The Party of France is a far-right political party in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. The PDF was founded on February 23, 2009 by National Front MEP

Member of the European Parliament

A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

 Carl Lang

Carl Lang

Carl Lang is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the north-west of France. He was member of the National Front from 1978 to 2008; he is currently president and co-founder of the Party of France...

. Carl Lang was known for his opposition to Marine Le Pen

Marine Le Pen

Marine Le Pen is a French politician, a lawyer by profession and the president of the Front National since 16 January 2011...

's possible candidacy to the leadership of the FN upon retirement of its long-time leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen

Jean-Marie Le Pen

Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...

. This came in the midst of the early campaign for the 2009 European elections

European Parliament election, 2009 (France)

European elections to elect 72 French Members of the European Parliament were held on Sunday 7 June 2009.Due to the entry of Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union in 2007, the number of seats allocated to France was revised from 78 seats to 72 seats, a loss of 6 seats...

: Carl Lang

Carl Lang

Carl Lang is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the north-west of France. He was member of the National Front from 1978 to 2008; he is currently president and co-founder of the Party of France...

, elected for the FN in the North-West

North-West France (European Parliament constituency)

In European elections, North-West France is a constituency of the European Parliament. It consists of the regions of Basse-Normandie, Haute-Normandie, Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardie-2009:-2004:...

 constituency ran for re-election under the PDF banner, against the FN list led by Marine Le Pen

Marine Le Pen

Marine Le Pen is a French politician, a lawyer by profession and the president of the Front National since 16 January 2011...

. The PDF supported Jean Verdon in the Massif Central-Centre and incumbent MEP Jean-Claude Martinez

Jean-Claude Martinez

Jean-Claude Martinez is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the south-west of France. He was a member of the Front National, and was among the Non-Inscrits until the 2007 formation of the Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty Group in the European Parliament...

 in the South-West

South-West France (European Parliament constituency)

In European elections, South-West France is a constituency of the European Parliament. It consists of the regions of Aquitaine, Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées.-2009:-2004:...

 constituency. The party ran no lists against Jean-Marie Le Pen

Jean-Marie Le Pen

Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...

 and Bruno Gollnisch

Bruno Gollnisch

Bruno Gollnisch is a French academic and politician, a member of the National Front far-right party, and a member of the European Parliament. He was chairman of the European Parliamentary group 'Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty' in 2007, which was dissolved in November 2007 following the...

.

The PDF was joined by a number of high-ranking FN elected officials and members, including Fernand Le Rachinel

Fernand Le Rachinel

Fernand Le Rachinel is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the north-west of France. He is a member of the Front National, and is therefore a Non-Inscrit in the European Parliament...

 and Bernard Antony. After defections from the FN, it has regional councillors in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Picardie

Picardie

Picardy is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northern part of France.-History:The historical province of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to Calais, via the whole of the Somme department and the north of the Aisne department...

, Basse-Normandie

Basse-Normandie

Lower Normandy is an administrative region of France. It was created in 1956, when the Normandy region was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy...

, Ile-de-France

Île-de-France (région)

Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....

 and Centre regions.

In the 2009 European elections

European Parliament election, 2009 (France)

European elections to elect 72 French Members of the European Parliament were held on Sunday 7 June 2009.Due to the entry of Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union in 2007, the number of seats allocated to France was revised from 78 seats to 72 seats, a loss of 6 seats...

, all list supported by the PDF were defeated, with 1.88% in the Massif Central, 1.52% in the North-West and 0.92% in the South-West. Carl Lang

Carl Lang

Carl Lang is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the north-west of France. He was member of the National Front from 1978 to 2008; he is currently president and co-founder of the Party of France...

, Fernand Le Rachinel

Fernand Le Rachinel

Fernand Le Rachinel is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the north-west of France. He is a member of the Front National, and is therefore a Non-Inscrit in the European Parliament...

 and Jean-Claude Martinez

Jean-Claude Martinez

Jean-Claude Martinez is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the south-west of France. He was a member of the Front National, and was among the Non-Inscrits until the 2007 formation of the Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty Group in the European Parliament...

 were defeated.

In November 2009, Carl Lang

Carl Lang

Carl Lang is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the north-west of France. He was member of the National Front from 1978 to 2008; he is currently president and co-founder of the Party of France...

 announced that he would be candidate in the 2010 regional elections

French regional elections, 2010

Regional elections were held in France on 14 and 21 March 2010. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 régions, which, though they do not have legislative autonomy, manage sizable budgets....

 in Haute-Normandie

Haute-Normandie

Upper Normandy is one of the 27 regions of France. It was created in 1984 from two départements: Seine-Maritime and Eure, when Normandy was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. This division continues to provoke controversy, and some continue to call for reuniting the two regions...

. In addition, the party has announced that it would run in at least 8 regions.