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Socialist Party (France)
Encyclopedia
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
. The party replaced the earlier French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) in 1969, and is currently led by Martine Aubry
.
The PS first won power in 1981, when its candidate François Mitterrand
was elected President of France in the 1981 presidential election
. Under Mitterrand, the party achieved a governing majority in the National Assembly
from 1981 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1993. PS leader Lionel Jospin
lost his bid to succeed Mitterrand as president in the 1995 presidential election
against Gaullist
leader Jacques Chirac
but became prime minister in a cohabitation government
after the 1997 parliamentary elections
, a position he held until 2002, when he was again defeated in the presidential election
.
In 2007, the party's candidate for the 2007 presidential election
, Ségolène Royal
, was defeated by conservatice candidate Nicolas Sarkozy
. Then, the Socialist party won most of regional and local elections and it won control
of the Senate in 2011 for the first time in more than fifty years.
The PS is a member of the Party of European Socialists
(PES) and the Socialist International
(SI).
(1871), power of the French socialist movement was greatly reduced. Its leaders were killed or exiled. France's first socialist party, the Federation of the Socialist Workers of France
, 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
of Jules Guesde
and Paul Lafargue
(the son-in-law of Karl Marx
), then in 1890 the Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party
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
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 Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet caused a debate about socialist participation in a "bourgeois government". Three years later, Jaurès, Allemane and the possibilists founded the possibilist French Socialist Party
, which supported participation in government, while Guesde and Vaillant formed the Socialist Party of France
, which opposed such co-operation. In 1905, during the Globe Congress, the two groups merged in the French Section of the Workers International (SFIO). Leader of the parliamentary group and director of the party paper L'Humanité
, Jaurès was its most influential figure.
The party was hemmed in between the middle-class liberals
of the Radical Party and the revolutionary syndicalists
who dominated the trade union
s. Furthermore, the goal to rally all the Socialists in one single party was partially reached: some elects refused to join the SFIO and created the Republican-Socialist Party
, favourable to the government participation. Together with the Radicals, who wished to install laicism
, the SFIO was a component of the Left Block (Bloc des gauches
) without to sit in the government. In 1906, the General Confederation of Labour trade union claimed its independence from all political parties.
The French socialists were strongly anti-war, but following the assassination of Jaurès in 1914 they were unable to resist the wave of militarism which followed the outbreak of World War I. They suffered a severe split over participation in the wartime government of national unity. In 1919 the anti-war socialists were heavily defeated in elections. In 1920, during the Tours Congress
, the majority and left wing of the party broke away and formed the French Section of the Communist International
to join the Third International
founded by Vladimir Lenin
. The right wing, led by Léon Blum
, kept the "old house" and remained in the SFIO.
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 governmment 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 Marxist
language without questioning the alliance with the centre and the centre-right. His leadership was shaken when the party divided in 1954 about the European Defence Community
(the half of the SFIO parliamentary group voted "no", against the instructions of the party lead, participating to the failure of the project). But later, Mollet got involved the SFIO in the build of a centre-left coalition, the Republican Front
, which won a plurality in the 1956 elections. Consequently, he was Prime Minister at the head of a minority government. But the party was in decline, as were the Radicals, and the left never came close to forming a united front. Indeed, this led Mollet to assert, "the Communist Party is not on the left, but in the East". The repressive policy of Mollet in the Algerian War and his support for Charles de Gaulle
's come-back in 1958 (the party lead called to vote "yes" in referendum on Fifth Republic
's constitution) caused a split and the foundation of the dissident Unified Socialist Party
(PSU). The SFIO returned to opposition in 1959. Discredited by its fluctuating policy during the Fourth Republic, it reached its lowest ebb in the 1960s.
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 Gaullist Party
, leading the country, the SFIO, Radicals, and left-wing republican groups created the Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left
under Mitterrand's leadership. But unable to benefit from the May 1968 events, it imploded after its disastrous defeat at the June 1968 legislative elections
. One year later, the SFIO candidate Gaston Defferre
was eliminated in the first round of the 1969 presidential election
, with only 5% of votes.
, the SFIO was replaced by the Socialist Party (Parti socialiste or PS). It was joined by pro-Pierre Mendès-France
clubs (Union of Clubs for the Renewal of the Left
led by Alain Savary
) and left-wing republican groups (Union of Socialist Groups and Clubs
of Jean Poperen
). During the Issy-les-Moulineaux Congress, Alain Savary was elected First Secretary with the support of his predecessor Guy Mollet. He proposed an "ideological dialogue" with the Communists.
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. 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
.
the incumbent conservative, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
, to become the first socialist of the Fifth Republic
to be elected President of France by universal suffrage. He dissolved the National Assembly
and, for the first time in their history, the French Socialists won an absolute majority of the seats. This landslide victory for the Socialists took place to the detriment of the right-wing parliamentary parties (Rally for the Republic
and Union for French Democracy
), as well as the Communist Party.
Mitterrand was the last elected national leader in Europe to attempt to carry out socialist-inspired reforms (the 110 Propositions), furthering the dirigiste
economic planning
trends of the preceding conservative governments. The Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy
nationalised
the banks, the insurance industry and the defence industries, in accordance with the 1972 Common Program. Workers' wages were increased and working hours reduced to 39, and many other sweeping reforms carried out, but the economic crisis continued. Reforms included the abolition of death penalty
, creation of a solidarity tax on wealth
(ISF), introduction of proportional representation
in legislative elections (which was applied only at the 1986 election
), decentralization
of the state (1982–83 laws), repeal of price liberalization for books (Lang Law
of 1981), etc.
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.
The PS lost its majority in the French National Assembly in 1986, forcing Mitterrand to "cohabit" with the conservative government of Jacques Chirac
. Nevertheless, Mitterrand was re-elected President in 1988 with a moderate programme entitled "United France". He proposed neither nationalisations nor privatisations. He chose as Prime Minister the most popular and moderate of the Socialist politicians, Michel Rocard. His cabinet included four centre-right ministers but it was supported by only a plurality in the National Assembly elected in June 1988
.
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, Edith 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 1994 European Parliament election
. He was overthrown by a motley coalition led by Henri Emmanuelli
, a "Mitterrandist" left-winger. One year before the 1995 presidential election
, the PS was affected by a leadership crisis. Rocard lost the most part of his followers after his 1994 electoral crash, Fabius was weakened by the infected blood scandal
, the presidentaibility of Emannuelli was questioned. The hope of some party members transferred to Jacques Delors
, president of the European Commission
and a favourite according to the polls, but he declined due to the radicalisation of the party which prevented his centrist
strategy. Finally, Lionel Jospin
, who had announced his political retirement after the loss of his parliamentary seat in 1993, came back and proposed to "take stock" of Mitterrand's inheritance. For the first time, the party members were called to nominate their candidate for presidency. Benefiting from a good image in the polls, a strong loyalty to the party (as former First Secretary) and governmental experience (as former Education Minister, and the teachers were numerous and influentials in the PS), he deafeted Emmanuelli in the internal ballot. Then, he was defeated by Jacques Chirac
in the run-off election but, given the PS crisis, his result was judged good and he returned as First Secretary.
, 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 but had little to do with traditional democratic socialism
. The Aubry laws reduced the working time to 35 hours a week. 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 2002 presidential election
was focused on the theme of insecurity. Jospin, again the Socialists' candidate, was eliminated in the first round due to there being too many left-wing candidates who split the vote. He announced his retirement from politics, and the PS called on its supporters to vote for Chirac in order to defeat the far-right National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen
, who had surprisingly advanced to the run-off. Two months later, the "Plural Left" lost the 2002 legislative election.
, 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 European Constitution. However, several well-known members of the Party, including Laurent Fabius
, and left-wingers Henri Emmanuelli
and Jean-Luc Mélenchon
, asked the public for a "no" vote in 29 May 2005 French referendum on the European Constitution
, where the proposed Constitution was rejected. Fabius was ejected from the executive office of the party. The split over the European Constitution, as well as party leaders' competing ambitions to win the presidential nomination in 2007, led the party into considerable disarray.
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.
For the 2007 presidential election
, many potential candidates appeared: 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. In 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:
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 must 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.
edited a "Left strategy for 2012" report, which suggests that workers
should not continue to be a main subject of the Socialist Party's campaign platform, considering that the working class has lost its political significance and has moved toward the National Front nowadays. It advises the party to revitalize its platform and its voter base by emphasizing its progressive views on youth
and women
and by targeting ethnic minorities, precarious work
ers and academia
.
Candidates for the presidency of France will contest an open primary on October 9, 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. But he faced a sex assault complaint in New York and has been de facto eliminated from the primary.
