1988 French legislative election
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French legislative elections took place on 5 and 12 June 1988, to elect the ninth
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, one month after the re-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 ...
as
President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
. In 1986, 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 ...
(PS) of President Mitterrand lost the legislative election. For the first time under the Fifth Republic, the President was forced to "cohabit" with a hostile parliamentary majority and cabinet. He chose the RPR leader
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 ...
as Prime Minister. The two heads of the executive power were rivals for the 1988 presidential election. Inspired by the example of
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
and
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
, Chirac campaigned on an aggressively right-wing set of policies (including privatizations, abolition of the
solidarity tax on wealth The solidarity tax on wealth (french: Impôt de solidarité sur la fortune or ISF) was an annual direct wealth tax on those in France having assets in excess of €1,300,000 (since 2011).
and tightening restrictions on immigration) but he was faced with significant opposition in French society. For his part, Mitterrand presented himself as the protector of national unity. He campaigned for a "united France" and warned against "the appropriation of the state by a clan", targeting Chirac and the RPR. An alliance between the Socialists and the center-right UDF was evoked. After Mitterrand's re-election, Chirac resigned. Some politicians and commentators suggested not dissolving the National Assembly and instead nominating a UDF Prime minister (
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...
or
Simone Veil Simone Veil (; ; 13 July 1927 – 30 June 2017) was a French magistrate and politician who served as Health Minister in several governments and was President of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1982, the first woman to hold that office. ...
). President Mitterrand refused. The polls indicated a "pink surge" if new legislative elections were organized. However, he nominated the moderate Socialist
Michel Rocard Michel Rocard (; 23 August 1930 – 2 July 2016) was a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party (PS). He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991 during which he created the ''Revenu minimum d'ins ...
to lead the cabinet and declared that it was unhealthy for democracy if one party held all the power. In spite of a very good result in the first round, the "Presidential Majority" (composed of the PS and the Left Radicals) obtained only a small parliamentary majority after the second round. The PS and its allies won 276 seats against 271 for the Republican right-wing coalition and 27 Communists. The re-establishment of the majoritarian two-ballot system resulted in the National Front, which had held 35 seats during the previous term, dropping to only one seat. Some personalities from "civil society" and four UDF politicians participated in the government. They were supported by a minority of their party, which created a new parliamentary group: the Union of the Centre. The executive power relied on the "Presidential Majority" which widened towards the Union of the Centre or 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 ...
depending on the policy being advocated by the government.


Results

, - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" rowspan=2 colspan=3 width=600 , Parties and coalitions ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan=2 , 1st round ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan=2 , 2nd round ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" rowspan=2, Total seats , - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % , - , style="background-color:#E75480;" , , style="text-align:left;" ,
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 ...
(''Parti socialiste'') , style="text-align:right;" , PS , style="text-align:right;" , 8,493,702 , style="text-align:right;" , 34.77 , style="text-align:right;" , 9,198,778 , style="text-align:right;" , 45.31 , style="text-align:right;" , 260 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000;" , , style="text-align:left;" ,
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 ...
(''Parti communiste français'') , style="text-align:right;" , PCF , style="text-align:right;" , 2,765,761 , style="text-align:right;" , 11.32 , style="text-align:right;" , 695,569 , style="text-align:right;" , 3.43 , style="text-align:right;" , 27 , - , style="background-color:#DA7B8B;" , , style="text-align:left;" ,
Miscellaneous Left Miscellaneous left (', ''DVG'') in France refers to left-wing candidates who are not members of any party or a member of party that has no elected seats. They include either small left-wing parties or dissidents expelled from their parties for ru ...
, style="text-align:right;" , DVG , style="text-align:right;" , 403,690 , style="text-align:right;" , 1.65 , style="text-align:right;" , 421,587 , style="text-align:right;" , 2.08 , style="text-align:right;" , 7 , - , 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;" , 272,316 , style="text-align:right;" , 1.11 , style="text-align:right;" , 260,104 , style="text-align:right;" , 1.28 , style="text-align:right;" , 9 , - style="background-color:pink" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Total Left ("Presidential Majority" and PCF) , , style="text-align:right;" , 11,935,469 , style="text-align:right;" , 48.85 , style="text-align:right;" , 10,576,038 , style="text-align:right;" , 52.10 , style="text-align:right;" , 303 , - , style="background-color:#0000C8;" , , style="text-align:left;" ,
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 ...
(''Rassemblement pour la République'') , style="text-align:right;" , RPR , style="text-align:right;" , 4,687,047 , style="text-align:right;" , 19.19 , style="text-align:right;" , 4,688,493 , style="text-align:right;" , 23.09 , style="text-align:right;" , 126 , - , style="background-color:#00CCCC;" , , style="text-align:left;" ,
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 ...
(''Union pour la démocratie française'') , style="text-align:right;" , UDF , style="text-align:right;" , 4,519,459 , style="text-align:right;" , 18.50 , style="text-align:right;" , 4,299,370 , style="text-align:right;" , 21.18 , style="text-align:right;" , 129 , - , style="background-color:#4C4CB0;" , , style="text-align:left;" ,
Miscellaneous Right Miscellaneous right (', ''DVD'') in France refers to right-wing candidates who are not members of any large party. This can include members of small right-wing parties, dissidents expelled from their party for running against their party's can ...
, style="text-align:right;" , DVD , style="text-align:right;" , 697,272 , style="text-align:right;" , 2.85 , style="text-align:right;" , 522,970 , style="text-align:right;" , 2.58 , style="text-align:right;" , 16 , - style="background-color:lightblue" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Total " Union of the Rally and the Center" (Right) , , style="text-align:right;" , 9,903,778 , style="text-align:right;" , 40.54 , style="text-align:right;" , 9,510,833 , style="text-align:right;" , 46.85 , style="text-align:right;" , 271 , - , style="background-color:#0D378A;" , , style="text-align:left;" , National Front (''Front national'') , style="text-align:right;" , FN , style="text-align:right;" , 2,359,528 , style="text-align:right;" , 9.66 , style="text-align:right;" , 216,704 , style="text-align:right;" , 1.07 , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , - , style="background-color:#C41E3A;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Far-left , style="text-align:right;" , EXG , style="text-align:right;" , 89,065 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.36 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , - , style="background-color:#77ff77;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Ecologists , style="text-align:right;" , ECO , style="text-align:right;" , 86,312 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.35 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , 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;" , 32,445 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.13 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , - , style="background-color:#dddd00;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Regionalists , , style="text-align:right;" , 18,498 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.08 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Total , , style="text-align:right;" , 24,425,095 , style="text-align:right;" , 100.00 , style="text-align:right;" , 20,303,575 , style="text-align:right;" , 100.00 , style="text-align:right;" , 575 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=6 , Abstention: 34.26% (1st round) 30.11% (2nd round). Note: Two seats vacant after the invalidation of two elections in the
Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...
département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...
.


Assembly by Parliamentary Group

Notes: * 2 vacant seats due to the cancellation of elections in the first and second constituencies of the
Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...
department. * A Communist group (24 members + 1 caucusing) was created on 15 July 1988 following the lowering of the threshold to form a group from 30 to 20. {{French elections
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
1988 elections in France June 1988 events in Europe