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The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a
centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...
political party in France This article contains a list of political parties in France. France has a multi-party political system: one in which the number of competing political parties is sufficiently large as to make it almost inevitable that in order to participate in ...
that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-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 t ...
(PS). The UMP was formed in 2002 as a merger of several centre-right parties under the leadership of President Jacques Chirac. In May 2015, the party was renamed and succeeded by The Republicans ('). Nicolas Sarkozy, then the president of the UMP, was elected
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 the 2007 presidential election, but was defeated by PS candidate François Hollande in a run-off five years later. After the November 2012 party congress, the UMP experienced internal fractioning and was plagued by monetary scandals which forced its president,
Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...
, to resign. After his re-election as UMP president in November 2014, Sarkozy put forward an amendment to change the name of the party into The Republicans, which was approved and came into effect on 30 May 2015. The UMP enjoyed an
absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...
in the
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 rep ...
from 2002 to 2012 and was a member of the European People's Party (EPP), the
Centrist Democrat International The Centrist Democrat International ( es, Internacional Demócrata de Centro) is a Christian-democratic political international. Until 2001, it was known as the Christian Democrat International (CDI); before 1999, it was known as the Christian D ...
(CDI) and the
International Democrat Union The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an international alliance of centre-right political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 full and associate members from 65 countries. It is chaired by Stephen Harper, ...
(IDU).


History


Background

Since the 1980s, the political groups of the parliamentary right have joined forces around the values of
economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...
and the building of Europe. Their rivalries had contributed to their defeat in the
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
and
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 ...
legislative elections. Before the 1993 legislative election, the
Gaullist Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle with ...
Rally for the Republic (RPR) and the centrist
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) formed an electoral alliance, the
Union for France The Union for France (french: Union pour la France, UPF) was an electoral alliance between the Rally for the Republic and Union for French Democracy formed from 1992 until 1997. The label is used in the 2022 French legislative election by an alli ...
(UPF). However, in the 1995 presidential campaign they were both divided between followers of Jacques Chirac, who was eventually elected, and supporters of Prime Minister Edouard Balladur. After their defeat in the 1997 legislative election, the RPR and UDF created the Alliance for France in order to coordinate the actions of their parliamentary groups.


Foundation and early years

Before the 2002 presidential campaign, the supporters of President Jacques Chirac, divided in three centre-right parliamentary parties, founded an association named Union on the Move (''Union en mouvement''). After Chirac's re-election, in order to contest the
legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
jointly, the Union for the Presidential Majority (''Union pour la majorité présidentielle'') was created. It was renamed "Union for a Popular Movement" and as such established as a permanent organisation. The UMP was the merger of the Gaullist-conservative Rally for the Republic (RPR), the conservative-liberal party
Liberal Democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...
(DL), a sizeable portion of 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), more precisely the UDF's Christian Democrats (such as
Philippe Douste-Blazy Philippe Douste-Blazy (; born 1 January 1953) is a French United Nations official and former centre-right politician. Over the course of his career, he served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Adviser on Innovative Financi ...
and
Jacques Barrot Jacques Barrot (3 February 1937 – 3 December 2014) was a French politician, who served as European Commissioner for Justice between 2008 and 2010, after having spent four years serving as Commissioner for Transport (2004–2008) and Commissi ...
), the Radical Party and the centrist
Popular Party for French Democracy Democratic Convention (''Convention démocrate'', CD) is a centrist- liberal political party in France led by Hervé de Charette. It is the continuation of the Popular Party for French Democracy, established in 1995. The Popular Party for French ...
(both associate parties of the UDF until 2002). In the UMP four major French political families were thus represented: Gaullism,
republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...
(the kind of liberalism put forward by parties like the
Democratic Republican Alliance The Democratic Alliance (french: Alliance démocratique, AD), originally called Democratic Republican Alliance (, ARD), was a French political party created in 1901 by followers of Léon Gambetta such as Raymond Poincaré, who would be presiden ...
or the PR, heir of DL), Christian democracy ('' Popularism'') and radicalism. Chirac's close ally
Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans (France), The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced 1995 strikes ...
became the party's first president at the party's founding congress at the Bourget in November 2002. Juppé won 79.42% of the vote, defeating
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (; born 7 March 1961), sometimes referred to by his initials NDA, is a French politician serving since 2008 as President of minor party Debout la France. He is its only member of the National Assembly, elected for Essonne' ...
, the leader of the party's Eurosceptic
Arise the Republic Debout la France (, ; DLF) is a List of political parties in France, French political party founded by Nicolas Dupont-Aignan in 1999 under the name Debout la République (''Republic Arise'', DLR) as the "genuine Gaullist" branch of the Rally for t ...
faction, and three other candidates. During the party's earlier years, it was marked by tensions and rivalries between Juppé and other ''chiraquiens'' and supporters of Nicolas Sarkozy, the then-
Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
. In the 2004 regional elections the UMP suffered a heavy blow, winning the presidencies of only 2 out of 22 regions in metropolitan France (
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
and Corsica) and only half of the departments (the right had previously won numerous departmental presidencies) in the simultaneous 2004 cantonal elections. In the
2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...
on 13 June 2004, the UMP also suffered another heavy blow, winning 16.6% of the vote, far behind 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 t ...
(PS), and only 16 seats.