In October, former party leader François Hollande
was chosen as the official Socialist Party candidate for President of France.
), an old SFIO base. These rural regions voted Socialist as a protest against Parisian centralism, though they were amongst the first republican and laïc
regions of France.
While the PS used to be weak in the major wealthy urban centres of the southwest, such as Toulouse
, the PS has made gains with middle class urban voters nationwide and is the largest party in almost all major French cities.
The PS is also strong in areas which used to be strongholds of the French Communist Party
: the mining and industrial areas of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, the left-wing rural Limousin
, and various industrial centres around France.
In recent years, thanks to urbanisation and most notably the decline of religious practice, it has made significant gains in regions such as Brittany or the Pays de la Loire
. For example, Ségolène Royal won the Breton department of Ille-et-Vilaine
with 52.39% – while losing nationally – while Mitterrand has won only 38.88% in 1974 (49.19% nationwide). This trend has also been observed in Catholic departments such as Lozère
, Cantal and Haute-Loire
(though the Socialists were already strong in secular logging areas).
Past support in rural region Provence
, such as in the Var (formerly the "Red Var") has practically evaporated with the influx of wealthier residents, Pied-Noir
and pensioner
s. Ironically, the region is now one of the PS' worst regions.
The PS is also strong in the department of the Nièvre
, Mitterrand's electoral base.
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
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...
and the largest party of the French centre-left
Centre-left
Centre-left is a political term that describes individuals, political parties or organisations such as think tanks whose ideology lies between the centre and the left on the left-right spectrum...
. It is one of the two major
Major party
A major party is a political party that holds substantial influence in a country's politics, standing in contrast to a minor party. It should not be confused with majority party.According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:...
contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement
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...
. The party replaced the earlier French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) in 1969, and is currently led by Martine Aubry
Martine Aubry
Martine Aubry is a French politician. She has been the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party since November 2008 and Mayor of Lille since March 2001...
.
The PS first won power in 1981, when its candidate François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
was elected President of France in the 1981 presidential election
French presidential election, 1981
The French presidential election of 1981 took place on 10 May 1981, giving the presidency of France to François Mitterrand, the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic....
. Under Mitterrand, the party achieved a governing majority in the National Assembly
French National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
from 1981 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1993. PS leader Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
lost his bid to succeed Mitterrand as president in the 1995 presidential election
French presidential election, 1995
Presidential elections took place in France on 23 April and 7 May 1995, to elect the fifth president of the Fifth Republic.The incumbent Socialist president, François Mitterrand, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had cancer, and his party had lost the previous legislative election in a...
against Gaullist
Gaullist Party
In France, the Gaullist Party is usually used to refer to the largest party professing to be Gaullist. Gaullism claimed to transcend the left/right rift...
leader Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
but became prime minister in a cohabitation government
Cohabitation (government)
Cohabitation in government occurs in semi-presidential systems, such as France's system, when the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament. It occurs because such a system forces the president to name a premier that will be acceptable to the...
after the 1997 parliamentary elections
French legislative election, 1997
French legislative election took place on 25 May and 1 June 1997 to elect the 11th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. It was the consequence of President Jacques Chirac's decision to call the legislative election one year before the deadline....
, a position he held until 2002, when he was again defeated in the presidential election
French presidential election, 2002
The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002, and a runoff election between the top two candidates on 5 May 2002. This presidential contest attracted a greater than usual amount of international attention because of Le Pen's unexpected appearance in...
.
In 2007, the party's candidate for the 2007 presidential election
French presidential election, 2007
The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term.The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy...
, Ségolène Royal
Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
, was defeated by conservatice candidate Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas 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....
. Then, the Socialist party won most of regional and local elections and it won control
French Senate election, 2011
A Senate election was held for 165 of the 348 seats in the Senate of France on 25 September 2011. Senate members were primarily elected by municipal officials, and the number of senators was increased from 343 to 348, due to the growth of France's population since the previous election was held in...
of the Senate in 2011 for the first time in more than fifty years.
The PS is a member of the Party of European Socialists
Party of European Socialists
The Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...
(PES) and the Socialist International
Socialist International
The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...
(SI).
French socialist movement until 1969
After the disbanding of the Paris communeParis Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
(1871), power of the French socialist movement was greatly reduced. Its leaders were killed or exiled. France's first socialist party, the Federation of the Socialist Workers of France
Federation of the Socialist Workers of France
France's first socialist party, the Federation of the Socialist Workers of France , was founded in 1879. It was characterised as "possibilist" because it promoted gradual reforms.-Formation:...
, was founded in 1879. It was characterised as "possibilist" because it promoted gradual reforms
Reformism
Reformism is the belief that gradual democratic changes in a society can ultimately change a society's fundamental economic relations and political structures...
. Two parties split off from it: in 1882, the French Workers' Party
French Workers' Party
The Parti Ouvrier Français was the first Marxist party in France, created in 1880 by Jules Guesde and Paul Lafargue, Marx's son-in-law...
of Jules Guesde
Jules Guesde
Jules Basile Guesde was a French socialist journalist and politician.Guesde was the inspiration for a famous quotation by Karl Marx. Shortly before Marx died in 1883, he wrote a letter to Guesde and Paul Lafargue, both of whom already claimed to represent "Marxist" principles...
and Paul Lafargue
Paul Lafargue
Paul Lafargue was a French revolutionary Marxist socialist journalist, literary critic, political writer and activist; he was Karl Marx's son-in-law, having married his second daughter Laura. His best known work is The Right to Be Lazy...
(the son-in-law of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
), then in 1890 the Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party
Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party (France)
The Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party was a French political party founded by Jean Allemane in 1890 and dissolved in 1901. It is indirectly one of the founding factions of the French Section of the Workers' International , founded in 1905....
of Jean Allemane
Jean Allemane
Jean Allemane was a French socialist politician, veteran of the Paris Commune of 1871, pioneer of syndicalism, leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Workers' Party and co-founder of the unified French Section of the Workers' International in 1905...
. At the same time, the heirs of Louis Auguste Blanqui
Louis Auguste Blanqui
Louis Auguste Blanqui was a French political activist, notable for the revolutionary theory of Blanquism, attributed to him....
, a symbol of the French revolutionary tradition, created the Central Revolutionary Committee
Central Revolutionary Committee
The Central Revolutionary Committee was a French Blanquist political party founded in 1881 and dissolved in 1898.The CRC was founded by Édouard Vaillant to continue the political struggle of Auguste Blanqui...
led by Édouard Vaillant
Édouard Vaillant
Marie Édouard Vaillant was a French politician.Born in Vierzon, Cher, son of a lawyer, Édouard Vaillant studied engineering at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, graduating in 1862, and then law at the Sorbonne. In Paris he knew Charles Longuet, Louis-Auguste Rogeard, and Jules Vallès...
. There were also some declared socialist deputies such as Alexandre Millerand
Alexandre Millerand
Alexandre Millerand was a French socialist politician. He was President of France from 23 September 1920 to 11 June 1924 and Prime Minister of France 20 January to 23 September 1920...
and Jean Jaurès
Jean Jaurès
Jean Léon Jaurès was a French Socialist leader. Initially an Opportunist Republican, he evolved into one of the first social democrats, becoming the leader, in 1902, of the French Socialist Party, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist Party of France. Both parties merged in 1905 in...
who did not belong to any party.
In 1899, the participation of Millerand in Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet caused a debate about socialist participation in a "bourgeois government". Three years later, Jaurès, Allemane and the possibilists founded the possibilist French Socialist Party
French Socialist Party (1902)
The French Socialist Party was founded in 1902. It came from the merger of the "possibilist" Federation of the Socialist Workers of France , Jean Allemane's Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party and some independent socialist politicians like Jean Jaurès...
, which supported participation in government, while Guesde and Vaillant formed the Socialist Party of France
Socialist Party of France (1902)
The Socialist Party of France was founded in 1902, during a congress in Commentry, by the merger of the Marxist French Workers' Party led by Jules Guesde and the Blanquist Central Revolutionary Committee of Édouard Vaillant....
, which opposed such co-operation. In 1905, during the Globe Congress, the two groups merged in the French Section of the Workers International (SFIO). Leader of the parliamentary group and director of the party paper L'Humanité
L'Humanité
L'Humanité , formerly the daily newspaper linked to the French Communist Party , was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the French Section of the Workers' International...
, Jaurès was its most influential figure.
