Cantonale elections to renew canton

Cantons of France

The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 342 arrondissements and 101 departments.Apart from their role as organizational units in certain aspects of the administration of public services and justice, the chief purpose of the cantons today is to serve as...

 general councillors were held in France on 10 and 17 March 1985. The left, in power since 1981, lost 10 departments. As a result, the right controlled 69 out of 95 departments.

Electoral system

The cantonales elections use the same system as the regional or legislative elections. There is a 10% threshold (10% of registered voters) needed to proceed to the second round.

National results

Runoff results missing

Party/Alliance		% (first round)	Seats
	PS Socialist Party (France) The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...	24.90%	413
	UDF Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...	18.10%	519
	RPR Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic , was a French right-wing political party. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic , it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaullism...	16.60%	390
	Miscellaneous Right Miscellaneous Right Miscellaneous Right in France refers to right-wing candidates that are not member of any large party. They either include small right-wing parties, dissidents expelled from their parties for running against their party's candidate, as well as candidates who were never formal members of a party...	14.40%	399
	PCF French Communist Party The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...	12.50%	139
	FN	8.90%	2
	Miscellaneous Left Miscellaneous Left Miscellaneous Left in France refers to left-wing candidates that are not member of any large party. They either include small left-wing parties or dissidents expelled from their parties for running against their party's candidate. Numerous DVG candidates are elected at a local level, and a smaller...	1.80%	33
	MRG Left Radical Party The Radical Party of the Left is a minor social-liberal, and in opposition to its common understanding of its name, a moderate centre-left political party in France advocating radicalism, secularism to its french extend known as laïcité, progressivism, pro-Europeanism, individual freedom and...	1.50%	57
	Ecologists	0.80%	2
	Far-Left	0.60%	0

Sources

Alain Lancelot, Les élections sous la Ve République, PUF, Paris, 1988