The French legislative elections took place on 16 March 1986 to elect the eighth

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

of the Fifth Republic. Contrary to other legislative elections of the Fifth Republic, the electoral system used was that of

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be u ...

. Since the 1981 election of

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

, the Presidential Majority was divided. In March 1983, Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy renounced the left's radical ''Common Programme'' which had been agreed in the 1970s. Wages and prices were frozen. This change of economic policy was justified by the will to stay in the European Monetary System. One year later, the Communist ministers refused to remain in Laurent Fabius' cabinet. In opposition, the two main right-wing parties tried to forget their past quarrels. They were able to win the mid-term elections (1982 departmental elections, 1983 municipal elections, 1984 European Parliament election) and succeeded in forcing the government to abandon its policy of limiting the financing of private schools in 1984. The

Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic (french: Rassemblement pour la République ; RPR ), was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 a ...

(RPR), led by

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a Politics of France, French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to ...

, abandoned the traditional dirigiste and

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek refor ...

Gaullist doctrines about the economy and

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic, political, legal, social, and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integration has primarily come about through the European Union and its ...

. It was then able to sign an electoral platform with the

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy (french: Union pour la démocratie française, UDF) was a centre to centre-right political party in France. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to ...

(UDF). It proposed notably to sell the companies nationalized by President Mitterrand and Pierre Mauroy. However, France had also witnessed the electoral rise of the National Front (FN). Its leader,

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...

, made nationalist and xenophobic remarks. He appealed to part of the conservative electorate, notably some RPR voters. The right-wing opposition was divided on the question of an alliance with the FN. In 1985, President Mitterrand's decision to re-establish

at the legislative election caused political outrage. The RPR/UDF opposition accused him of wanting to strengthen the FN in order to weaken the Republican Right, which was favourite to win according to the polls. Proportional representation was the only electoral system which was considered likely to allow the election of FN deputies. While the polls indicated a win by the RPR/UDF coalition, the former UDF Prime minister

Raymond Barre Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (; 12 April 192425 August 2007) was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents (Rey, ...

argued that the next parliamentary majority should refuse to govern if President Mitterrand did not resign. Advised by Edouard Balladur, Jacques Chirac noted, however, that

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

did not exist in the French Constitution. Instead, the next majority would "cohabit" with Mitterrand. The right-wing cabinet would enforce its domestic policy programme and Mitterrand would keep control of foreign and military affairs. Eventually, the RPR/UDF coalition obtained only a two-seat majority. Consequently, for the first time of the history of the Fifth Republic, the parliamentary majority was opposed to the President. Nevertheless, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

held more seats than the polls had indicated. The FN was able to form a parliamentary group with its 35 elected members. The decline of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European ...

continued. Mitterrand nominated Chirac as Prime Minister. The first "

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...

" of the Fifth Republic started. The new cabinet abolished proportional representation for the next legislative elections. The "cohabitation" ended with the 1988 legislative election.

Results

, - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" colspan=2 , Parties and coalitions ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Abbr. ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats , - , style="background-color:#4C4CB0", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Common lists , style="text-align:right;" , RPR/ UDF , style="text-align:right;" , 6,008,612 , style="text-align:right;" , 21.44 , style="text-align:right;" , 73 RPR 74 UDF , - , style="background-color:#0000C8", , style="text-align:left;" ,

(''Rassemblement pour la République'') , style="text-align:right;" , RPR , style="text-align:right;" , 3,143,224 , style="text-align:right;" , 11.22 , style="text-align:right;" , 76 , - , style="background-color:#00CCCC", , style="text-align:left;" ,

(''Union pour la démocratie française'') , style="text-align:right;" , UDF , style="text-align:right;" , 2,330,167 , style="text-align:right;" , 8.31 , style="text-align:right;" , 53 , - , style="background-color:#4C4CB0", , style="text-align:left;" , Miscellaneous Right-wing , style="text-align:right;" , DVD , style="text-align:right;" , 1,083,711 , style="text-align:right;" , 3.87 , style="text-align:right;" , 14 , - style="background-color:lightblue" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Total " RPR-UDF Union" (Right) , , style="text-align:right;" , 12,565,714 , style="text-align:right;" , 44.84 , style="text-align:right;" , 290 , - , style="background-color:#E75480", , style="text-align:left;" ,

(''Parti socialiste'') , style="text-align:right;" , PS , style="text-align:right;" , 8,693,939 , style="text-align:right;" , 31.02 , style="text-align:right;" , 206 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000", , style="text-align:left;" ,

(''Parti communiste français'') , style="text-align:right;" , PCF , style="text-align:right;" , 2,739,225 , style="text-align:right;" , 9.78 , style="text-align:right;" , 35 , - , style="background-color:#DA7B8B", , style="text-align:left;" , Miscellaneous Left , style="text-align:right;" , DVG , style="text-align:right;" , 301,063 , style="text-align:right;" , 1.07 , style="text-align:right;" , 5 , - , style="background-color:#FFBF00", , style="text-align:left;" , Movement of Left Radicals (''Mouvement des radicaux de gauche'') , style="text-align:right;" , MRG , style="text-align:right;" , 107,769 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.38 , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , - , style="background-color:#FFD1DC", , style="text-align:left;" , UNG (Aimé Césaire, Martinique) , style="text-align:right;" , UNG , style="text-align:right;" , 56,044 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.20 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , - style="background-color:pink" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Total Left ("Presidential Majority" and PCF) , , style="text-align:right;" , 11,898,040 , style="text-align:right;" , 42.45 , style="text-align:right;" , 248 , - , style="background-color:#0D378A", , style="text-align:left;" , National Front (''Front national'' and ''Rassemblement national'') , style="text-align:right;" , FN , style="text-align:right;" , 2,703,442 , style="text-align:right;" , 9.65 , style="text-align:right;" , 35 , - , style="background-color:#960018", , style="text-align:left;" , Far-Left , style="text-align:right;" , EXG , style="text-align:right;" , 430,352 , style="text-align:right;" , 1.54 , style="text-align:right;" , - , - , style="background-color:#77ff77", , style="text-align:left;" , Ecologists , style="text-align:right;" , ECO , style="text-align:right;" , 340,109 , style="text-align:right;" , 1.21 , style="text-align:right;" , - , - , style="background-color:#80461B", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Far-Right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

, style="text-align:right;" , EXD , style="text-align:right;" , 57,432 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.20 , style="text-align:right;" , - , - , style="background-color:#dddd00", , style="text-align:left;" , Regionalists , style="text-align:right;" , REG , style="text-align:right;" , 28,379 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.10 , style="text-align:right;" , - , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Total , , style="text-align:right;" , 28,024,168 , style="text-align:right;" , 100.00 , style="text-align:right;" , 573 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=6 , Abstention: 22.00%

8th Assembly by Parliamentary Group

{{French elections 1986 elections in France

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...