The party was hemmed in between the middle-class liberals
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
of the Radical Party and the revolutionary syndicalists
Syndicalism
Syndicalism is a type of economic system proposed as a replacement for capitalism and an alternative to state socialism, which uses federations of collectivised trade unions or industrial unions...
who dominated the trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s. Furthermore, the goal to rally all the Socialists in one single party was partially reached: some elects refused to join the SFIO and created the Republican-Socialist Party
Republican-Socialist Party
The Republican-Socialist Party was a French socialist political party during the French Third Republic, founded in 1911 and dissolved in 1934. It was founded by socialists who refused to join the SFIO founded in 1905. The PRS was a non-Marxist "reformist socialist" party located between the SFIO...
, favourable to the government participation. Together with the Radicals, who wished to install laicism
Laïcité
French secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...
, the SFIO was a component of the Left Block (Bloc des gauches
Bloc des gauches
The Bloc des gauches , aka Bloc républicain was a coalition of Republican political forces created during the French Third Republic in 1899 to contest the 1902 legislative elections...
) without to sit in the government. In 1906, the General Confederation of Labour trade union claimed its independence from all political parties.
The French socialists were strongly anti-war, but following the assassination of Jaurès in 1914 they were unable to resist the wave of militarism which followed the outbreak of World War I. They suffered a severe split over participation in the wartime government of national unity. In 1919 the anti-war socialists were heavily defeated in elections. In 1920, during the Tours Congress
Tours Congress
The Tours Congress was the 18th National Congress of the French Section of the Workers' International, or SFIO, which took place in Tours on 25—30 December 1920...
, the majority and left wing of the party broke away and formed the French Section of the Communist International
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...
to join the Third International
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
founded by Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
. The right wing, led by Léon Blum
Léon Blum
André Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-First political experiences:...
, kept the "old house" and remained in the SFIO.
In 1924 and in 1932, the Socialists joined with the Radicals in the Coalition of the Left (Cartel des Gauches
Cartel des Gauches
The Cartel des gauches was the name of the governmental alliance between the Radical-Socialist Party and the socialist French Section of the Workers' International after World War I , which lasted until the end of the Popular Front . The Cartel des gauches twice won general elections, in 1924 and...
), but refused to join the non-Socialist governments led by the Radicals Édouard Herriot
Édouard Herriot
Édouard Marie Herriot was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister and for many years as President of the Chamber of Deputies....
and Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier was a French Radical politician and the Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War.-Career:Daladier was born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. Later, he would become known to many as "the bull of Vaucluse" because of his thick neck and large shoulders and determined...
. These governments failed because the Socialists and the Radicals could not agree on economic policy, and also because the Communists, following the policy
Third Period
The Third Period is a ideological concept adopted by the Communist International at its 6th World Congress, held in Moscow in the summer of 1928....
laid down by the Soviet Union, refused to support governments presiding over capitalist economies. The question of the possibility of a governmment participation with Radicals caused the split of "neosocialists" at the beginning of the 1930s. They merged with the Republican-Socialist Party
Republican-Socialist Party
The Republican-Socialist Party was a French socialist political party during the French Third Republic, founded in 1911 and dissolved in 1934. It was founded by socialists who refused to join the SFIO founded in 1905. The PRS was a non-Marxist "reformist socialist" party located between the SFIO...
in the Socialist Republican Union
Socialist Republican Union
The ' was a political party in France founded in 1935 during the late Third Republic which united the right-wing of the French Section of the Workers' International.The USR was founded by the following parties:*Socialist Party of France-Jean Jaurès Union...
.
In 1934, the Communists changed their line, and the four left-wing parties came together in the Popular Front
Popular Front (France)
The Popular Front was an alliance of left-wing movements, including the French Communist Party , the French Section of the Workers' International and the Radical and Socialist Party, during the interwar period...
, 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
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. 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
Marceau Pivert
Marceau Pivert was a French schoolteacher, trade unionist, Socialist militant and journalist. He was an alumnus of the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud.-In the Socialist Party:...
, to the Workers and Peasants' Socialist Party
Workers and Peasants' Socialist Party
The Workers and Peasants' Socialist Party was an ephemeral socialist organisation in France, formed on June 8, 1938 by Marceau Pivert...
. The demoralised Left fell apart and was unable to resist the collapse of the French Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
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
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...
(PCF), which became the largest left-wing party, and the Christian democratic
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
Popular Republican Movement
Popular Republican Movement
The Popular Republican Movement was a French Christian democratic party of the Fourth Republic...
(MRP). This alliance installed the main elements of the French welfare state
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
and the French Fourth Republic
French Fourth Republic
The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...
, but it did not survive the Cold War. In May 1947, the Socialist Prime Minister Paul Ramadier
Paul Ramadier
Paul Ramadier was a prominent French politician of the Third and Fourth Republics. Mayor of Decazeville starting in 1919, he served as the first Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic in 1947. On 10 July 1940, he voted against the granting of the full powers to Marshal Philippe Pétain, who...
dismissed the Communist ministers. Blum proposed the construction of a Third Force
Third Force (France)
The Third Force was a French coalition during the Fourth Republic which gathered the French Section of the Workers' International party, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance centre-right party, the Radicals, the Christian democrat Popular Republican Movement and other centrist...
with the centre-left and the centre-right, against the Gaullists and the Communists. However, his candidate to lead of the SFIO, Daniel Mayer
Daniel Mayer
Daniel William Mayer was a member of the French Section of the Workers' International , a socialist party in France, president of the Ligue des droits de l'homme from 1958 to 1975. He founded the Comité d'Action Socialiste in 1941 and was a member of the Brutus Network, a Resistant Socialist group...
, was defeated by Guy Mollet
Guy Mollet
Guy Mollet was a French Socialist politician. He led the French Section of the Workers' International party from 1946 to 1969 and was Prime Minister in 1956–1957.-Early life and World War II:...
.
Mollet was supported by the left wing of the party. Paradoxically, he spoke a Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
language without questioning the alliance with the centre and the centre-right. His leadership was shaken when the party divided in 1954 about the European Defence Community
European Defence Community
The European Defense Community was a plan proposed in 1950 by René Pleven, the French President of the Council , in response to the American call for the rearmament of West Germany...
(the half of the SFIO parliamentary group voted "no", against the instructions of the party lead, participating to the failure of the project). But later, Mollet got involved the SFIO in the build of a centre-left coalition, the Republican Front
Republican Front (France)
The Republican Front was a French center-left coalition which won the 1956 legislative election. In the context of the Algerian War, behind Pierre Mendès-France, it gathered the French Section of the Workers' International , the Radical Party, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance...
, which won a plurality in the 1956 elections. Consequently, he was Prime Minister at the head of a minority government. But the party was in decline, as were the Radicals, and the left never came close to forming a united front. Indeed, this led Mollet to assert, "the Communist Party is not on the left, but in the East". The repressive policy of Mollet in the Algerian War and his support for Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
's come-back in 1958 (the party lead called to vote "yes" in referendum on Fifth Republic
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
's constitution) caused a split and the foundation of the dissident Unified Socialist Party
Unified Socialist Party (France)
The Unified Socialist Party was a socialist political party in France, founded on April 3, 1960. It was originally led by Édouard Depreux , and by Michel Rocard .- History :...
(PSU). The SFIO returned to opposition in 1959. Discredited by its fluctuating policy during the Fourth Republic, it reached its lowest ebb in the 1960s.
Both because of its opposition to the principle of presidential election by universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
and because De Gaulle's re-election appeared inevitable, the SFIO did not nominate a candidate for the 1965 presidential election
French presidential election, 1965
The 1965 French presidential election was the first presidential election by direct universal suffrage of the Fifth Republic. It was also the first presidential election by direct universal suffrage since the Second Republic in 1848. It was won by incumbent president Charles de Gaulle who resigned...
. Consequently, it supported the candidacy of François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
, 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 Gaullist Party
Gaullist Party
In France, the Gaullist Party is usually used to refer to the largest party professing to be Gaullist. Gaullism claimed to transcend the left/right rift...
, leading the country, the SFIO, Radicals, and left-wing republican groups created the Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left
Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left
The Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left was a conglomerate of French left-wing non-Communist forces. It was founded to support François Mitterrand's candidature at the 1965 presidential election and to couter-balance the Communist preponderance over the French left...
under Mitterrand's leadership. But unable to benefit from the May 1968 events, it imploded after its disastrous defeat at the June 1968 legislative elections
French legislative election, 1968
- National Assembly by Parliamentary Group:...
. One year later, the SFIO candidate Gaston Defferre
Gaston Defferre
Gaston Defferre was a French socialist politician.-Biography:Lawyer and member of the French Section of the Workers' International political party, he was a member of the Brutus Network, a Resistance Socialist group during World War II...
was eliminated in the first round of the 1969 presidential election
French presidential election, 1969
The 1969 French presidential election took place on 1 June and 15 June 1969. It occurred due to the resignation of President Charles de Gaulle on 28 April 1969. Indeed, De Gaulle had decided to consult the voters by referendum about regionalisation and the reform of the Senate, and he had announced...