Nicolas Sarkozy (2004–2012)

Juppé resigned the party's presidency on 15 July 2004 after being found guilty in a corruption scandal in January of the same year. Nicolas Sarkozy rapidly announced that he would take over the presidency of the UMP and resign his position as
finance minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...
, ending months of speculation. On 28 November 2004, Sarkozy was elected to the party's presidency with 85.09% of the votes against 9.1% for Dupont-Aignan and 5.82% for Christine Boutin, the leader of the UMP's social conservatives. Having gained control of what had been Chirac's party, Sarkozy focused the party machinery and his energies on the 2007 presidential election. The failure of the referendum on the European Constitution on 25 May 2005 led to the fall of the government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin and to the formation of a new cabinet, presided by another UMP politician,
Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...
. However, during this time, the UMP under Sarkozy gained a record number of new members and rejuvenated itself in preparation of the 2007 election. On 14 January 2007, Sarkozy was nominated unopposed as the UMP's presidential candidate for the 2007 election. On the issues, the party under Sarkozy publicly disapproved of
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
's proposed membership in the European Union, which Chirac had previously endorsed several times publicly, and generally took a more right-wing position. On 22 April 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy won the plurality of votes in the first round of the 2007 presidential election. On 6 May he faced the Socialist Party candidate
Ségolène Royal Marie-Ségolène Royal (; born 22 September 1953) is a French politician who was the Socialist Party candidate for the Presidency of France in the 2007 election. Royal was president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council from 2004 to 201 ...
in the second round and won, taking 53.06% of the vote. As a consequence, he resigned from the presidency of the UMP on 14 May 2007, two days before becoming President of the French Republic.
François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...
was appointed Prime Minister. On 17 June 2007, at a 2007 legislative election, the UMP gained a majority in the National Assembly with 313 out of 577 seats. Following Sarkozy's election to the presidency, interim leader Jean-Claude Gaudin prevented a leadership struggle between
Patrick Devedjian Patrick Devedjian ( hy, Պատրիկ Դեւեջեան; 26 August 1944 – 28 March 2020) was a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. A close adviser of Nicolas Sarkozy since the 1990s, he was Minister under the Pri ...
and
Jean-Pierre Raffarin Jean-Pierre Raffarin (; born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. Howeve ...
by announcing that the UMP should have a collegial leadership while Sarkozy was President of the Republic. In July, the UMP's national council approved an amendment to the party's statute allowing for a collegial leadership around three vice-presidents (Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Jean-Claude Gaudin and
Pierre Méhaignerie Pierre Méhaignerie (born 4 May 1939) is a French politician. He is a former deputy of the Ille-et-Vilaine's 5th constituency and the former mayor of Vitré (re-elected in March 2008). He was elected in 1973 to the French parliament ...
) and a secretary-general (
Patrick Devedjian Patrick Devedjian ( hy, Պատրիկ Դեւեջեան; 26 August 1944 – 28 March 2020) was a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. A close adviser of Nicolas Sarkozy since the 1990s, he was Minister under the Pri ...
) and two associate secretary-generals. On 9 March 2008
municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
and
cantonal The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Con ...
elections, the party performed quite poorly, losing numerous cities, such as
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
and Strasbourg, as well as eight departmental presidencies to the left.
Xavier Bertrand Xavier Bertrand (; born 21 March 1965) is a French politician who has been serving as president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France since the 2015 regional elections. Earlier in his career, Bertrand was Minister of Health from 2005 to ...
was selected as secretary-general of the party in late 2008 to replace
Patrick Devedjian Patrick Devedjian ( hy, Պատրիկ Դեւեջեան; 26 August 1944 – 28 March 2020) was a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. A close adviser of Nicolas Sarkozy since the 1990s, he was Minister under the Pri ...
, who resigned to take up a cabinet position. In the 2009 European Parliament election on 7 June 2009, the UMP ran common lists with its junior allies including
Jean-Louis Borloo Jean-Louis Marie Borloo (; born 7 April 1951) is a French politician who served as president of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) from 2012 to 2014. He also was Minister of the Economy, Finance and Employment in 2007 and Minister of ...
's Radical Party, the
New Centre The Centrists (french: Les Centristes, LC), formerly known as New Centre (''Nouveau Centre'', NC) and European Social Liberal Party (''Parti Social Libéral Européen'', PSLE), is a centre-right political party in France formed by the members of ...
and
Modern Left The Modern Left (french: La Gauche moderne, LGM), is a centrist political party in France founded in 2007. The party was founded following the nomination of the former Socialist Party (PS) Senator and Mayor of Mulhouse, Jean-Marie Bockel to the ...
. The UMP list won 27.9%, a remarkably good result for a governing party in off-year "mid-term" elections, and elected 29 MEPs, significantly improving on the UMP's poor result in the 2004 European election – also an off-year election. However, in the 2010 regional elections on 14 and 21 March 2010, the UMP obtained a very poor result with only 26%. While it lost Corsica, it retained Alsace but also defeated the left in ''
La Réunion LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
'' and
French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...
. In a cabinet reshuffle in November 2010, which disappointed centrists within and outside the UMP, François Fillon was confirmed Prime Minister and
Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans (France), The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced 1995 strikes ...
re-joined the government. Among those who resigned from the cabinet were Bernard Kouchner,
Hervé Morin Hervé Morin (born 17 August 1961) is a French politician of the Centrists who has been serving as the first President of the Regional Council of Normandy since January 2016. Under President Nicolas Sarkozy, he was the Minister of Defence. Po ...
and, above all,
Jean-Louis Borloo Jean-Louis Marie Borloo (; born 7 April 1951) is a French politician who served as president of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) from 2012 to 2014. He also was Minister of the Economy, Finance and Employment in 2007 and Minister of ...
. Xavier Bertrand, who re-joined the government, was replaced as general-secretary of the UMP by
Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...
on 17 November 2010. The party suffered another major electoral defeat in the 2011 cantonal elections held on 20 and 27 March 2011, and in September, the centre-right lost control of the
French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...
for the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic. In May 2011, during a party congress, the Radical Party, led by Borloo, decided to leave the UMP and launch The Alliance, a new
centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...
coalition. The party opted not to organise primaries ahead of the
2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January ...
and endorsed Nicolas Sarkozy's bid for second term. Sarkozy lost reelection to the Socialist Party candidate François Hollande on 6 May 2012, winning 48.36% in the runoff. The party was defeated by the new President's left-wing majority in the subsequent
legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
.


After May 2012

Prior to Sarkozy's defeat on 6 May, the UMP's secretary-general Jean-François Copé announced that he supported the creation of internal "movements" within the party and the organisation of primaries for the next presidential election.


