Socialist Party (France)

Socialist Party Parti socialiste
Senate		Patrick Kanner
Founders	François Mitterrand Alain Savary
Founded	4 May 1969; 54 years ago (1969-05-04)
Merger of	See list SFIO CIR UCRG UGCS
Headquarters	99 rue Molière, 94200 Presidency of Departmental Councils	22 / 95
Website
www.parti-socialiste.fr
Politics of France Political parties Elections

The Socialist Party (

Ségolène Royal, the party's candidate for the 2007 presidential election, was defeated by conservative UMP candidate Nicolas Sarkozy. The PS won most of regional and local elections and for the first time in more than fifty years it won control of the Senate in the 2011 Senate election.^[7] On 6 May 2012, François Hollande, the first secretary of the party from 1997 to 2008, was elected president and the next month the party won a majority in the 2012 legislative election. During his term, Hollande battled with high unemployment, multiple Jihadi terrorist attacks, poor opinion ratings and a splinter group of left-wing Socialist MPs known as frondeurs (rebels). On 1 December 2016, Hollande declined to seek re-election and the PS subsequently organized a presidential primary. Benoît Hamon, from the left wing of the party, was designated as the Socialist candidate after defeating former Prime Minister Manuel Valls. Facing the emergence of centrist Emmanuel Macron and left-winger Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Hamon failed to re-establish the PS leadership on the centre-left and finished 5th in the 2017 presidential election, gathering only 6.36 percent of the votes. The party then lost the majority of its MPs in the 2017 legislative election, securing just 26 seats, becoming the fourth-biggest group in the National Assembly.

Several figures who acted at the international level have also been members of the PS, including

The defeat of the Paris Commune (1871) greatly reduced the power and influence of the socialist movements in France. Its leaders were killed or exiled. France's first socialist party, the Federation of the Socialist Workers of France (FTSF), was founded in 1879. It was characterised as "possibilist" because it promoted gradual reforms. Two parties split off from it: in 1882, the French Workers' Party (POF) of Jules Guesde and Paul Lafargue (the son-in-law of Karl Marx), then in 1890 the Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party (POSR) of Jean Allemane. At the same time, the heirs of Louis Auguste Blanqui, a symbol of the French revolutionary tradition, created the Central Revolutionary Committee (CRC) led by Édouard Vaillant. There were also some declared socialist deputies such as Alexandre Millerand and Jean Jaurès who did not belong to any party.

In 1899, the participation of Millerand in

In 1924 and in 1932, the Socialists joined with the Radicals in the Coalition of the Left (Cartel des Gauches), but refused to join the non-Socialist governments led by the Radicals Édouard Herriot and Édouard Daladier. These governments failed because the Socialists and the Radicals could not agree on economic policy, and also because the Communists, following the policy laid down by the Soviet Union, refused to support governments presiding over capitalist economies. The question of the possibility of a government participation with Radicals caused the split of "neosocialists" at the beginning of the 1930s. They merged with the Republican-Socialist Party in the Socialist Republican Union.

In 1934, the Communists changed their line, and the four left-wing parties came together in the Popular Front, which won the 1936 elections and brought Blum to power as France's first SFIO Prime Minister. Indeed, for the first time in its history, the SFIO obtained more votes and seats than the Radical Party and it formed the central axis of a left-wing parliamentary majority. Within a year, however, his government collapsed over economic policy and also over the issue of the Spanish Civil War. The fall of the Popular Front caused a new split from the SFIO, with the departure of the left wing of the party, led by Marceau Pivert, to the Workers and Peasants' Socialist Party. The demoralised Left fell apart and was unable to resist the collapse of the French Third Republic after the military defeat of 1940.

After the liberation of France in 1944, the SFIO re-emerged in a coalition with a powerful French Communist Party (PCF), which became the largest left-wing party, and the Christian democratic Popular Republican Movement (MRP). This alliance installed the main elements of the French welfare state and the French Fourth Republic, but it did not survive the Cold War. In May 1947, the Socialist Prime Minister Paul Ramadier dismissed the Communist ministers. Blum proposed the construction of a Third Force with the centre-left and the centre-right, against the Gaullists and the Communists. However, his candidate to lead of the SFIO, Daniel Mayer, was defeated by Guy Mollet.