, with only 5% of votes.
The foundation of the PS and the "Union of the Left" (1969–1981)
In 1969, during the Alfortville CongressAlfortville Congress
The Alfortville Congress was the founding national congress of the French Socialist Party . It took place on May 4, 1969. The old French Section of the Workers' International expanded to include Alain Savary's Union of Clubs for the Renewal of the Left and dissident from François Mitterrand's...
, the SFIO was replaced by the Socialist Party (Parti socialiste or PS). It was joined by pro-Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre Mendès France was a French politician. He descended from a Portuguese Jewish family that moved to France in the sixteenth century.-Third Republic and World War II:...
clubs (Union of Clubs for the Renewal of the Left
Union of Clubs for the Renewal of the Left
The ' was a socialist club in France led by Alain Savary.The UCRG included clubs led by Alain Savary and Pierre Bérégovoy. The UCRG joined the Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left before merging into the new PS at the Alfortville Congress....
led by Alain Savary
Alain Savary
Alain Savary was a French Socialist politician, deputy to the National Assembly of France during the Fourth and Fifth Republic, chairman of the Socialist Party and a government minister in the 1950s and in 1981, when he was nominated by President François Mitterrand as Minister of National...
) and left-wing republican groups (Union of Socialist Groups and Clubs
Union of Socialist Groups and Clubs
The Union of Socialist Groups and Clubs was a socialist club in France led by Jean Poperen after he was expelled from the Unified Socialist Party. The UGCS joined the Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left before merging into the new PS at the Issy-les-Moulineaux Congress....
of Jean Poperen
Jean Poperen
Jean Poperen was a French politician.Poperen joined the Communist Party at 18, and was also a member of the Union of Communist Students. He left the PCF after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and became a founding member of the Unified Socialist Party in 1960...
). During the Issy-les-Moulineaux Congress, Alain Savary was elected First Secretary with the support of his predecessor Guy Mollet. He proposed an "ideological dialogue" with the Communists.
Two years later, during the Epinay Congress
Epinay Congress
The Epinay Congress was the third national congress of the French Socialist Party , which took place on 11, 12 and 13 June 1971, in the town of Épinay-sur-Seine, in the northern suburbs of Paris...
, pro-François Mitterrand clubs (Convention of Republican Institutions
Convention of Republican Institutions
The ' was a socialist and republican party in France led by François Mitterrand. The CIR, founded in 1964 transformed from a loosely organized club to a formal political party by the time of Mitterrand's candidacy in the 1965 election...
), joined the party. Mitterrand defeated the Savary-Mollet duo by proposing an electoral programme with the Communists and took the lead. In 1972, the Common Programme was signed with the PCF and Radical Party of the Left. During the Socialist International
Socialist International
The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...
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
French legislative election, 1973
French legislative elections took place on 4 and 11 March 1973 to elect the 5th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.In order to end the May 1968 crisis, President Charles de Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly and his party, the Gaullist Party Union of Democrats for the Republic , obtained...
. Mitterrand, the candidate of the left-wing alliance, came close to winning the 1974 presidential election
French presidential election, 1974
Presidential elections were held in :France in 1974, following the death of President Georges Pompidou. They went to a second round, and were won by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing by a margin of 1.6%...
. Indeed, he obtained 49.2% of votes in the second round.
At the end of 1974, some PSU members, including leader Michel Rocard
Michel Rocard
Michel Rocard is a French politician, member of the Socialist Party . He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991, during which he created the Revenu minimum d'insertion , a social minimum welfare program for indigents, and led the Matignon Accords regarding the status...
, 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
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
, that is, a clear acceptance of the market economy
Market economy
A market economy is an economy in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system. This is often contrasted with a state-directed or planned economy. Market economies can range from hypothetically pure laissez-faire variants to an assortment of real-world mixed...
. 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
Georges Marchais
Georges René Louis Marchais was the head of the French Communist Party from 1972 to 1994, and a candidate in the French presidential elections of 1981 - in which he managed to garner only 15.34% of the vote, which was considered at the time a major setback for the party.-Early life:Born into a...
denounced a "turn towards the Right" of the PS.
In spite of positive polls, the "Union of the Left" lost the 1978 legislative election
French legislative election, 1978
The French legislative elections took place on 12 March and 19 March 1978 to elect the 6th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.On 2 April 1974 President Georges Pompidou died. The non-Gaullist center-right leader Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was elected to succeed him...
. For the first time since 1936
French legislative election, 1936
French legislative elections to elect the 16th legislature of the French Third Republic were held on 26 April and 3 May 1936. This was the last legislature of the Third Republic and the last election before the Second World War. The number of candidates set a record, with 4,807 people vying for 618...
, 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
Metz Congress
The Metz Congress was the seventh national congress of the French Socialist Party which took place on 6, 7 and 8 April 1979...
, then, despite Rocard's popularity, was chosen as PS candidate for the 1981 presidential election
French presidential election, 1981
The French presidential election of 1981 took place on 10 May 1981, giving the presidency of France to François Mitterrand, the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic....
.
Mitterrand's presidency and the exercise of power (1981–1995)
In 1981 Mitterrand defeatedFrench presidential election, 1981
The French presidential election of 1981 took place on 10 May 1981, giving the presidency of France to François Mitterrand, the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic....
the incumbent conservative, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing is a French centre-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981...
, to become the first socialist of the Fifth Republic
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
to be elected President of France by universal suffrage. He dissolved the National Assembly
French National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
and, for the first time in their history, the French Socialists won an absolute majority of the seats. This landslide victory for the Socialists took place to the detriment of the right-wing parliamentary parties (Rally for the Republic
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...
and Union for French Democracy
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...
), as well as the Communist Party.
Mitterrand was the last elected national leader in Europe to attempt to carry out socialist-inspired reforms (the 110 Propositions), furthering the dirigiste
Dirigisme
Dirigisme is an economy in which the government exerts strong directive influence. While the term has occasionally been applied to centrally planned economies, where the state effectively controls both production and allocation of resources , it originally had neither of these meanings when...
economic planning
Economic planning
Economic planning refers to any directing or planning of economic activity outside the mechanisisms of the market, in an attempt to achieve specific economic or social outcomes. Planning is an economic mechanism for resource allocation and decision-making in contrast with the market mechanism...
trends of the preceding conservative governments. The Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy
Pierre Mauroy
Pierre Mauroy is a French Socialist politician and former Prime Minister under François Mitterrand . Mauroy also served as Mayor of Lille from 1973 to 2001. Mauroy is currently emeritus mayor of Lille.-Biography:...
nationalised
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
the banks, the insurance industry and the defence industries, in accordance with the 1972 Common Program. Workers' wages were increased and working hours reduced to 39, and many other sweeping reforms carried out, but the economic crisis continued. Reforms included the abolition of death penalty
Capital punishment in France
Capital punishment was practiced in France from the Middle Ages until 1977, when the last execution took place by guillotine, being the only legal method since the French Revolution. The last person to be executed in France was Hamida Djandoubi, who was put to death in September 1977. The death...
, creation of a solidarity tax on wealth
Solidarity tax on wealth
The solidarity tax on wealth is an annual direct wealth tax on those in France having assets in excess of €800,000, . It was one of the Socialist Party's 1981 electoral program's measures, 110 Propositions for France...
(ISF), introduction of proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
in legislative elections (which was applied only at the 1986 election
French legislative election, 1986
The French legislative elections took place on 16 March 1986 to elect the 8th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. Contrary to other legislative elections of the Fifth Republic, the electoral system used was that of Party-list proportional representation.Since the 1981 election of François...
), decentralization
Decentralization
__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
of the state (1982–83 laws), repeal of price liberalization for books (Lang Law
Lang Law
Lang Law is the informal name given to French law number 81-766, from August 10, 1981, relating to book prices. The law establishes a fixed price for books sold in France, limiting price discounts on them...
of 1981), etc.
As early as 1982, Mitterrand faced a clear choice between maintaining France's membership in the European Monetary System
European Monetary System
There are three stages of monetary cooperation in the European Union.-Background:European currency exchange rate stability has been one of the most important objectives of European policy makers at least since the Second World War....
, and thus the country's commitment to European integration
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe...
, 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
Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
, clearly abandoned any further socialist measures. The "Union of the Left" died and the Communist ministers resigned.