Campaign for the November 2012 congress

The UMP's political bureau announced the organisation of a party congress on 18 and 25 November 2012, leading prominent party leaders to organise factions and "movements" to influence the party's new direction. Ultimately, two candidates amassed the required endorsements to run for the party's presidency: former Prime Minister
François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...
and incumbent party secretary-general
Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...
.
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet Nathalie Geneviève Marie Kosciusko-Morizet () (born 14 May 1973 in the 15th arrondissement of Paris), often referred to by her initials NKM, is an engineer, public figure and advocate, having previously had a political career. She was a Membe ...
,
Bruno Le Maire Bruno Le Maire (; born 15 April 1969) is a French politician and former diplomat who has served as Minister of the Economy and Finance since 2017 under President Emmanuel Macron. A former member of The Republicans (LR), which he left in 2017 to ...
,
Xavier Bertrand Xavier Bertrand (; born 21 March 1965) is a French politician who has been serving as president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France since the 2015 regional elections. Earlier in his career, Bertrand was Minister of Health from 2005 to ...
, Henri Guaino, and Dominique Dord had also announced their candidacies but did not meet tough candidacy requirements. The campaign between Fillon and Copé lasted two months. Fillon had a strong lead in polls of UMP 'sympathizers' (as opposed to actual members, who would be the only eligible voters) and was backed by most UMP parliamentarians while Copé claimed he was the candidate of party activists rather than party 'barons'. However, Copé remained as secretary-general and retained control of the party machinery. While Fillon's campaign was regarded as more consensual, moderate and centre-right; Copé campaigned as the candidate of the ''droite décomplexée'' ('uninhibited right') and introduced issues such as anti-white racism. However, both candidates received support from moderate and conservative members of the party and their main differences were in rhetoric, style and temperament. Copé, again, appeared more militant and activist, saying that he would support and participate in street demonstrations while Fillon disagreed with his rival. Six 'motions' (declarations of principles) were submitted to party voters; under the new statutes, motions which won over 10% of the vote at the congress would be recognised as "movements" by the UMP leadership, granted financial autonomy and receive positions in the party structures.


Results and subsequent crisis

The vote on 18 November saw high turnout but was quickly marred by allegations of irregularities and potential fraud on both sides. Both candidates proclaimed victory within 20 minutes of each other on the night of the vote. 24 hours later, the control commission in charge of the vote (COCOE) announced Copé's victory by only 98 votes. While Fillon initially conceded defeat, by 21 November his campaign claimed victory anew, with a 26-vote advantage over Copé. Fillon's campaign argued that the COCOE had failed to take into account votes cast in three overseas federations. Party elder Alain Juppé accepted to lead a mediation between both candidates on 23 November, but it failed within two days. Fillon's announced "precautionary seizure" of ballots cast "to protect them from tampering or alteration" and threatened to take the matter to court. On 26 November, the party appeals commission – led by a close supporter of Copé – decided in Copé's favour and rejected Fillon's arguments. On 27 November 72 ''filloniste'' parliamentarians in the
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 rep ...
announced the creation of a new parliamentary group, the '' Rassemblement-UMP'', led by Fillon. Copé took up former President Nicolas Sarkozy's proposal of organising a
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
on a revote, but he saw the creation of the dissident ''filloniste'' group as a casus belli and took back his proposal. Luc Chatel, the new vice-president and a Copé supporter, later announced that he supported a new presidential vote and a modification of party statutes. The next day, Copé announced that he favoured organising a referendum the modification of party statutes and a reduction of his own term as president to two years (until November 2014); while Fillon welcomed the "consensus on the organisation of a new election" he rejected his rival's timeline and called for a new election before 2014. 'Unaligned' members of the UMP led by
Bruno Le Maire Bruno Le Maire (; born 15 April 1969) is a French politician and former diplomat who has served as Minister of the Economy and Finance since 2017 under President Emmanuel Macron. A former member of The Republicans (LR), which he left in 2017 to ...
and
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet Nathalie Geneviève Marie Kosciusko-Morizet () (born 14 May 1973 in the 15th arrondissement of Paris), often referred to by her initials NKM, is an engineer, public figure and advocate, having previously had a political career. She was a Membe ...
appealed for the organisation of a new election in the spring of 2013 and a reform of the party statutes.


Resolution

Both rivals reached an agreement at the end of December 2012, with Copé agreeing to the organisation of a new election and a modification of party statutes while Fillon agreed to dissolve his parliamentary group. The party's leadership was reorganized in January 2013 to accommodate Copé and Fillon's supporters:
Laurent Wauquiez Laurent Timothée Marie Wauquiez (; born 12 April 1975) is a French politician who has presided over the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes since 2016. He is a member of The Republicans (LR), which he led from 2017 to 2019 following the ...
and
Valérie Pécresse Valérie Pécresse (; born Roux, 14 July 1967) is a French politician who has served as President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France since 2015. A member of The Republicans (LR), she previously served as Minister of Higher Education and ...
joined Luc Chatel and
Michèle Tabarot Michèle Tabarot (born 13 October 1962) is a French politician of the Republicans who currently serves as a member of the National Assembly of France. She represents the Alpes-Maritimes 9th constituency. Early life Tabarot is the daughte ...
as vice-president and secretary-general respectively.
Christian Estrosi Christian Paul Gilbert Estrosi (born 1 July 1955) is a French sportsman and politician who has served as Mayor of Nice since 2017, previously holding the office from 2008 to 2016. A former professional motorcyclist, he served as a government m ...
,
Gérard Longuet Gérard Longuet (; born 24 February 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French conservative politician who has served as a member of the Senate from 2001 to 2011 and again since 2012, representing Meuse. He served as Minister of ...
, Henri de Raincourt (pro-Fillon), Jean-Claude Gaudin,
Brice Hortefeux Brice Hortefeux (born 11 May 1958) is a conservative French politician. He was Minister of the Interior, Overseas Territories and Territorial collectivities. He was previously Minister for Labour, Labour Relations, the Family, Solidarity and Ur ...
and Roger Karoutchi (pro-Copé) also became vice-presidents. Other positions in the party hierarchy were divided between supporters of both candidates. New leaders were also nominated in February 2013.