Mollet was supported by the left wing of the party. Paradoxically, he spoke a

Both because of its opposition to the principle of presidential election by universal suffrage and because De Gaulle's re-election appeared inevitable, the SFIO did not nominate a candidate for the 1965 presidential election. Consequently, it supported the candidacy of François Mitterrand, a former minister of the Fourth Republic who had been a conservative, then a leftist independent. He was resolutely anti-Gaullist. Supported by all the left-wing parties, he obtained a good result and faced De Gaulle in an unexpected second ballot, becoming the leader of the non-Communist left.

In order to exist between the Communist Party, leading the left, and the

In 1969, during the

Two years later, during the Epinay Congress, pro-François Mitterrand clubs (Convention of Republican Institutions), joined the party. Mitterrand defeated the Savary-Mollet duo by proposing an electoral programme with the Communists and took the lead. A new emblem, the fist and rose, was adopted to signal change in 1971.^[17] In 1972, the Common Programme was signed with the PCF and Radical Party of the Left. During the Socialist International conference, he explained the alliance of left-wing parties is a yearning of French left-wing voters. In this, the goal of his strategy was "to regain 3 million of the 5 million of PCF voters". The left, and notably the Socialist Party, experienced an electoral recovery at the 1973 legislative election. Mitterrand, the candidate of the left-wing alliance, came close to winning the 1974 presidential election. Indeed, he obtained 49.2% of votes in the second round.

At the end of 1974, some PSU members, including leader Michel Rocard, re-joined the PS. They represented the "left-wing Christian" and non-Marxist group. The most conservative members of the PS, they advocated an alignment of French socialism along the lines of European social democracy, that is, a clear acceptance of the market economy. While the "Union of the Left" triumphed at the 1977 municipal election, the electoral rise of the PS worried the Communist Party. The two parties failed to update the Common Programme and the PCF leader Georges Marchais denounced a "turn towards the Right" of the PS.

In spite of positive polls, the "Union of the Left" lost the 1978 legislative election. For the first time since 1936, the Socialists scored better in the polls than the Communists, becoming the main left-wing party, but their defeat caused an internal crisis. Mitterrand's leadership was challenged by Rocard, who wanted to abandon the Common Programme which he considered archaic and unrealistic. Mitterrand felt that the left could not win without the alliance between the Socialists and the Communists. In 1979, Mitterrand won the Metz Congress, then, despite Rocard's popularity, was chosen as PS candidate for the 1981 presidential election.

Three major tendencies or factions emerged within the PS by the end of the Seventies. One was represented by the Mitterrandists who wanted reform but not a complete break with capitalism. A second faction was led by Michel Rocard and his supporters, who sought social democracy with a strong measure of autogestion, while a third faction formed around Jean-Pierre Chevènement and the CERES group which stood for revolutionary socialism.^[18]

Mitterrand's presidency and the exercise of power (1981–1995)

In 1981, Mitterrand

As early as 1982, Mitterrand faced a clear choice between maintaining France's membership in the European Monetary System, and thus the country's commitment to European integration, and pursuing his socialist reforms. He chose the former, starting the Socialist Party's acceptance of the private market economy. In 1984 Mitterrand and his second Prime Minister, Laurent Fabius, clearly abandoned any further socialist measures. The "Union of the Left" died and the Communist ministers resigned. Although there were two periods of mild economic reflation (first from 1984 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1990), monetary and fiscal restraint was the essential policy orientation of the Mitterrand presidency from 1983 onwards.^[19]

The PS lost its majority in the French National Assembly in 1986, forcing Mitterrand to "cohabit" with the conservative government of

During his second term, Mitterrand focused on foreign policy and European integration. He convened a referendum for the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty. He left domestic policy to his prime ministers: Michel Rocard, Édith Cresson and Pierre Bérégovoy. The party was hit by scandals about its financing and weakened by the struggle between the heirs of "Mitterrandism".