The PS lost its majority in the French National Assembly in 1986, forcing Mitterrand to "cohabit" with the conservative government of Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
. Nevertheless, Mitterrand was re-elected President in 1988 with a moderate programme entitled "United France". He proposed neither nationalisations nor privatisations. He chose as Prime Minister the most popular and moderate of the Socialist politicians, Michel Rocard. His cabinet included four centre-right ministers but it was supported by only a plurality in the National Assembly elected in June 1988
French legislative election, 1988
French legislative elections took place on 5 June and 12 June 1988 to elect the 9th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, one month after the re-election of François Mitterrand as President of France....
.
During his second term, Mitterrand focused on foreign policy and European integration. He convened a referendum for the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...
. He left domestic policy to his prime ministers: Michel Rocard, Edith Cresson
Édith Cresson
Édith Cresson is a French politician. She was the first and so far only woman to have held the office of Prime Minister of France.- French Prime Minister :Cresson was appointed to the prime ministerial post by President François Mitterrand on 15 May 1991...
and Pierre Bérégovoy
Pierre Bérégovoy
Pierre Eugène Bérégovoy was a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1992 to 1993.-Early career:...
. 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
Rennes Congress
The Rennes Congress was the thirteenth national congress of the French Socialist Party . It took place from 15 to 18 March 1990....
, the "Mitterrandist group" split between the supporters of Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
and the friends of Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
. Furthermore, a part of the left-wing of the party, led by Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement is a French politician. He was Minister of Defense from 1988 to 1991 and Minister of the Interior from 1997 to 2000. He was a presidential candidate in 2002 and since 2008 has been a member of the Senate....
split off due to his opposition to the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
and the Maastricht Treaty. This section created the Citizen and Republican Movement
Citizen and Republican Movement
The Citizen and Republican Movement is a political party in France. The party replaced, in 2002, the Citizens' Movement founded by Jean-Pierre Chevènement, who left the Socialist Party in 1993 due to his opposition to the Persian Gulf War and to the Maastricht Treaty...
(MDC). Finally, many on the left were disappointed by the results of the Socialist governments. At the 1993 legislative election
French legislative election, 1993
French legislative elections took place on 21 and 28 March 1993 to elect the 10th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.Since 1988, President François Mitterrand and his Socialist cabinets had relied on a relative parliamentary majority. Without the support of the Communists, Prime minister...
, 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 1994 European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 1994
The 1994 European Parliamentary Election was a European election held across the 12 European Union member states in June 1994.This election saw the merge of the European People's Party and European Democrats, an increase in the overall number of seats and a fall in overall turnout to...
. He was overthrown by a motley coalition led by Henri Emmanuelli
Henri Emmanuelli
Henri Emmanuelli is a French politician.A member of the Socialist Party , he has been deputy for Landes from 1978 to 1981, from 1986 to 1997 and since 2000.-Biography:...
, a "Mitterrandist" left-winger. One year before the 1995 presidential election
French presidential election, 1995
Presidential elections took place in France on 23 April and 7 May 1995, to elect the fifth president of the Fifth Republic.The incumbent Socialist president, François Mitterrand, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had cancer, and his party had lost the previous legislative election in a...
, the PS was affected by a leadership crisis. Rocard lost the most part of his followers after his 1994 electoral crash, Fabius was weakened by the infected blood scandal
Infected blood scandal (France)
France's Infected blood scandal began in April 1991 when doctor and journalist Anne-Marie Casteret published an article in the weekly magazine the L'Événement du jeudi proving that the Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine knowingly distributed blood products contaminated with HIV to...
, the presidentaibility of Emannuelli was questioned. The hope of some party members transferred to Jacques Delors
Jacques Delors
Jacques Lucien Jean Delors is a French economist and politician, the eighth President of the European Commission and the first person to serve three terms in that office .-French Politics:...
, president of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
and a favourite according to the polls, but he declined due to the radicalisation of the party which prevented his centrist
Centrism
In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
strategy. Finally, Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
, who had announced his political retirement after the loss of his parliamentary seat in 1993, came back and proposed to "take stock" of Mitterrand's inheritance. For the first time, the party members were called to nominate their candidate for presidency. Benefiting from a good image in the polls, a strong loyalty to the party (as former First Secretary) and governmental experience (as former Education Minister, and the teachers were numerous and influentials in the PS), he deafeted Emmanuelli in the internal ballot. Then, he was defeated by Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
in the run-off election but, given the PS crisis, his result was judged good and he returned as First Secretary.
Jospin and the "Plural Left" (1995–2002)
In the legislature, the PS reconstructed a coalition with other left-wing parties: the PCF, the The GreensThe 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...
, the Radical Party of the Left, and the MDC. This "Plural Left" won the 1997 legislative election
French legislative election, 1997
French legislative election took place on 25 May and 1 June 1997 to elect the 11th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. It was the consequence of President Jacques Chirac's decision to call the legislative election one year before the deadline....
and Jospin became Prime Minister of the third "cohabitation
Cohabitation (government)
Cohabitation in government occurs in semi-presidential systems, such as France's system, when the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament. It occurs because such a system forces the president to name a premier that will be acceptable to the...
".
His policy was broadly progressive but had little to do with traditional democratic socialism
Democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
. The Aubry laws reduced the working time to 35 hours a week. Universal medical insurance
National health insurance
National health insurance is health insurance that insures a national population for the costs of health care and usually is instituted as a program of healthcare reform. It is enforced by law. It may be administered by the public sector, the private sector, or a combination of both...
was instituted. However, the policy of privatisation was pursued.
His coalition dissolved when the MDC leader Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement is a French politician. He was Minister of Defense from 1988 to 1991 and Minister of the Interior from 1997 to 2000. He was a presidential candidate in 2002 and since 2008 has been a member of the Senate....
resigned from the Cabinet. The Green and Communist allies were weakened by their governmental participation.
The 2002 presidential election
French presidential election, 2002
The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002, and a runoff election between the top two candidates on 5 May 2002. This presidential contest attracted a greater than usual amount of international attention because of Le Pen's unexpected appearance in...
was focused on the theme of insecurity. Jospin, again the Socialists' candidate, was eliminated in the first round due to there being too many left-wing candidates who split the vote. He announced his retirement from politics, and the PS called on its supporters to vote for Chirac in order to defeat the far-right National Front 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...
, who had surprisingly advanced to the run-off. Two months later, the "Plural Left" lost the 2002 legislative election.
After the 2002 shock
François HollandeFrançois Hollande
François 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...
, who became First Secretary in 1997, was re-elected in 2003 during the Dijon Congress
Dijon Congress
The Dijon Congress was the twentieth national congress of the French Socialist Party . It took place from May 16 to 18, 2003....
with the support of the main Socialist personalities, against the left-wing of the party. In the 2004 regional elections
French regional elections, 2004
Regional elections in were held in France on 21 and 28 March 2004. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 regions which, although they do not have legislative powers, manage sizeable budgets...
, 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
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
and Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
) 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 European Constitution. However, several well-known members of the Party, including Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
, and left-wingers Henri Emmanuelli
Henri Emmanuelli
Henri Emmanuelli is a French politician.A member of the Socialist Party , he has been deputy for Landes from 1978 to 1981, from 1986 to 1997 and since 2000.-Biography:...
and Jean-Luc Mélenchon
Jean-Luc Mélenchon
Jean-Luc Mélenchon is a French politician who served in the government of France as Minister of Vocational Education from 2000 to 2002. He was also a member of the Senate of France, representing the Essonne department...
, asked the public for a "no" vote in 29 May 2005 French referendum on the European Constitution
French referendum on the European Constitution
The French referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was held on 29 May 2005 to decide whether France should ratify the proposed Constitution of the European Union...
, where the proposed Constitution was rejected. Fabius was ejected from the executive office of the party. The split over the European Constitution, as well as party leaders' competing ambitions to win the presidential nomination in 2007, led the party into considerable disarray.
In November 2005, during the Le Mans Congress
Le Mans Congress
The Le Mans Congress was the twenty-first national congress of the French Socialist Party . It took place from November 18 to 20, 2005....
, 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.
2007 elections and their aftermath
French presidential election, 2007
The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term.The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy...
, many potential candidates appeared: François Hollande
François Hollande
François 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...
, Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
(from the left-wing of the party), Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn , often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party...
(who claimed to represent "social democracy"), Jack Lang
Jack Lang (French politician)
Jack Mathieu Émile Lang is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party, he served as France's Minister of Culture from 1981 to 1986 and 1988 to 1992, and as Minister of Education from 1992 to 1993 and 2000 to 2002. He was also the Mayor of Blois from 1989 to 2000...