Bygmalion Scandal

Several spending scandals appeared in 2014. In early 2014, the Bygmalion scandal ( fr) pushed the party's leader
Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...
to resign. In early July,
Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Sei ...
got held in custody due to possible spying and active corruption of the judiciary system. On 8 July 2014, the UMP was discovered to have a hidden debt of €79.1 million for the year 2013. On 20 May 2021, the criminal trial began for Sarkozy and 13 other defendants who were said to have been involved in the Bygmalion scandal. The scandal allegations that Sarkozy diverting tens of millions of euros which was intended to be spent on the his failed 2012 re-election campaign and then hiring a PR firm to cover it up. The illicit campaign finance money which was not reported as being spent on Sarkozy's re-election campaign was instead used to overspend on lavish campaign rallies and events. On 30 September 2021, Sarkozy and his co-defendants would be convicted for violating France's campaign finance spending limit law. For this conviction, Sarkozy was given a 1-year prison sentence, though he was also given the option to instead serve this sentence at home with an electronic bracelet.


Name change and dissolution

After the election of Nicolas Sarkozy, the former
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 ...
(2007–2012), as president of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) in November 2014, he put forward a request to the party's general committee to change its name to the Republicans as well as the statutes of the party. With the name already chosen
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet Nathalie Geneviève Marie Kosciusko-Morizet () (born 14 May 1973 in the 15th arrondissement of Paris), often referred to by her initials NKM, is an engineer, public figure and advocate, having previously had a political career. She was a Membe ...
, vice president of the UMP, presented Nicolas Sarkozy and the party's political bureau a project of new statutes. The proposed statutes provided for, among others, the election of the presidents of the departmental federations by direct suffrage, the end of the political currents and consulting members on election nominations. Critics of Sarkozy claimed it was illegal for him to name the party "Republicans" because every French person is a republican in that they support the values and ideals of the French Republic that emanated from the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
, and as such the term is above party politics. The new name was adopted by the bureau on 5 May 2015 and approved by the party membership on 28 May by an online yes vote of 83.28% on a 45.74% participation after a court ruling in favor of Sarkozy.Pauline Théveniaud (avec Olivier Beaumont)
Congrès des «Républicains» : «Un jour de renaissance», pour Sarkozy
''Le Parisien'', 30 mai 2015
Similarly the new party statutes are adopted by 96.34% of voters and the composition of the new party's political bureau by 94.77%. The Republicans thus became the legal successor of the UMP as the leading centre-right party in France.


Ideology

The UMP was a
centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...
party and was created to represent the various families of the French right, uniting the traditions of Gaullism, Christian democracy, conservatism and liberalism. As such, it officially adopted fairly vague policy statements which emphasize consensual common values. The UMP believed that each individual's
destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
must be unencumbered and it rejects political systems which "stifle economic freedom". It said that work, merit, innovation and personal initiative must be encouraged to reduce unemployment and boost economic growth; but at the same time, it maintained that adherence to the rule of law and the authority of the state is necessary. In a
Gaullist Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle with ...
tradition, the UMP supported solidarity, with the state guaranteeing social protection of less fortunate individuals. But in a more liberal vein, the party always denounced ''l'assistanat'', a French term which can refer to "welfare handouts". The party took more nationalist positions at times, and often adopted tough stances against immigration and illegal immigration. It strongly supported the integration and assimilation of immigrants into French society and always denounced communitarianism as a danger to the French nation-state. However, the UMP traditionally was a strong proponent of European integration and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
, albeit sometimes with a hint of traditional Gaullist
souverainism Sovereigntism, sovereignism or souverainism (from french: souverainisme, , meaning the ideology of sovereignty) is the notion of having control over one's conditions of existence, whether at the level of the self, social group, region, nation o ...
. Under Nicolas Sarkozy's leadership, the UMP adopted a liberal and security-oriented platform. His platform in the 2007 and
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
presidential elections emphasized the ideas of personal responsibility and individual initiative. He developed the idea of "working more to earn more", promising that
overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...
hours would not be taxed and employers exonerated from non-wage labour costs. Under his presidency, the government's short-lived
tax cap A tax cap places an Upper and lower bounds, upper bound on the amount of government tax a person might be required to pay. In this case the tax is said to be capped. Tax terms {{Tax-stub ...
for high-income earners was denounced by the left but also several centrist and centre-right politicians within or outside the UMP. Having gained his popularity as a 'hardliner' Interior minister, Sarkozy's policies also carried a strong law-and-order and tough on crime orientation. He supported tougher sentences for criminals and repeat offenders. As candidate and President, he placed heavy emphasis on immigration and
national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...
, presenting immigration as a danger to French identity and as source of increased criminality. As President, he imposed stricter limits on
family reunification Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries because of the presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the divided family or only specific members of the family to e ...
, created a Ministry of Immigration, and National Identity for three years between 2007 and 2010, launched a controversial national dialogue on national identity and expelled thousands of Roma from illegal camps. Critics of the right-wing government denounced what they felt was a rapprochement with the controversial far-right National Front (FN). While several members of the UMP's right-wing have indicated that they would favour local alliances with the FN and prefer to vote for a FN candidate over a
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 t ...
or left-wing candidate in runoff elections between the left and the FN; the party's official position continues to reject alliances with the FN at any level but also opposes so-called "republican fronts" with the left against the FN.


Factions

The UMP's original statutes in 2002 allowed for the organisation of formal factions or movements within the party, to represent the various political families of which it was made up. However, fearing leadership rivalries and divisions, Juppé, Chirac and later Sarkozy 'postponed' the creation of such organised movements indefinitely. Nevertheless, prior to the organisations of formal "movements" in November 2012, there existed informal groupings of like-minded members, either through associations, political clubs, associated political parties or even informal factions.
Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...
allowed for the organisation of formal movements within the party following the November 2012 congress. According to the party's statutes, motions backed by at least 10 parliamentarians from 10 departmental federations and which obtain at least 10% support from members at a congress are recognised as movements. They are granted financial autonomy by way of a fixed grant and additional funding in proportion to the votes they obtained; but the sum of funds transferred by the party to its movements can be no larger than 30% of the annual public subsidies the UMP receives from the state.