In 1990, during the Rennes Congress, the "Mitterrandist group" split between the supporters of Laurent Fabius and the friends of Lionel Jospin. Furthermore, a part of the left wing of the party, led by Jean-Pierre Chevènement split off due to his opposition to the Gulf War and the Maastricht Treaty. This section created the Citizen and Republican Movement (MDC). Finally, many on the left were disappointed by the results of the Socialist governments. At the 1993 legislative election, the PS did poorly, returning to the levels of the SFIO in the 1960s. The Socialist group of the National Assembly numbered 53 deputies against 260 during the previous term.

Rocard became First Secretary of the party, and was considered the "natural candidate" for the next presidential election. He called for a political "big bang", an agreement with the centre and the centre-right, but his efforts were in vain. One year later, his party obtained only 14% of votes at the

In the legislature, the PS reconstructed a coalition with other left-wing parties: the French Communist Party, the Greens, the Radical Party of the Left, and the MDC. This "Plural Left" won the 1997 legislative election and Jospin became Prime Minister of the third "cohabitation".

His policy was broadly progressive. The Aubry laws reduced the working time to 35 hours a week, while Universal medical insurance was instituted. However, the policy of privatisation was pursued.

His coalition dissolved when the MDC leader Jean-Pierre Chevènement resigned from the Cabinet. The Green and Communist allies were weakened by their governmental participation.

The

After the 2002 shock

François Hollande, who became First Secretary in 1997, was re-elected in 2003 during the Dijon Congress with the support of the main Socialist personalities, against the left wing of the party. In the 2004 regional elections, the Socialists had a major comeback. In coalition with the former "Plural Left", they gained power in 20 of the 22 metropolitan regions (all except Alsace and Corsica) and in the four overseas regions. The party benefited from increasing frustration with right-wing parties. However, the Socialist Party has experienced considerable difficulty in formulating an alternative to right-wing policy.

On 1 December 2004, 59% of Socialist Party members approved the proposed

In November 2005, during the Le Mans Congress, three main groups were present. The majority supported a moderate text and obtained 55%. Fabius's allies ("To Rally the Left") advocated more radical policies and gained 20%. Finally, another faction ("New Socialist Party") claimed it was necessary to renovate the party by proposing left-wing policies and a profound reform of French institutions. It obtained 25% of the vote. Virtually all factions agreed on a common agenda, broadly based on the moderate and pro-European majority's position with some left-wing amendments.

In anticipation of a Presidential primary and a special low membership rate, the party's membership grew from 127,000 to 217,000 between 2005 and 2006.^[20]

2007 presidential election and its aftermath

Many potential candidates appeared for the 2007 presidential election: François Hollande, Laurent Fabius (from the left wing of the party), Dominique Strauss-Kahn (who claimed to represent "social democracy"), Jack Lang, Martine Aubry and Ségolène Royal, who was favoured according to the polls. Some Socialist leaders asked Jospin to return. He declared he was "available" then finally refused.

On 16 November 2006, the members of the Socialist Party chose Ségolène Royal to be their candidate with a majority of 60%. Her challengers, Strauss-Kahn and Fabius, obtained 21% and 19% respectively.

After obtaining 25.87% of the vote in the first round of France's presidential elections, Royal qualified for the second round of voting but lost with 46.94% to Nicolas Sarkozy on 6 May 2007. Immediately after her defeat several party bosses (notably Strauss-Kahn), held Ségolène Royal personally responsible for the unsuccessful campaign. At the same time, some personalities of the right wing of the party (such as Bernard Kouchner) accepted to join the government nominated by Nicolas Sarkozy.

In the 10 and 17 June 2007 National Assembly elections, the Socialist Party won 186 out of 577 seats, and about 10 affiliated, gain of 40 seats.