, Martine Aubry
Martine Aubry
Martine Aubry is a French politician. She has been the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party since November 2008 and Mayor of Lille since March 2001...
and Ségolène Royal
Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
, 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
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas 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....
on 6 May 2007. Immediately after her defeat several party bosses (notably Strauss-Kahn), held Ségolène Royal personally responsible for the unsuccessful campaign. In the same time, some personalities of the right wing of the party (such as Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner is a French politician, diplomat, and doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde...
) accepted to join the government nominated by Nicolas Sarkozy.
In the 10 and 17 June 2007 National Assembly elections
French legislative election, 2007
The French legislative elections took place on 10 June and 17 June 2007 to elect the 13th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, a few weeks after the French presidential election run-off on 6 May. 7,639 candidates stood for 577 seats, including France's overseas possessions...
, 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
Reims Congress
The Reims Congress was the twenty-second national congress of the French Socialist Party , taking place from 14 to 16 November 2008 in the city of Reims in the Marne....
started. Some candidates proposed to succeed François Hollande
François Hollande
François 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...
, 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 MoDemDemocratic 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...
; - the Mayor of Paris Bertrand DelanoëBertrand DelanoëBertrand Delanoë is a French politician, and has been the mayor of Paris since 2001. He is member of the Socialist Party . Delanoë was born in Tunis, Tunisia to a French-Tunisian father and a French mother...
, supported by Lionel JospinLionel JospinLionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
and his friends, who wished to keep the status quo of the 2007 campaign and come back to the Plural Left; - Martine AubryMartine AubryMartine Aubry is a French politician. She has been the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party since November 2008 and Mayor of Lille since March 2001...
, supported by the followers of Laurent FabiusLaurent FabiusLaurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
and Dominique Strauss-KahnDominique Strauss-KahnDominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn , often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party...
, who had the same electoral strategy as the Mayor of Paris but advocated reconcilitaion between the campaigners of the "yes" and the "no" to the European constitution; and - the young left-winger Benoit HamonBenoît HamonBenoît Hamon is a French politician, member of the Socialist Party , part of the Party of European Socialists. He was Member of the European Parliament for the East of France from 2004 to 2009. He was national secretary for Europe in the French socialist party. At present, he is spokesman...
.
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
Left Party (France)
The Left Party is a French democratic socialist political party. It seeks to emulate the German political party Die Linke led by Gesine Lötzsch and Klaus Ernst.- History :...
. During the Reims Congress
Reims Congress
The Reims Congress was the twenty-second national congress of the French Socialist Party , taking place from 14 to 16 November 2008 in the city of Reims in the Marne....
, which happened in a very tense climate, the leaders of the factions failed to form a majority. Consequently, the PS members must 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
Martine Aubry
Martine Aubry is a French politician. She has been the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party since November 2008 and Mayor of Lille since March 2001...
was elected by a margin of 102 votes and 50,03% of votes.
2012 elections
In May 2011, the French centre-left think tank Terra NovaTerra Nova
Terra Nova means "new land" or "new earth" in Latin, Galician and Portuguese. Common uses include:* Newfoundland , the island portion of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada was originally called Terra Nova...
edited a "Left strategy for 2012" report, which suggests that workers
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
should not continue to be a main subject of the Socialist Party's campaign platform, considering that the working class has lost its political significance and has moved toward the National Front nowadays. It advises the party to revitalize its platform and its voter base by emphasizing its progressive views on youth
Youth politics
Youth politics is a category of issues which distinctly involve, affect or otherwise impact youth.-USA:With roots in the early youth activism of the Newsboys and Mother Jones' child labor protests at the turn of the 20th century, youth politics were first identified in American politics with the...
and women
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
and by targeting ethnic minorities, precarious work
Precarious work
Precarious work is a term used to describe non-standard employment which is poorly paid, insecure, unprotected, and cannot support a household. In recent decades there has been a dramatic increase in precarious work due to such factors as: globalization, the shift from the manufacturing sector to...
ers and academia
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
.
Candidates for the presidency of France will contest an open primary on October 9, 2011 to select the Socialist Party candidate for the 2012 presidential election
French presidential election, 2012
The 2012 French presidential election is the next presidential election, to be held on 22 April and 6 May 2012, the latter being used for a run-off if necessary...
. The nominations for the candidacy were opened on 28 June. Though he had not officially declared his candidacy, Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn , often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party...
, a prominent member of the Socialist Party and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
was the polls' clear favorite to defeat the incumbent conservative president, Nicolas Sarkozy. But he faced a sex assault complaint in New York and has been de facto eliminated from the primary.
In October, former party leader François Hollande
François Hollande
François 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...
was chosen as the official Socialist Party candidate for President of France.
Leadership
First secretaries since 1969:- Alain SavaryAlain SavaryAlain Savary was a French Socialist politician, deputy to the National Assembly of France during the Fourth and Fifth Republic, chairman of the Socialist Party and a government minister in the 1950s and in 1981, when he was nominated by President François Mitterrand as Minister of National...
(1969–1971) - François MitterrandFrançois MitterrandFrançois Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
(1971–1981) - Lionel JospinLionel JospinLionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
(1981–1988) - Pierre MauroyPierre MauroyPierre Mauroy is a French Socialist politician and former Prime Minister under François Mitterrand . Mauroy also served as Mayor of Lille from 1973 to 2001. Mauroy is currently emeritus mayor of Lille.-Biography:...
(1988–1992) - Laurent FabiusLaurent FabiusLaurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
(1992–1993) - Michel RocardMichel RocardMichel Rocard is a French politician, member of the Socialist Party . He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991, during which he created the Revenu minimum d'insertion , a social minimum welfare program for indigents, and led the Matignon Accords regarding the status...
(1993–1994) - Henri EmmanuelliHenri EmmanuelliHenri Emmanuelli is a French politician.A member of the Socialist Party , he has been deputy for Landes from 1978 to 1981, from 1986 to 1997 and since 2000.-Biography:...
(1994–1995) - Lionel JospinLionel JospinLionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
(1995–1997) - 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...
(1997–2008) - Martine AubryMartine AubryMartine Aubry is a French politician. She has been the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party since November 2008 and Mayor of Lille since March 2001...
(2008–) - Harlem DésirHarlem DésirHarlem Désir is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Île-de-France since 1999. He is a member of the Socialist Party, part of the Party of European Socialists....
(appointed on 30th June 2011, acting during Martine Aubry's candidacy in the French Socialist Party presidential primary, 2011French Socialist Party presidential primary, 2011The 2011 French Socialist Party presidential primary was the first open primary of the French Socialist Party and Radical Party of the Left for selecting their candidate for the 2012 presidential election. The filing deadline for primary nomination papers was fixed at 13 July 2011 and six...
)
Factions
- AubryistsAubryistsAubryists is the name given to supporters of the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party, Martine Aubry. It is also known as the Réformer club....
(left-wing, Christian leftChristian leftThe Christian left is a term originating in the United States, used to describe a spectrum of left-wing Christian political and social movements which largely embraces social justice....
, democratic socialismDemocratic socialismDemocratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
): Martine AubryMartine AubryMartine Aubry is a French politician. She has been the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party since November 2008 and Mayor of Lille since March 2001...
, François Lamy, Sandrine MazetierSandrine MazetierSandrine Mazetier is a member of the National Assembly of France. She represents the city of Paris, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche.-References:...
, Pierre MauroyPierre MauroyPierre Mauroy is a French Socialist politician and former Prime Minister under François Mitterrand . Mauroy also served as Mayor of Lille from 1973 to 2001. Mauroy is currently emeritus mayor of Lille.-Biography:...
, Paulette Guinchard-Kunstler, Adeline HazanAdeline HazanAdeline Hazan is a French politician, Member of the European Parliament for the east of France, and mayor of Reims since March 2008....
, 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...
(Renovate NowRenovate NowRenovate Now is an organized caucus in the French Socialist Party.The faction was founded in 2005, when Arnaud Montebourg refused to support the motion de synthèse at the Le Mans Congress which marked the rallying of most of the NPS to the majority motion led by François Hollande.Montebourg...
) - RoyalistsRoyalists (French Socialist Party)Royalists is the name given to supporters of Ségolène Royal, the party's 2007 presidential candidate. Royal narrowly lost the Reims Congress vote on First Secretary to Martine Aubry....
(moderate, social democracySocial democracySocial democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
): Ségolène RoyalSégolène RoyalMarie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
, Gérard CollombGérard CollombGérard Collomb, born on 20 June 1947 in Chalon-sur-Saône, Saône-et-Loire, is a French politician. He is an active member of the French Socialist Party and has been Mayor of Lyon since March 2001....