Official movement and factions

Six motions representing various ideological tendencies within the party ran to be recognised as official movements following the November 2012 congress. Five of these motions met the conditions to be recognised as such, and their leaders have since integrated the UMP's leadership structure: *
The Strong Right The Strong Right (''La Droite forte'') was a conservative faction within the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and later The Republicans (LR). It was created as a faction in July 2012 by Guillaume Peltier and Geoffroy Didier. Ideology The moti ...
(''La Droite forte''): 27.77% ** Sarkozysts (
conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
, liberal-conservatives, conservative-liberals, social conservatives): Nicolas Sarkozy, Jean-Claude Gaudin,
Jean-Pierre Raffarin Jean-Pierre Raffarin (; born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. Howeve ...
,
Édouard Balladur Édouard Balladur (; born 2 May 1929) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France under François Mitterrand from 29 March 1993 to 17 May 1995. He unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1995 French presidential election, c ...
,
Dominique Bussereau Dominique Bussereau (born 13 July 1952) is a French politician. He is president of the departmental council of Charente-Maritime since 2008 and president of the since 2015. He was Secretary of State for Transport within the government of ...
, Michel Barnier,
Dominique Perben Dominique Perben (born 11 August 1945) is a French politician. Born in Lyon, he was French Minister of Transportation from 2005 to 2007. He was previously Minister of Justice (2002–05), Minister of Civil Service and Administration (1995–199 ...
,
Jean-François Mattei Jean-François Mattei (born 14 January 1943) is a French doctor and politician. Medical career Jean-François Mattei is a professor of pediatrics and genetics. He served as the director of Genetics at the teaching hospital of Marseilles. He ...
,
Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres (born 13 March 1954 in Neuilly-sur-Seine), often known as RDDV, is a French politician, France's Minister of Culture from 2004 to 2007. He is a member of the UMP center-right party, and the grandson of Henri Donnedie ...
,
Charles Millon Charles Marie Philippe Millon (born 13 November 1945) is a French politician who served as Minister of Defence from 1995 to 1997 under Prime Minister Alain Juppé. A former member of the Union for French Democracy (UDF), he represented Ain in t ...
,
Alain Lamassoure Alain Lamassoure (born 10 February 1944 in Pau) is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the south-west of France. He was a member of Les Républicains, which is part of the European People's Party, and was the chairman o ...
,
Brice Hortefeux Brice Hortefeux (born 11 May 1958) is a conservative French politician. He was Minister of the Interior, Overseas Territories and Territorial collectivities. He was previously Minister for Labour, Labour Relations, the Family, Solidarity and Ur ...
,
Joseph Daul Joseph Alexander Daul (born 13 April 1947) is a French politician who served as President of the European People's Party (EPP) from 2013 to 2019. He previously served as Leader of the EPP Group in the European Parliament from 2007 to 2014 and a ...
,
Rachida Dati Rachida Dati (; ar, رشيدة داتي, link=no; born 27 November 1965) is a French politician who served as Member of the European Parliament, representing Île-de-France. Prior to her election, she held the cabinet post of Keeper of the Sea ...
, Bernard Accoyer, Marie-Hélène Descamps ** Blue Ecology (centrist
ecologists This is a list of notable ecologists. A-D * John Aber (USA) * Aziz Ab'Saber (Brazil) * Charles Christopher Adams (USA) * Warder Clyde Allee (USA) * Herbert G. Andrewartha ( Australia) * Sarah Martha Baker ( UK) * Fakhri A. Bazzaz (USA) ...
):
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet Nathalie Geneviève Marie Kosciusko-Morizet () (born 14 May 1973 in the 15th arrondissement of Paris), often referred to by her initials NKM, is an engineer, public figure and advocate, having previously had a political career. She was a Membe ...
* The Social Right (''La Droite sociale''): 21.69% ** Social Gaullists or Séguinists (left-wing Gaullists,
social democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
,
Eurosceptics 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 ...
):
François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...
, Roger Karoutchi, Henri Guaino,
Yves Guéna Yves Guéna (; 6 July 1922 – 3 March 2016) was a French politician. In 1940, he joined the Free French Forces in the United Kingdom. He received several decorations for his courage. Political life He belonged to various right wing parties ...
, Alain Marleix *
Modern and Humanist France Modern and Humanist France (''France moderne et humaniste'') is a recognized movement within the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). It was created in August 2012 and it is led by Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Luc Chatel, Jean Leonetti and Marc Laffineu ...
(''France moderne et humaniste''): 18.17% ** The Reformers (
classical liberals Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econo ...
):
Hervé Novelli Hervé Novelli (born 6 March 1949 in Paris) is a French politician of Italian origin, and a past member of the UDF group. He was a deputé in the Assemblée Nationale for the Indre-et-Loire département from 2002 to 2007, having previously been ...
,
Gérard Longuet Gérard Longuet (; born 24 February 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French conservative politician who has served as a member of the Senate from 2001 to 2011 and again since 2012, representing Meuse. He served as Minister of ...
,
Alain Madelin Alain Madelin (; born 26 March 1946) is a French politician. Politician Madelin was minister of Industry in Prime Minister Jacques Chirac's cabinet from 1986 to 1988, a minister of Business in Prime Minister Édouard Balladur's cabinet f ...
,
Patrick Devedjian Patrick Devedjian ( hy, Պատրիկ Դեւեջեան; 26 August 1944 – 28 March 2020) was a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. A close adviser of Nicolas Sarkozy since the 1990s, he was Minister under the Pri ...
,
Philippe Cochet Philippe Cochet (born 23 May 1961 in Lyon, Rhône) is a French politician. He has been a member of the French National Assembly since 2002, most recently re-elected in 2007 for the Rhône department. He is a member of the mainstream conserv ...
, Jean-Pierre Soisson, Claude Goasguen,
Pierre Lellouche Pierre Lellouche (born 3 May 1951) is a French lawyer and politician of the Republicans who served as Secretary of State for Foreign Trade under the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry Christine Lagarde in the government of Prime Minis ...
, Luc Chatel,
Louis Giscard d'Estaing Louis Joachim Marie François Giscard d'Estaing (born 20 October 1958) is a French politician and former member of the National Assembly of France. He is the son of the late President of France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1926–2020) and An ...
, Jean-Jacques Descamps ** Democratic and Popular (