After the winning March 2008 municipal election, the campaign with a view to the Reims Congress started. Some candidates proposed to succeed François Hollande, who had announced he will not compete for another term as First Secretary:

• Ségolène Royal who wished to forge an alliance with the centrist party MoDem;
• the Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë, supported by Lionel Jospin and his friends, who wished to keep the status quo of the 2007 campaign and come back to the Plural Left;
• Martine Aubry, supported by the followers of Laurent Fabius and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who had the same electoral strategy as the Mayor of Paris but advocated reconciliation between the campaigners of the "yes" and the "no" to the European constitution; and
• the young left-winger Benoît Hamon.

In the pre-vote, the text of Royal arrived the first with 29%, followed by Delanoë (25%), Aubry (25%) and Hamon (19%). A part of the left wing split and founded the Left Party. During the Reims Congress, which happened in a very tense climate, the leaders of the factions failed to form a majority. Consequently, the PS members had to elect directly the next First Secretary. Disappointed by his result in the pre-vote, Delanoë renounced and called to vote for Aubry.

On 22 November 2008, it was announced that Aubry had defeated Royal by the narrow margin of 42 votes, and Royal asked for a recount. After checking, Martine Aubry was elected by a margin of 102 votes and 50.03% of votes. Denouncing frauds, Royal's team threatened to lodge a complaint before to renounce.

After that, the public image of the party was deteriorated. In the

2012 presidential election

Candidates for the presidency of France contested an open primary on 9 October 2011 to select the Socialist Party candidate for the 2012 presidential election. The nominations for the candidacy were opened on 28 June. Though he had not officially declared his candidacy, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a prominent member of the Socialist Party and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund was the polls' clear favorite to defeat the incumbent conservative president, Nicolas Sarkozy.^[21] But he faced a sex assault complaint in New York and was de facto eliminated from the primary.

Eventually, former party leader François Hollande won the primary and ran as the official Socialist Party candidate for President of France. He narrowly defeated incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, becoming president-elect of France on Sunday 6 May 2012.

The idea for holding an open primary to choose the Socialist Party presidential candidate had first been suggested in 2008, by the independent left-leaning think tank Terra Nova.^[22]

2017 presidential election

The Socialist Party decided to hold a presidential primary in 2017, against the backdrop of the unprecedented unpopularity of incumbent

On 1 July 2017, Hamon left the Socialist Party and founded the 1st July Movement (later renamed Génération.s). The Socialist Party abstained from the confidence vote on the Second Philippe government. The party later elected 78 senators in the 2017 election.

On 7–8 April 2018, the Aubervilliers Congress elected Olivier Faure as new first secretary of the party; Faure announced the party would be in opposition to Macron and Philippe. Because of financial problems, the party was forced to sell its historical seat in Rue de Solférino and moved into a smaller one in Rue Molière, on Ivry-sur-Seine.

Following the Benalla affair, the Socialist Party entered a motion of no confidence against the government, together with the French Communist Party and La France Insoumise. The motions obtained 63 ayes and failed to reach the quorum of 289 votes required in the National Assembly.

In 2018, the New Left group changed its name into Socialists and affiliated group.

On 12 October 2018, MEP

For the 2019 European election, the Socialist Party formed a joint list with the Radical Party of the Left, Place Publique and New Deal, with Raphaël Glucksmann at its head. The list scored 6.19% of votes and elected three MEPs.

