Radical Party of the Left
Radical Party of the Left Parti radical de Gauche | ||
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Presidency of Departmental Councils 2 / 95 | ||
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Part of Radicalism |
The Radical Party of the Left (
History
The party was formed in 1972 by a split from the
Led by
Michel Crépeau was nominated by the party for the 1981 presidential election and obtained a disappointing 2.09% in the first round. He and his party in the runoff endorsed PS candidate François Mitterrand, who eventually won. The MRG won 14 seats in the subsequent 1981 legislative election and participated in PS-led governments between 1981 and 1986 and again between 1988 and 1993.
In the
At the beginning of the 1990s, under the leadership of the popular businessman Bernard Tapie the party benefited from an ephemeral upswing in its popularity while the governing SP was in disarray. The list led by Tapie won 12.03% and 13 seats[12] of the votes in the 1994 European Parliament election. However, Tapie retired from politics due to his legal problems and the party, renamed the Radical Socialist Party (French: Parti radical-socialiste, PRS), returned to its lowest ebb.
After the
In the
The party split on Nicolas Sarkozy's constitutional reforms in 2008. Six deputies (Gérard Charasse, Paul Giacobbi, Annick Girardin, Joël Giraud, Dominique Orliac and Sylvia Pinel) and three senators (Jean-Michel Baylet, André Boyer and François Vendasi) opted to vote in favour, hence allowing for its passage.
The PRG's then-president
Although the PRG remained a close and loyal ally of the PS, it has also cooperated with the small Ecology Generation (GE) party since December 2011.[15][16]
In the 2014 European elections, the party received 13.98% of the vote on a joint list with the PS, electing one MEP Virginie Rozière, who joined the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group with PS MEPs.
In the
.In 2019, the party was relaunched.[17]
The party supports Christiane Taubira in the 2022 French presidential election.[18]
Following the
Ideology
The PRG advocates
The party was a member of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party before 2012.[20]
Factions
Under Baylet, the PRG's party line was centre-left, socially liberal and pro-European. Nevertheless, there were internal divisions in the party. Former cabinet minister and former deputy Émile Zuccarelli is a left-wing republican who strongly opposed Corsican nationalism[citation needed] and supported the no vote in the 2005 European constitutional referendum, positions much closer to Jean-Pierre Chevènement's Citizen and Republican Movement (MRC)[citation needed]. Similarly, Christiane Taubira supported the no vote in 2005 and endorsed Arnaud Montebourg rather than Baylet in the 2011 primary[citation needed].
Elected officials
- Current Deputies: Olivier Falorni (Charente-Maritime 1)
- Former Ministers: Annick Girardin, Jacques Mézard
- Former )
- Senators (RDSE group): Joseph Castelli (Haute-Corse), Yvon Collin (Tarn-et-Garonne), Philippe Esnol (Yvelines), François Fortassin (Hautes-Pyrénées), Françoise Laborde (Haute-Garonne), Jacques Mézard (Cantal), Jean-Claude Requier (Lot)
Popular support
The PRG remained rather weak on its own electorally, averaging around 2% of the vote (2002 presidential candidate Christiane Taubira won 2.32% of the vote); which explains why the party depended on its stronger ally, the PS for support and parliamentary representation. Almost all of the party's deputies and local officials were elected with no official PS opposition. It retained some support among middle class voters and in traditional Radical areas in the South West.
The major exception was in
In metropolitan France, the PRG was able to sustain a long-lasting Radical tradition dating back to the French Third Republic, most notably in the southwest or departments such as the Eure-et-Loir and Eure.
The party was represented overseas in French Guiana by Taubira's Walwari, one of the major parties of the local left.