Christian democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...
,
centrists Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...
):
Philippe Douste-Blazy Philippe Douste-Blazy (; born 1 January 1953) is a French United Nations official and former centre-right politician. Over the course of his career, he served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Adviser on Innovative Financi ...
,
Pierre Méhaignerie Pierre Méhaignerie (born 4 May 1939) is a French politician. He is a former deputy of the Ille-et-Vilaine's 5th constituency and the former mayor of Vitré (re-elected in March 2008). He was elected in 1973 to the French parliament ...
,
Adrien Zeller Adrien Zeller (2 April 1940 – 22 August 2009
,
Jacques Barrot Jacques Barrot (3 February 1937 – 3 December 2014) was a French politician, who served as European Commissioner for Justice between 2008 and 2010, after having spent four years serving as Commissioner for Transport (2004–2008) and Commissi ...
, Nicole Fontaine, Marc-Philippe Daubresse, Alain Joyandet, Antoine Herth ** The Progressives (
social liberals Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...
, former members of 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 t ...
): Éric Besson **
Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
( social conservatives, Christian democrats): Christine Boutin,
Jean-Frédéric Poisson Jean-Frédéric Poisson (born 22 January 1963) is a French right-wing politician and the president of VIA, the Way of the People (previously called the Christian Democratic Party). He was mayor of Rambouillet from 2004 to 2007, then became a ...
*
Gaullism, a way forward for France Gaullism, a way forward for France (French: ''Le Gaullisme, une voie d'avenir pour la France'') was a recognised movement within the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). It was created in 2012 to represent Gaullists within the party; it was led by ...
(''Le Gaullisme, une voie d'avenir pour la France''): 12.31% ** Neo-Gaullists, formerly known also as Chiraquiens (right-wing slightly liberal
Gaullists Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withd ...
,
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
-minded conservatives): Jacques Chirac,
Michèle Alliot-Marie Michèle Yvette Marie-Thérèse Jeanne Honorine Alliot-Marie (; born 10 September 1946), known in France as MAM, is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from France. She is a member of the Republicans, part of the Eu ...
, Dominique de Villepin,
Jean-Louis Debré Jean-Louis Debré (; born 30 September 1944) is a former French judge and politician who served as President of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2007 and President of the Constitutional Council from 2007 to 2016.Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...
,
Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans (France), The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced 1995 strikes ...
,
Patrick Ollier Patrick Ollier (born 17 December 1944) is a French politician. He is the Mayor of Rueil-Malmaison. He was a national assembly deputy for Hauts-Alpes's 2nd constituency from 1988 to 2002, as a member of the UMP. Secondly for Hauts-de-Seine's ...
,
François Baroin François Claude Pierre René Baroin (born 21 June 1965) is a French politician and lawyer who served as Finance Minister from 2011 to 2012, following a stint as Budget Minister in the government of Prime Minister François Fillon. A member of ...
,
Xavier Bertrand Xavier Bertrand (; born 21 March 1965) is a French politician who has been serving as president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France since the 2015 regional elections. Earlier in his career, Bertrand was Minister of Health from 2005 to ...
, Xavier Darcos,
Valérie Pécresse Valérie Pécresse (; born Roux, 14 July 1967) is a French politician who has served as President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France since 2015. A member of The Republicans (LR), she previously served as Minister of Higher Education and ...
,
Christine Albanel Christine Albanel (born 25 June 1955) is a French politician and civil servant. From May 2007 to June 2009, she was France's Minister for Culture and Communication in François Fillon's government. Early career Albanel is agrégé in classica ...
, Éric Wœrth, Roger Karoutchi,
Josselin de Rohan Josselin Charles Louis Jean Marie de Rohan-Chabot, 14th Duke of Rohan, known as Josselin de Rohan (born 5 June 1938 in Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French politician. He is a former member of the Senate of France, representing the Morbihan depar ...
, Adrien Gouteyron,
Hervé Mariton Hervé Marie David Mariton (born 5 November 1958) is French politician serving as Mayor of Crest since 1995. A member of The Republicans, he was elected to the National Assembly for the third constituency of Drôme from 1993 to 1997 and again ...
** The Free Right (conservative-liberals,
souverainists Sovereigntism, sovereignism or souverainism (from french: souverainisme, , meaning the ideology of sovereignty) is the notion of having control over one's conditions of existence, whether at the level of the self, social group, region, nation o ...
): Rachid Kaci, Alexandre del Valle, Étienne Blanc, François d'Aubert *
The Popular Right The Popular Right (French: ''La Droite populaire'', commonly known as ''La Droite pop'') is a recognised movement within the National Rally (RN) since 2019, previously within the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and The Republicans (LR). It was ...
(''La Droite populaire''): 10.87% **
Initiative and Liberty Movement The Initiative and Liberty Movement (french: Mouvement initiative et liberté, MIL) is a French Gaullist political association. History First called GIL (Initiative and Liberty Groups), it was established in March 1981 and became the Initiative a ...
(
Gaullists Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withd ...
, national-conservatives):
Bernard Debré Bernard Debré (30 September 194413 September 2020) was a French urologist at Hôpital Cochin and a member ( deputy) of the National Assembly of France. He was one of the representatives of the city of Paris, and was a member of the Union ...
, Eric Raoult,
Jean Tiberi Jean Tiberi (born January 30, 1935) is a French politician who was mayor of Paris from May 22, 1995 to March 24, 2001. , he was mayor of the 5th arrondissement of Paris and deputy to the French National Assembly from the second district of Par ...
**
Rally for France The Rally for France (french: Rassemblement pour la France (RPF); also briefly known in 2003 as Rally for France and European Independence or ) was a political party in France of the right. It was founded in 1999 by the Gaullist and former Interi ...
(national-conservatives, souverainists): Charles Pasqua,
Lionnel Luca Lionnel Luca (born 19 December 1954 in Boulogne-Billancourt) is a French politician who was a member of the National Assembly for Alpes-Maritime's 6th constituency from 1997 to 2007. Since 2014, he is the Mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet. Luca is a ...
, Jacques Myard, Jean-Jacques Guillet, Philippe Pemezec