2022 presidential election

In the first round of voting in the 2022 French presidential election, the candidate Anne Hidalgo obtained the worst presidential election result in the party's history, with 1.75% of the total vote.^[24]

2022 legislative elections

In advance of the

• Alain Savary (1969–1971)
• François Mitterrand (1971–1981)
• Lionel Jospin (1981–1988)
• Pierre Mauroy (1988–1992)
• Laurent Fabius (1992–1993)
• Michel Rocard (1993–1994)
• Henri Emmanuelli (1994–1995)
• Lionel Jospin (1995–1997)
• François Hollande (1997–2008)
• Martine Aubry (2008–2012)
• Harlem Désir (appointed on 30 June 2011, acting during Martine Aubry's candidacy in the 2011 French Socialist Party presidential primary; 2012–2014)
• Jean-Christophe Cambadélis (2014–2017)
• Rachid Temal (2017–2018; acting)
• Olivier Faure (2018–present)

Factions

Factions are organised in the Socialist Party through policy declarations called motions on which the party members vote at each party congress: ^{[needs update]}

• Royalists (moderate social democracy): Ségolène Royal, Gérard Collomb, Jean-Noël Guérini, Gaëtan Gorce, Jean-Louis Bianco, Julien Dray, Vincent Peillon, Aurélie Filippetti, Hélène Mandroux, Jean-Jack Queyranne, François Rebsamen and Manuel Valls
• Aubryists (Christian left, social democracy): Martine Aubry, François Lamy, Sandrine Mazetier, Pierre Mauroy, Paulette Guinchard-Kunstler, Adeline Hazan and Arnaud Montebourg (Renovate Now)
• Fabiusians (progressivism): Laurent Fabius, Claude Bartolone, Marylise Lebranchu, Alain Le Vern, Alain Vidalies and Marie-Noëlle Lienemann
• Delanoistes (social liberalism):^[27] Bertrand Delanoë, François Hollande, Jean-Marc Ayrault, Lionel Jospin, Michel Rocard, Jean-Yves Le Drian, Élisabeth Guigou, Michel Sapin, Alain Rousset, Harlem Désir, Pierre Cohen, Michel Destot and Roland Ries
• New Socialist Party (democratic socialism): Henri Emmanuelli, Benoît Hamon, Jacques Fleury, Michel Vergnier, André Lejeune and Paul Quilès
• Eco-socialists (eco-socialism and social-ecology):^[28] Christophe Caresche, Jean-Louis Tourenne, Nicole Bricq, Geneviève Gaillard and Philippe Tourtelier

Election results

Presidency

Presidency of the French Republic

Election year	Candidate	First round			Second round			Result
		Votes	%	Rank	Votes	%	Rank
1974	François Mitterrand	11,044,373	43.25	1st	12,971,604	49.19	2nd	Lost
1981		7,505,960	25.85	2nd	15,708,262	51.76	1st	Won
1988		10,367,220	34.10	1st	16,704,279	54.02	1st	Won
1995	Lionel Jospin	7,097,786	23.30	1st	14,180,644	47.36	2nd	Lost
2002		4,610,113	16.18	3rd	—			Lost
2007	Ségolène Royal	9,500,112	25.87	2nd	16,790,440	46,94	2nd	Lost
2012	François Hollande	10,272,705	28.63	1st	18,000,668	51.64	1st	Won
2017	Benoît Hamon	2,291,288	6,36	5th	—			Lost
2022	Anne Hidalgo	616,478	1.75	10th	—			Lost

National Assembly

National Assembly
Year	1st round				2nd round				Seats	+/–	Result	Note
	Votes	%	± pp	Rank	Votes	%	± pp	Rank
1973	4,559,241	19.18%	2.65	3rd	5,564,610	23.72%	2.47	2nd	89 / 491	32	Opposition	In coalition with the MRG
1978	6,451,151	22.58%	3.40	2nd	7,212,916	28.31%	4.59	1st	104 / 491	15	Opposition
1981	9,432,362	37.52%	14.94	1st	9,198,332	49.25%	20.94	1st	269 / 491	165	Government	In coalition with the MRG
1986	8,693,939	31.02%	6.50	1st	—				206 / 573	63	Opposition
1988	8,493,702	34.77%	3.75	1st	9,198,778	45.31%	3.94	1st	260 / 577	54	Government
1993	4,415,495	17.61%	17.16	3rd	6,143,179	31.01%	14.30	1st	59 / 577	201	Opposition
1997	5,977,045	23.49%	5.88	1st	9,722,022	38.20%	7.19	1st	255 / 577	196	Government
2002	6,086,599	24.11%	0.62	2nd	7,482,169	35.26%	2.94	2nd	140 / 577	115	Opposition
2007	6,436,520	24.73%	0.62	2nd	8,624,861	42.27%	7.01	2nd	186 / 577	46	Opposition
2012	7,618,326	29.35%	4.62	1st	9,420,889	40.91%	1.36	1st	279 / 577	93	Government
2017	1,685,677	7.44%	21.91	5th	1,032,842	5.68%	35.23	4th	30 / 577	249	Opposition
2022	860,201	3.78%	3.66	7th	1,084,909	5.23%	0.45	6th	28 / 577	2	Opposition	In coalition with the NUPES