, Jean-Noël GuériniJean-Noël Guérini250px|right|frame|Jean-Noël GuériniJean-Noël Guérini is a member of the Senate of France, representing the Bouches-du-Rhône department since 1998...
, Gaëtan GorceGaëtan GorceGaëtan Gorce is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Nièvre department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche.-References:...
, Jean-Louis BiancoJean-Louis BiancoJean-Louis Bianco is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the first constituency of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department, and is a member of the Socialist Party, which sits with the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche group in the Assembly.-External links:...
, Julien DrayJulien DrayJulien Dray was born on 5 March 1955 in Oran, French Algeria. He is currently a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Essonne department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche.-Works:...
, Vincent PeillonVincent PeillonVincent Benoît Camille Peillon is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the north-west of France...
, Aurélie FilippettiAurélie FilippettiAurélie Filippetti is a French politician and novelist of Italian descent. Her family originates from Gualdo, Umbria....
, Hélène Mandroux, Jean-Jack QueyranneJean-Jack QueyranneJean-Jack Queyranne is a French politician. He has been the Regional President of the Rhône-Alpes since June 2002 and is a deputy in the National Assembly from the seventh district of Rhône...
, François RebsamenFrançois RebsamenFrançois Rebsamen is a member of the Senate of France, representing the Côte-d'Or department. He is a member of the Socialist Party.-References:# *...
, - DelanoistesDelanoistesDelanoistes is the name given to supporters of Bertrand Delanoë, the Mayor of Paris, within the French Socialist Party. Delanoistes are often called the "old guard" of the PS, being supported by most of the PS' old leadership....
("right-wing", social democracySocial democracySocial democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
, social liberalismSocial liberalismSocial liberalism is the belief that liberalism should include social justice. It differs from classical liberalism in that it believes the legitimate role of the state includes addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, health care, and education while simultaneously expanding...
): Bertrand DelanoëBertrand DelanoëBertrand Delanoë is a French politician, and has been the mayor of Paris since 2001. He is member of the Socialist Party . Delanoë was born in Tunis, Tunisia to a French-Tunisian father and a French mother...
, 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...
, Jean-Marc AyraultJean-Marc AyraultJean-Marc Ayrault is a French politician and a member of the French Socialist Party. He is currently Mayor of Nantes and President of the Socialist Party group in the French National Assembly....
, Lionel JospinLionel JospinLionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
, Michel RocardMichel RocardMichel Rocard is a French politician, member of the Socialist Party . He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991, during which he created the Revenu minimum d'insertion , a social minimum welfare program for indigents, and led the Matignon Accords regarding the status...
, Jean-Yves Le DrianJean-Yves Le DrianJean-Yves Le Drian is a socialist French politician born in Lorient, Morbihan.Le Drian is a member of the Socialist Party of France. He was a member of the French National Assembly for Morbihan from 1978 to 1993 and again from 1997 until June 2007...
, Élisabeth GuigouÉlisabeth GuigouÉlisabeth Guigou is a French Socialist politician.-Biography:After attending ENA, France's elite graduate school of public affairs, she worked on Jacques Delors' staff in 1982 before being hired by Hubert Védrine in François Mitterrand's...
, Michel SapinMichel SapinMichel Sapin is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Indre department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche.-Biography:...
, Alain RoussetAlain RoussetAlain Rousset is the Socialist president of the Aquitaine region of France, and a Deputy in the National Assembly of France, representing the 7th constituency of the Gironde....
, Harlem DésirHarlem DésirHarlem Désir is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Île-de-France since 1999. He is a member of the Socialist Party, part of the Party of European Socialists....
, Pierre CohenPierre CohenPierre Cohen is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Haute-Garonne department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche group....
, Michel DestotMichel DestotMichel Destot is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Isère department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche. He has been the mayor of Grenoble since 1995.-References:...
, Roland RiesRoland RiesRoland Ries is a French politician from Alsace, occupying several posts on local, regional and national level since 1997....
. - Fabiusians (left-wing, democratic socialismDemocratic socialismDemocratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
): Laurent FabiusLaurent FabiusLaurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
, 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...
, Marylise LebranchuMarylise LebranchuMarylise Lebranchu is a member of the National Assembly of France. She represents the Finistère department, and is a member of the Socialist Party and of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche parliamentary group.-References:...
, Alain Le VernAlain Le VernAlain Le Vern is a French Socialist Senator and is president of the Haute-Normandie region. He is also the inaugural President of the transnational Arc Manche Assembly....
, Alain VidaliesAlain VidaliesAlain Vidalies is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Landes department, and is a member of the Socialist Party and of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche parliamentary group.-References:...
, Marie-Noëlle LienemannMarie-Noëlle LienemannMarie-Noëlle Lienemann is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the North West of France. She is a member of the Socialist Party, part of the Party of European Socialists. She studied at the École Normale Supérieure de Cachan .-References:... - Strauss-Kahnists (right-wing, Third WayThird way (centrism)The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as...
): Dominique Strauss-KahnDominique Strauss-KahnDominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn , often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party...
, Gérard CollombGérard CollombGérard Collomb, born on 20 June 1947 in Chalon-sur-Saône, Saône-et-Loire, is a French politician. He is an active member of the French Socialist Party and has been Mayor of Lyon since March 2001....
, Pierre MoscoviciPierre MoscoviciPierre Moscovici is a French politician, a member of the Departmental Council of Doubs and a Member of the French Parliament. He is a member of the French Socialist Party ; part of the Party of European Socialists...
, Manuel VallsManuel VallsManuel Valls is a French Socialist Party politician, deputy since 2002 and mayor of Évry.Valls was born in Barcelona and became a naturalized French citizen in 1982. He is a prominent supporter of F.C... - New Socialist PartyNew Socialist Party (France)New Socialist Party is an organized caucus in the French Socialist Party. The NPS made up part of the left wing of the party.The NPS was founded in October 2002 by Arnaud Montebourg, Vincent Peillon, Julien Dray and Benoît Hamon.At the Dijon Congress in 2003, the NPS motion obtained 16.88%...
(Left-republicanismRepublicanismRepublicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
, democratic socialismDemocratic socialismDemocratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
): Henri EmmanuelliHenri EmmanuelliHenri Emmanuelli is a French politician.A member of the Socialist Party , he has been deputy for Landes from 1978 to 1981, from 1986 to 1997 and since 2000.-Biography:...
, Benoît HamonBenoît HamonBenoît Hamon is a French politician, member of the Socialist Party , part of the Party of European Socialists. He was Member of the European Parliament for the East of France from 2004 to 2009. He was national secretary for Europe in the French socialist party. At present, he is spokesman...
, Jacques Fleury, Michel VergnierMichel VergnierMichel Vergnier is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Creuse department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche.-References:...
, André LejeuneAndré LejeuneAndré Lejeune was a French politician and a member of both the National Assembly and then Senate of France.In the National Assembly from 1981–1993, he represented Creuse's 1st constituency as a member of the Socialist Party until he was defeated by Bernard de Froment in the 1993 election...
, Paul QuilèsPaul QuilèsPaul Quilès is a French Socialist politician.-Biography:He was born in Sig, Algeria.Deputy of Tarn département, close to Laurent Fabius, he was Defense Minister from 1985 to 1986, after the Rainbow Warrior scandal...
, Gérard Filoche - Eco-socialists (eco-socialismEco-socialismEco-socialism, green socialism or socialist ecology is an ideology merging aspects of Marxism, socialism, green politics, ecology and alter-globalization...
): Christophe CarescheChristophe CarescheChristophe Caresche is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the city of Paris, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche.-References:...
, Jean-Louis TourenneJean-Louis TourenneJean Louis Tourenne is a French politician and the current President of the general council of Ille-et-Vilaine. He is a member of the Socialist Party....
, Nicole BricqNicole BricqNicole Bricq is a member of the Senate of France, representing the Seine-et-Marne department. She is a member of the Socialist Party.-References:*...
, Geneviève GaillardGeneviève GaillardGeneviève Gaillard , is a French veterinary doctor, politician, member of the French Socialist Party, Socialist Party Deputy for Deux-Sèvres and, since 2008, Mayor of Niort.-Biography:...
, Philippe TourtelierPhilippe TourtelierPhilippe Tourtelier is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Ille-et-Vilaine department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche.-References:... - Utopia (Alterglobalisation)
Popular support and electoral record
The PS's pattern of support has evolved significantly since its creation and since the days of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). However, certain strongholds remain remarkably stable. For example, the PS dominates the rural areas of the south-west of France (notably the Midi-PyrénéesMidi-Pyrénées
Midi-Pyrénées is the largest region of metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark.Midi-Pyrénées has no historical or geographical unity...