Associate parties

The
Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition The Rurality Movement (, LMR), formerly Hunting, Fishing, Nature and Traditions (french: Chasse, pêche, nature et traditions; ; CPNT, ) is an agrarianist political party in France that aims to defend the traditional values of rural France. I ...
, the
Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
, the
Rally for France The Rally for France (french: Rassemblement pour la France (RPF); also briefly known in 2003 as Rally for France and European Independence or ) was a political party in France of the right. It was founded in 1999 by the Gaullist and former Interi ...
and The Progressives are associate parties of the UMP. By adhering to these parties, members also adhered to the UMP and could participate in the UMP's inner organisation. The Radical Party was associated with the UMP from 2002 through 2011. Overseas parties associated with the UMP included
O Porinetia To Tatou Ai'a ‘O Pōrīnetia To Tātou ‘Ai‘a ("Polynesia, a Homeland for us all") was a French Polynesian anti-independence political party founded by Gaston Tong Sang Gaston Tong Sang (born August 7, 1949 in Bora Bora) is a French politician and is t ...
in French Polynesia and
The Rally–UMP The Rally (french: Le Rassemblement; until 2004 Rally for Caledonia in the Republic, french: Rassemblement pour une Calédonie dans la République; from 2004 to 2014 Rally–UMP) is a conservative political party in New Caledonia, strongly suppor ...
in New Caledonia.


2012 leadership election

The aforementioned November 2012 congress saw the division of the party between the two candidates who sought the party's presidency,
François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...
and
Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...
– the ''fillonistes'' and ''copéistes''. * ''Copéistes'' (supporters of
Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...
):
Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...
, Luc Chatel,
Michèle Tabarot Michèle Tabarot (born 13 October 1962) is a French politician of the Republicans who currently serves as a member of the National Assembly of France. She represents the Alpes-Maritimes 9th constituency. Early life Tabarot is the daughte ...
, Jean-Claude Gaudin,
Jean-Pierre Raffarin Jean-Pierre Raffarin (; born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. Howeve ...
, Marc-Philippe Daubresse,
Hervé Novelli Hervé Novelli (born 6 March 1949 in Paris) is a French politician of Italian origin, and a past member of the UDF group. He was a deputé in the Assemblée Nationale for the Indre-et-Loire département from 2002 to 2007, having previously been ...
, Christian Jacob,
Lionnel Luca Lionnel Luca (born 19 December 1954 in Boulogne-Billancourt) is a French politician who was a member of the National Assembly for Alpes-Maritime's 6th constituency from 1997 to 2007. Since 2014, he is the Mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet. Luca is a ...
, Thierry Mariani,
Guillaume Peltier Guillaume Peltier (; born 27 August 1976) is a French politician, former teacher and business leader who has represented the 2nd constituency of the Loir-et-Cher department in the National Assembly since 2017. He has also served in the Depart ...
,
Rachida Dati Rachida Dati (; ar, رشيدة داتي, link=no; born 27 November 1965) is a French politician who served as Member of the European Parliament, representing Île-de-France. Prior to her election, she held the cabinet post of Keeper of the Sea ...
,
Brice Hortefeux Brice Hortefeux (born 11 May 1958) is a conservative French politician. He was Minister of the Interior, Overseas Territories and Territorial collectivities. He was previously Minister for Labour, Labour Relations, the Family, Solidarity and Ur ...
, Nadine Morano,
Jean Sarkozy Jean Nicolas Brice Sárközy de Nagy-Bócsa (; hu, nagybócsai Sárközy János; born 1 September 1986) is the son of the former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy. Jean is a regional councillor in the city of Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and reg ...
, Valérie Rosso-Debord etc. * ''Fillonistes'' (supporters of
François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...
):
François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...
,
Laurent Wauquiez Laurent Timothée Marie Wauquiez (; born 12 April 1975) is a French politician who has presided over the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes since 2016. He is a member of The Republicans (LR), which he led from 2017 to 2019 following the ...
,
Valérie Pécresse Valérie Pécresse (; born Roux, 14 July 1967) is a French politician who has served as President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France since 2015. A member of The Republicans (LR), she previously served as Minister of Higher Education and ...
,
Xavier Bertrand Xavier Bertrand (; born 21 March 1965) is a French politician who has been serving as president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France since the 2015 regional elections. Earlier in his career, Bertrand was Minister of Health from 2005 to ...
,
Christian Estrosi Christian Paul Gilbert Estrosi (born 1 July 1955) is a French sportsman and politician who has served as Mayor of Nice since 2017, previously holding the office from 2008 to 2016. A former professional motorcyclist, he served as a government m ...
,
Éric Ciotti Éric Ciotti (, ; born 28 September 1965) is a French politician who has represented the 1st constituency of Alpes-Maritimes in the National Assembly since 2007 and is the president of The Republicans since 2022. Ciotti previously briefly serv ...
,
Gérard Larcher Gérard Philippe René André Larcher (born 14 September 1949) is a French politician serving as President of the Senate since 2014, previously holding the office from 2008 to 2011. A member of The Republicans, he has been a Senator for the Yveli ...
,
François Baroin François Claude Pierre René Baroin (born 21 June 1965) is a French politician and lawyer who served as Finance Minister from 2011 to 2012, following a stint as Budget Minister in the government of Prime Minister François Fillon. A member of ...
,
Patrick Devedjian Patrick Devedjian ( hy, Պատրիկ Դեւեջեան; 26 August 1944 – 28 March 2020) was a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. A close adviser of Nicolas Sarkozy since the 1990s, he was Minister under the Pri ...
,
Dominique Bussereau Dominique Bussereau (born 13 July 1952) is a French politician. He is president of the departmental council of Charente-Maritime since 2008 and president of the since 2015. He was Secretary of State for Transport within the government of ...
, Valérie Boyer, Dominique Dord,
Patrick Ollier Patrick Ollier (born 17 December 1944) is a French politician. He is the Mayor of Rueil-Malmaison. He was a national assembly deputy for Hauts-Alpes's 2nd constituency from 1988 to 2002, as a member of the UMP. Secondly for Hauts-de-Seine's ...
,
Éric Woerth Éric Woerth (born 29 January 1956) is a French politician of The Republicans (LR). Early life and education Woerth was born in Creil, Oise. He studied at Panthéon-Assas University, HEC School of Management and Institut d'Études Politiques ...
,
Hubert Falco Hubert Falco (born 15 May 1947 in Pignans, Var) is a French politician who has been appointed Secretary of State for development of the territory in the government of François Fillon on 18 March 2008. He is the mayor of Toulon Toulon (, ...
,
Gérard Longuet Gérard Longuet (; born 24 February 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French conservative politician who has served as a member of the Senate from 2001 to 2011 and again since 2012, representing Meuse. He served as Minister of ...
etc. * Unaligned members:
Bruno Le Maire Bruno Le Maire (; born 15 April 1969) is a French politician and former diplomat who has served as Minister of the Economy and Finance since 2017 under President Emmanuel Macron. A former member of The Republicans (LR), which he left in 2017 to ...
,
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet Nathalie Geneviève Marie Kosciusko-Morizet () (born 14 May 1973 in the 15th arrondissement of Paris), often referred to by her initials NKM, is an engineer, public figure and advocate, having previously had a political career. She was a Membe ...
. Nicolas Sarkozy and
Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans (France), The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced 1995 strikes ...
also remained neutral and did not officially endorse any candidate.


