 9 / 491
|
5 | 2nd | Coalition |
Part of the Union for French Democracy, which won 124 seats in total | |||||||||
1981 | Didier Bariani | 4,827,437 | 19.20 | 3,489,363 | 18.68 | 2 / 491
|
6 | 3rd | Opposition |
Part of the Union for French Democracy, which won 61 seats in total | |||||||||
1986 | André Rossinot | 2,330,072 | 8.31 | – | – | 7 / 577
|
5 | 4th | Coalition |
Part of the Union for French Democracy, which won 53 seats in total | |||||||||
1988 | André Rossinot | 4,519,459 | 18.50 | 4,299,370 | 21.18 | 3 / 577
|
4 | 4th | Opposition |
Part of the Union for French Democracy, which won 130 seats in total | |||||||||
1993 | Yves Galland | 4,855,274 | 19.08 | 5,331,935 | 25.84 | 14 / 577
|
11 | 2nd | Coalition |
Part of the Union for French Democracy, which won 213 seats in total | |||||||||
1997 | André Rossinot | 3,601,279 | 14.21 | 5,323,177 | 20.77 | 3 / 577
|
11 | 3rd | Opposition |
Part of the Union for French Democracy, which won 112 seats in total | |||||||||
2002 | François Loos | 8,408,023 | 33.30 | 10,029,669 | 47.26 | 9 / 577
|
6 | 1st | Coalition |
Part of the Union for a Popular Movement, which won 357 seats in total | |||||||||
2007 | Jean-Louis Borloo | 10,289,737 | 39.54 | 9,460,710 | 46.36 | 16 / 577
|
7 | 1st | Coalition |
Part of the Union for a Popular Movement, which won 313 seats in total | |||||||||
2012 | Jean-Louis Borloo | 321,124 | 1.24 | 311,199 | 1.35 | 6 / 577
|
10 | 9th | Opposition |
2017 | Laurent Hénart | 687,225 | 3.03 | 551,784 | 3.04 | 3 / 577
|
3 | 5th | Coalition |
Part of the Union of Democrats and Independents, which won 18 seats in total | |||||||||
2022 | Laurent Hénart | 5,857,364 | 25.75 | 8,002,419 | 38.57 | 5 / 577
|
2 | 1st | Coalition |
Part of the Ensemble, which won 245 seats in total |
See also
Further reading
- Botsiou Konstantina E. "The European Centre-Right and European Integration: The Formative Years," in Reforming Europe (2009) online abstract
- De Tarr, F. The French Radical Party: from Herriot to Mendès-France (1980)
- Larmour, Peter. The French Radical Party in the 1930s (1964)
- Mayeur, Jean-Marie, and Madeleine Rebérioux. The Third Republic from its origins to the Great War, 1871-1914 (1988)
- O'Neill, Francis. The French Radical Party and European integration 1949-1957 (1979).
- Schlesinger, Mildred. "The Development of the Radical Party in the Third Republic: The New Radical Movement, 1926-32." Journal of Modern History (1974): 476-501. in JSTOR
In French
- Berstein, Serge. "La vie du Parti radical: la fédération de Saône-et-Loire de 1919 à 1939." Revue française de science politique (1970): 1136-1180. online
References
- ^ Ghislain de Violet (15 November 2014). "Jean-Christophe Lagarde, chef sans troupes?". Paris Match. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-85567-238-3.
- ^ "Étiquette : Mouvement Radical Social Libéral la revue des vœux des leaders de toute la Droite". Dtom.fr (in French). 6 January 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-313-39181-1. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- ^ Marion Mourgue (17 September 2017). "Les radicaux font un pas de plus vers l'unité… et l'indépendance". Le Figaro. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ Charline Hurel (16 September 2017). "Les radicaux de gauche et de droite en voie de réunion pour peser au centre". Le Monde. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ Iorwerth Prothero, Radical Artisans in England and France, 1830-1870 (2006) p. 164
- ^ Leo A. Loubère, Radicalism in Mediterranean France: its rise and decline, 1848-1914 (1974) p. 40
- ^ James R. Lehning, To be a citizen: the political culture of the early French Third Republic (2001) p. 33
- ^ Jack Ernest Shalom Hayward, Fragmented France: two centuries of disputed identity (2007) p. 293
- ^ J. E. S. Hayward, "The Official Philosophy of the French Third Republic: Leon Bourgeois and Solidarism," International Review of Social History, (1961) 6#1 pp 19-48
- ^ J.P.T. Bury, France, 1814-1940 (2003) p. 157
- S2CID 144278218.
- ^ Nick Hewlett, Democracy in modern France (2005) p. 48
- ^ Jean-Marie Mayeur and Madeleine Rebérioux, The Third Republic from its origins to the Great War, 1871-1914 (1988) p. 229
- ^ Francis De Tarr, The French Radical Party: from Herriot to Mendès-France (1980) ch 1
- ^ Sabine Jessner, Edouard Herriot, patriarch of the Republic (1974)
- ISBN 9780191748332. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ lefigaro.fr (15 November 2010). "Le Figaro - Politique : Borloo et Morin sonnent la révolte des centristes". Lefigaro.fr. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ^ "VoteWatch Europe: European Parliament, Council of the EU". Votewatch.eu. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ^ [1] Archived 17 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Alliance Républicaine, Ecologique et Sociale = ARES". 91secondes.fr. 21 October 2010. Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ^ Publié par Germain Isern. "Maurice Leroy croit en une grande Confédération des centres". Germain Isern. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ^ Invitation lancement de l'alliance[permanent dead link] partiradical.net
- ^ "Dominique RIQUET - VoteWatch Europe". www.votewatch.eu. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
External links
- Official website (in French)