), an old SFIO base. These rural regions voted Socialist as a protest against Parisian centralism, though they were amongst the first republican and laïc
Laïcité
French secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...
regions of France.
While the PS used to be weak in the major wealthy urban centres of the southwest, such as Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, the PS has made gains with middle class urban voters nationwide and is the largest party in almost all major French cities.
The PS is also strong in areas which used to be strongholds of the French Communist Party
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...
: the mining and industrial areas of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, the left-wing rural Limousin
Limousin (région)
Limousin is one of the 27 regions of France. It is composed of three départements: Corrèze, Creuse and the Haute-Vienne.Situated largely in the Massif Central, as of January 1st 2008, the Limousin comprised 740,743 inhabitants on nearly 17 000 km2, making it the second least populated region of...
, and various industrial centres around France.
In recent years, thanks to urbanisation and most notably the decline of religious practice, it has made significant gains in regions such as Brittany or the Pays de la Loire
Pays de la Loire
Pays de la Loire is one of the 27 regions of France. It is one of the regions created in the late 20th century to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful so-called "balancing metropolises" ¹...
. For example, Ségolène Royal won the Breton department of Ille-et-Vilaine
Ille-et-Vilaine
Ille-et-Vilaine is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country.- History :Ille-et-Vilaine is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
with 52.39% – while losing nationally – while Mitterrand has won only 38.88% in 1974 (49.19% nationwide). This trend has also been observed in Catholic departments such as Lozère
Lozère
Lozère , is a department in southeast France near the Massif Central, named after Mont Lozère.- History :Lozère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, Cantal and Haute-Loire
Haute-Loire
Haute-Loire is a department in south-central France named after the Loire River.-History:Haute-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
(though the Socialists were already strong in secular logging areas).
Past support in rural region Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, such as in the Var (formerly the "Red Var") has practically evaporated with the influx of wealthier residents, Pied-Noir
Pied-noir
Pied-Noir , plural Pieds-Noirs, pronounced , is a term referring to French citizens of various origins who lived in French Algeria before independence....
and pensioner
Pensioner
In common parlance, a pensioner is a person who has retired, and now collects a pension. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom and Australia where someone of pensionable age may also be referred to as an 'old age pensioner', or OAP. In the United States, the term retiree is more...
s. Ironically, the region is now one of the PS' worst regions.
The PS is also strong in the department of the Nièvre
Nièvre
Nièvre is a department in the centre of France named after the Nièvre River.-History:Nièvre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, Mitterrand's electoral base.
Presidential
| Election year | Candidate | # of 1st round votes | % of 1st round vote | # of 2nd round votes | % of 2nd round vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 French presidential election, 1974 Presidential elections were held in :France in 1974, following the death of President Georges Pompidou. They went to a second round, and were won by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing by a margin of 1.6%... |
François Mitterrand François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President... |
11,044,373 | 43.25% | 12,971,604 | 49.19% |
| 1981 French presidential election, 1981 The French presidential election of 1981 took place on 10 May 1981, giving the presidency of France to François Mitterrand, the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic.... |
François Mitterrand François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President... |
7,505,960 | 25.85% | 15,708,262 | 51.76% |
| 1988 French presidential election, 1988 Presidential elections were held in France on 24 April and 8 May 1988.In 1981, the Socialist Party leader, François Mitterrand, was elected President of France and the Left won the legislative election. However, in 1986, the Right regained a parliamentary majority. President Mitterrand was forced... |
François Mitterrand François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President... |
10,381,332 | 34.11% | 16,704,279 | 54.02% |
| 1995 French presidential election, 1995 Presidential elections took place in France on 23 April and 7 May 1995, to elect the fifth president of the Fifth Republic.The incumbent Socialist president, François Mitterrand, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had cancer, and his party had lost the previous legislative election in a... |
Lionel Jospin Lionel Jospin Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995... |
7,098,191 | 23.30% | 14,180,644 | 47.36% |
| 2002 French presidential election, 2002 The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002, and a runoff election between the top two candidates on 5 May 2002. This presidential contest attracted a greater than usual amount of international attention because of Le Pen's unexpected appearance in... |
Lionel Jospin Lionel Jospin Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995... |
4,610,113 | 16.18% | — | — |
| 2007 French presidential election, 2007 The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term.The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy... |
Ségolène Royal Ségolène Royal Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party... |
9,500,112 | 25.87% | 16,790,440 | 46.94% |
Legislative
| Election year | # of 1st round votes | % of 1st round vote | # of seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 French legislative election, 1973 French legislative elections took place on 4 and 11 March 1973 to elect the 5th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.In order to end the May 1968 crisis, President Charles de Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly and his party, the Gaullist Party Union of Democrats for the Republic , obtained... |
4,579,888 | 18.9% | 89 |
| 1978 French legislative election, 1978 The French legislative elections took place on 12 March and 19 March 1978 to elect the 6th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.On 2 April 1974 President Georges Pompidou died. The non-Gaullist center-right leader Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was elected to succeed him... |
6,451,151 | 22.6% | 103 |
| 1981 French legislative election, 1981 French legislative elections took place on 14 June and 21 June 1981 to elect the 7th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.On 10 May 1981 François Mitterrand was elected President of France. He became the first Socialist to win this post under universal suffrage... |
9,077,435 | 36.0% | 266 |
| 1986 French legislative election, 1986 The French legislative elections took place on 16 March 1986 to elect the 8th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. Contrary to other legislative elections of the Fifth Republic, the electoral system used was that of Party-list proportional representation.Since the 1981 election of François... |
8,693,939 | 31.0% | 206 |
| 1988 French legislative election, 1988 French legislative elections took place on 5 June and 12 June 1988 to elect the 9th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, one month after the re-election of François Mitterrand as President of France.... |
8,493,602 | 34.8% | 260 |
| 1993 French legislative election, 1993 French legislative elections took place on 21 and 28 March 1993 to elect the 10th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.Since 1988, President François Mitterrand and his Socialist cabinets had relied on a relative parliamentary majority. Without the support of the Communists, Prime minister... |
4,476,716 | 17.6% | 53 |
| 1997 French legislative election, 1997 French legislative election took place on 25 May and 1 June 1997 to elect the 11th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. It was the consequence of President Jacques Chirac's decision to call the legislative election one year before the deadline.... |
5,961,612 | 23.5% | 246 |
| 2002 French legislative election, 2002 -12th Assembly by Parliamentary Group:... |
6,086,599 | 24.1% | 141 |
| 2007 French legislative election, 2007 The French legislative elections took place on 10 June and 17 June 2007 to elect the 13th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, a few weeks after the French presidential election run-off on 6 May. 7,639 candidates stood for 577 seats, including France's overseas possessions... |
6,436,520 | 24.73% | 186 |
European Parliament
| Election year | Number of votes | % of overall vote | # of seats won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 European Parliament election, 1979 (France) In 1979 the first direct elections to the European Parliament were held in France. Four parties were able to win seats: the centre right Union for French Democracy the Gaullist Rally for the Republic, the Socialist Party and the French Communist Party. 61.7% of the French population turned out on... |
4,763,026 | 23.53% | 22 |
| 1984 European Parliament election, 1984 (France) In 1984 the second direct elections to the European Parliament were held in France. Four parties were able to win seats: an alliance of the centre right Union for French Democracy and the Gaullist Rally for the Republic, the Socialist Party and the French Communist Party, and the Front National... |
4,188,875 | 20.76% | 20 |
| 1989 European Parliament election, 1989 (France) On 15 June 1989 the third direct elections to the European Parliament were held in the France. Six lists were able to win seats: an alliance of the centre right Union for French Democracy and the Gaullist Rally for the Republic, an alliance of the Socialist Party and the PRG, the French Communist... |
4,286,354 | 23.61% | 22 |
| 1994 European Parliament election, 1994 (France) On 12 June 1994 the fourth direct elections to the European Parliament were held in the France. Six lists were able to win seats: an alliance of the centre-right Union for French Democracy and the Gaullist Rally for the Republic, the Socialist Party, the Left Radical Party, the French Communist... |
2,824,173 | 14.49% | 15 |
| 1999 European Parliament election, 1999 (France) On 13 June 1999 the fifth direct elections to the European Parliament were held in the France. Once again, abstention was very high for this type of election- only 47% of eligible voters voted... |
3,873,901 | 21.95% | 22 |
| 2004 European Parliament election, 2004 (France) Elections to the European Parliament were held in France on 13 June 2004. The opposition Socialist Party made substantial gains, although this was mainly at the expense of minor parties... |
4,960,756 | 28.90% | 31 |
| 2009 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... |
2,838,160 | 16.48% | 14 |