European Parliament

European Parliament
Year	Votes	%	± pp	Rank	Seats	+/–	Note
1979	4,763,026	23.53%	N/A	2nd	20 / 81	N/A	In coalition with the MRG
1984	4,188,875	20.76%	2.77	2nd	20 / 81
1989	4,286,354	23.61%	2.85	2nd	17 / 87	3	In coalition with the MRG
1994	2,824,173	14.49%	9.12	2nd	15 / 87	2
1999	3,873,901	21.95%	7.46	1st	18 / 78	3	In coalition with the PRG and the MDC
2004	4,960,756	28.90%	6.95	1st	31 / 74	13
2009	2,838,160	16.48%	12.42	2nd	14 / 74	17
2014	2,649,202	13.98%	2.50	3rd	12 / 74	2	In coalition with the PRG
2019	1,403,170	6.19%	7.79	6th	3 / 79	9	In coalition with the PP–PRG–ND

Splinter parties

• 1956–: Guianese Socialist Party, splinter from the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), the predecessor of the Socialist Party.
• 1970–1973: Party of Socialist Democracy (PDS) (fr), led by the deputy Émile Muller.
• 1972–: Guadeloupean Socialist Party (PSG), founded by the former senator René Toribio.
• 1973: Socialist Democratic Movement of France (MDSF), led by the deputy Max Lejeune (fr)^[29]
• 1973–1995: fusion of PDS, MDSF and other splinter groups (Liberal Socialist Movement, Democratic Socialism, Socialism for Liberties and Democracy) to form the Socialist Democratic Movement of France (MDS), renamed after the March 1973 legislative election Social Democratic Party (PSD), joined the centre-right Union for French Democracy (UDF) in 1978.
• 1986–: Alsatian Democracy Movement (MDA) (fr), founded by Alfred Muller, elected in 1993 as deputy with the endorsement of the PS.
• 1990–: Martinican Socialist Party (PMS), founded by Maurice Louis-Joseph-Dogué (fr).^[30]
• 1993–2002: Movement of Citizens (MDC), founded by the deputy Jean-Pierre Chevènement, renamed the Citizen and Republican Movement (MRC) in 2003
• 1994–:
  United Guadeloupe, Socialism and Realities, formerly (1991-1994) the Reflexion and Action Group for Guadeloupe (GRAP-G) faction inside the Guadeloupe federation of the Socialist Party^[31]
• 1996–:
  Social Democratic Corsica (CSD) (fr), founded by Simon Renucci
  .
• 2007–: Modern Left (LGM), founded by the senator Jean-Marie Bockel, joined the centre-right Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) in 2012
• 2008–: Left Party (PG), founded by senator Jean-Luc Mélenchon, joined the Left Front in 2009.
• 2013–:
  New Deal
  (ND).
• 2015–:
  Liêm Hoang Ngoc
  .
• 2017–:
  Génération.s, le mouvement (fr), led by former presidential candidate Benoît Hamon
• 2018–:
  Republican and Socialist Left, led by Emmanuel Maurel and Marie-Noëlle Lienemann

• French Section of the Workers' International
• New Left group
• Socialist and Republican group
• Terra Nova (think tank)
• Workers and Peasants Socialist Party
• Pasokification

References