Presidential elections
Election | Candidate | First round | Second round | Result | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
1981 | Michel Crépeau | 642,847 | 2.21% | - | - | Lost |
2002 | Christiane Taubira | 660,447 | 2.32% | - | - | Lost |
Legislative elections
Election year | No. of first round votes | % of first round vote | No. of seats | Swing |
---|---|---|---|---|
1973 | Classified as PS | 13 / 490 [21]
|
New | |
1978 | 603,932 | 2.11% | 10 / 491
|
−3 |
1981 | Classified as PS | 14 / 491 [21]
|
+4 | |
1986 | 107,769 | 0.38% | 7 / 577 [b]
|
−7 |
1988 | 272,316 | 1.11% | 9 / 575
|
+2 |
1993 | Classified as PS or DVG | 6 / 577
|
−3 | |
1997 | 389,782 | 1.53% | 12 / 577
|
+6 |
2002 | 388,891 | 1.54% | 7 / 577
|
−5 |
2007 | 343,565 | 1.32% | 7 / 577
|
|
2012 | 429,059 | 1.65% | 12 / 577
|
+5 |
2017 | 106,311 | 0.47% | 3 / 577
|
−9 |
2022 | 126,689 | 0.56% | 1 / 577
|
−2 |
European Parliament elections
Election year | Number of votes | % of overall vote | No. of seats won | Swing |
---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | Ran on PS list | 2 / 81
|
New | |
1984 | 670,474 | 3.32%[c] | 0 / 81
|
−2 |
1989 | Ran on PS list | 2 / 81
|
+2 | |
1994 | 2,344,457 | 12.03% | 13 / 87
|
+11 |
1999 | Ran on PS list | 2 / 87
|
−11 | |
2004 | 121,573 | 0.71% | 0 / 78
|
−2 |
2009 | Did not run | N/A | ||
2014 | Ran on PS list | 1 / 74
|
+1 | |
2019 | Ran on PS list | 0 / 74
|
−1 |
Leadership
Party presidents:
- Robert Fabre (1972–1978)
- Michel Crépeau (1978–1981)
- Roger-Gérard Schwartzenberg (1981–1983)
- Jean-Michel Baylet (1983–1985)
- François Doubin (1985–1988)
- Yvon Collin (1988–1989)
- Émile Zuccarelli (1989–1992)
- Jean-François Hory (1992–1996)
- Jean-Michel Baylet (1996–2016)
- Sylvia Pinel (2016–2017)
- Guillaume Lacroix (2019–present)
See also
- European Radical Alliance
- French Left
- Liberalism and radicalism in France
- Classical radicalism
- Sinistrisme
Notes
- ^ replacing Annick Girardin while she is a cabinet minister
- ^ Including 5 elected on PS-MRG lists in various departments.
- ^ Results of the Entente radicale écologiste pour les États-Unis d'Europe which included the MRG, but also ecologists (Brice Lalonde) and centrists (Olivier Stirn).
References
- ^ "En Occitanie, les Radicaux de gauche campent sur leur position".
- ISBN 978-1-59140-790-4. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-4724-0526-5. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-317-93656-5.
- ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "France". Parties and Elections in Europe.
- ISBN 978-3-531-32973-4.
- ISBN 978-0-7190-5876-9. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Tristan Quinault-Maupoil (11 February 2019). "À gauche, les échéances électorales divisent les radicaux". Le Figaro. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-134-84403-6.
- ^ "CEVIPOL - Electoral results: France - European elections of 1994". Dev.ulb.ac.be. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ^ "CEVIPOL - Electoral results: France - Presidential elections of 2002". Dev.ulb.ac.be. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ^ "La Loi Taubira". Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Human Rights League (France).
- ^ "Baptême du Pôle Radical et Ecologique". Archived 4 June 2012 at archive.today. Génération écologie. 21 December 2011.
- ^ Création du "pôle radical et écologique". Archived 30 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Parti radical de gauche. 21 December 2011.
- ^ "Le PRG choisit son nouveau président". ladepeche.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ Belaïch, Charlotte. "Présidentielle : Christiane Taubira se jette dans la fosse à l'union". Libération (in French). Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ "Le Parti radical de gauche dénonce les négociations pour une union autour de La France insoumise". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
- ^ "ELDR Council: between a rock and some very hard places indeed..." Libdemvoice.org. 18 May 2012. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ^ a b "Chronologie des radicaux de gauche MRG PRG". France-politique.fr. 17 February 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2013.