French cantonal elections, 2008
Encyclopedia
Cantonal elections to elect half the membership of the general councils of France's 100 departments were held on 9 and 16 March 2008. These elections coincided with the municipal elections
, in which the left did well.
French municipal elections, 2008
The French municipal elections of 2008 were held on 9 March in that year to elect the municipal councils of France's 36,782 communes...
, in which the left did well.
Electoral system
The cantonal elections use a two-round system similar to that employed in the country's legislative elections.- Councillors are elected from single-member constituencies (the cantonsCantons of FranceThe 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...
). - A candidate securing the votes of at least 25% of the canton's registered voters and more than 50% of the total number of votes actually cast in the first round of voting is thereby elected. If no candidate satisfies these conditions, then a second round of voting is held one week later.
- Entitled to present themselves in the second round are the two candidates who received the highest number of votes in the first round, plus any other candidate or candidates who received the votes of at least 10% of those registered to vote in the canton.
- In the second round, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes is elected.
Change in control
From right to left
- AinAinAin is a department named after the Ain River on the eastern edge of France. Being part of the region Rhône-Alpes and bordered by the rivers Saône and Rhône, the department of Ain enjoys a privileged geographic situation...
(PS) - AllierAllierAllier is a department in central France named after the river Allier.- History :Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne and Bourbonnais.In 1940, the government of Marshal...
(PCF) - CorrèzeCorrèzeCorrèze is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.-History:...
(PS) - Indre-et-LoireIndre-et-LoireIndre-et-Loire is a department in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers.-History:Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
(PS) - Lot-et-GaronneLot-et-GaronneLot-et-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot and Garonne rivers.-History:Lot-et-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
(PS) - Deux-SèvresDeux-SèvresDeux-Sèvres is a French département. Deux-Sèvres literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department.-History:...
(PS) - SommeSommeSomme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
(PS) - Val-d'OiseVal-d'OiseVal-d'Oise is a French department, created in 1968 after the split of the Seine-et-Oise department and located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as "quatre-vingt quinze" or "neuf cinq"...
(PS)
Past general council presidents
- François HollandeFrançois HollandeFrançois Gérard Georges Hollande is a French politician. From 1997 to 2008, he was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party. He has also served as a Deputy of the National Assembly of France, representing the first constituency of Corrèze, since 1997. He previously represented that seat...
, first secretary of the PS elected in CorrèzeCorrèzeCorrèze is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.-History:... - Arnaud MontebourgArnaud MontebourgArnaud Montebourg is a French politician, and a deputy of the fifth district of Saône-et-Loire to the French National Assembly for the Socialist Party. He has also been elected president of the local assembly of Saône et Loire after local elections in 2008...
, PS deputy elected in Saone-et-LoireSaône-et-LoireSaône-et-Loire is a French department, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers between which it lies.-History:When it was formed during the French Revolution, as of March 4, 1790 in fulfillment of the law of December 22, 1789, the new department combined parts of the provinces of southern... - Hervé GaymardHervé GaymardHervé Gaymard is a French politician and a member of UMP conservative party. He served as the country's Minister of Finances from 30 November 2004 until his resignation on 25 February 2005....
, former UMP minister elected in SavoieSavoieSavoie is a French department located in the Rhône-Alpes region in the French Alps.Together with the Haute-Savoie, Savoie is one of the two departments of the historic region of Savoy that was annexed by France on June 14, 1860, following the signature of the Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860... - Dominique BussereauDominique BussereauDominique Bussereau is a French politician, was Secretary of State for Transport within the government of François Fillon...
, former UMP minister elected in Charente-MaritimeCharente-MaritimeCharente-Maritime is a department on the west coast of France named after the Charente River.- History :Previously a part of Saintonge, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790... - Claude BartoloneClaude BartoloneClaude Bartolone is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Seine-Saint-Denis department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche.-Political career:Governmental functions...
, PS deputy elected in Seine-Saint-DenisSeine-Saint-Denis- Culture :A number of hip hop artists come from the Seine-Saint-Denis, including one of the first major hip-hop groups in France, NTM, as well as Lord Kossity, or more recent acts such as Tandem or Sefyu.- Miscellaneous topics :...
Notable new councillors
- Jean SarkozyJean SarkozyJean Sarkozy de Nagy-Bocsa is the son of the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy from his first marriage, to Marie-Dominique Culioli. Jean is a regional councillor in the city of Neuilly-sur-Seine, France and registered as a 1st year Law student at Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University in 2007...
, son of President Nicolas SarkozyNicolas SarkozyNicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
, elected in Neuilly-Sud (Hauts-de-SeineHauts-de-SeineHauts-de-Seine is designated number 92 of the 101 départements in France. It is part of the Île-de-France region, and covers the western inner suburbs of Paris...
) as the UMP candidate
National results
| Party/Alliance | Departments | Votes | % (first round) | Votes | % (second round) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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... |
3,572,789 | 26.73% | 2,415,348 | 35.11% | ||
| UMP Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party... |
3,158,400 | 23.63% | 1,843,500 | 26.80% | ||
| 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... |
2,016,938 | 15.09% | 1,035,770 | 15.06% | ||
| 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... |
2 | 1,172,378 | 8.77% | 387,397 | 5.63% | |
| 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... |
0 | 898,717 | 6.72% | 506,403 | 7.36% | |
| FN | 0 | 647,749 | 4.85% | 11,232 | 0.16% | |
| MoDem Democratic Movement (France) The Democratic Movement , MoDem) is a centrist, social liberal and pro-European French political party that was founded by centrist politician François Bayrou to succeed his Union for French Democracy and to contest the 2007 legislative election, after his strong showing in the 2007 presidential... |
2 | 590,519 | 4.42% | 202,439 | 2.94% | |
| Les Verts The Greens (France) The Greens were a Green political party to the centre-left of the political spectrum in France. They had officially been in existence since 1984, but their spiritual roots could be traced as far back as René Dumont’s candidacy for the presidency in 1974... |
0 | 558,612 | 4.18% | 106,789 | 1.55% | |
| NC New Centre New Centre , also known as the European Social Liberal Party is a centre-right political party in France, formed by the members of the Union for French Democracy – including a majority of former parliamentarians – who did not agree with François Bayrou's... |
2 | 265,318 | 1.99% | 161,575 | 2.35% | |
| PRG 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... |
2 | 183,208 | 1.37% | 100,861 | 1.47% | |
| Miscellaneous | 0 | 129,925 | 0.97% | 68,486 | 1% | |
| Regionalists | 0 | 58,441 | 0.44% | 14,785 | 0.21% | |
| Far-Left | 0 | 50,047 | 0.37% | 7,825 | 0.11% | |
| Ecologists | 0 | 40,966 | 0.31% | 17,466 | 0.25% | |
| MNR National Republican Movement The National Republican Movement is a French nationalist political party, created by Bruno Mégret with former Club de l'Horloge alumni, Yvan Blot and Jean-Yves Le Gallou, as a split from Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front on January 24, 1999.Although political observers have considered the MNR to... |
0 | 19,918 | 0.15% | 0 | 0.00% | |