Elected officials

* Deputies: 186 members and 9 caucusing members in the UMP group in the
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 rep ...
. This group also includes some members of the Radical Party, the
Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
and
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 candi ...
deputies. * Senators: 131 members in the UMP group in the Senate. This group also includes members of the Radical Party and The Rally-UMP * MEPs: 24 members in the
EPP Group The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent ME ...
in the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
.


Major officeholders

* Nicolas Sarkozy ( President of the Republic, 2007–2012) *
François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...
(
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
, 2007–2012) * Bernard Accoyer ( President of the National Assembly) *
Jean-Louis Debré Jean-Louis Debré (; born 30 September 1944) is a former French judge and politician who served as President of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2007 and President of the Constitutional Council from 2007 to 2016.President of the Constitutional Council) *
Joseph Daul Joseph Alexander Daul (born 13 April 1947) is a French politician who served as President of the European People's Party (EPP) from 2013 to 2019. He previously served as Leader of the EPP Group in the European Parliament from 2007 to 2014 and a ...
( President of the EPP Group in the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
)


Popular support

The UMP's electoral base reflects that of the old Rally for the Republic (RPR) and, in some cases, that of 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). In the 2007 presidential election, Nicolas Sarkozy performed best in the east of France – particularly
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
(36.2%); Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur (37.0%) – the wealthy coastal department of the Alpes-Maritimes (43.6%) was his best department in France;
Champagne-Ardenne Champagne-Ardenne () is a former administrative region of France, located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium. Mostly corresponding to the historic province of Champagne, the region is known for its sparkling white wine of th ...
(32.7%) and
Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône ...
(32.7%). These areas were among National Front candidate
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 ...
's best regions in 2002 and are conservative on issues such as immigration. Sarkozy received a lot of votes from voters who had supported the far-right in April 2002. For example, in the Alpes-Maritimes, Sarkozy performed 21.6% better than Chirac did in 2002 while Le Pen lost 12.6% in five years. Sarkozy also appealed more than average to
blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...
workers in regions such as northern
Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Calais ...
, although most of these regions, despite his gains, remain reliably left-wing. The party is also strong in every election in very wealthy suburban or coastal (and, in some cases, urban) areas such as Neuilly-sur-Seine (72.6% for Sarkozy in the first round), Saint-Tropez (54.79%),
Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...
(48.19%) or
Marcq-en-Barœul Marcq-en-Barœul (; pcd, Marke-in-Bareul; older nl, Marke) is a commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * C ...
(47.35%). It is strong in most rural areas, like most conservative parties in the world, but this does not extend to the rural areas of the south of France, areas which are old strongholds of
republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and secular ideals. However, in old "clerical" Catholic rural areas, such as parts of
Lozère Lozère (; oc, Losera ) is a landlocked department in the region of Occitanie in Southern France, located near the Massif Central, bounded to the northeast by Haute-Loire, to the east by Ardèche, to the south by Gard, to the west by Aveyron, ...
or
Cantal Cantal (; oc, Cantal or ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, with its prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour (the episcopal see) and Mauriac; its residents are known as Cantalians (fren ...
, it is very strong, as was the UDF during its hey day. However, the UMP does poorly in one of the UDF's best regions,
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
, where the decline of religious practice, a moderate electorate and urbanisation has hurt the UMP and also the UDF. Nicolas Sarkozy performed relatively poorly in departments with a large share of moderate Christian democratic (often centrist or centre-right) voters, such as
Lozère Lozère (; oc, Losera ) is a landlocked department in the region of Occitanie in Southern France, located near the Massif Central, bounded to the northeast by Haute-Loire, to the east by Ardèche, to the south by Gard, to the west by Aveyron, ...
where the
Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
candidate
Ségolène Royal Marie-Ségolène Royal (; born 22 September 1953) is a French politician who was the Socialist Party candidate for the Presidency of France in the 2007 election. Royal was president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council from 2004 to 201 ...
performed better (44.3%) than François Mitterrand had in his 1988 left-wing landslide (43.1%). While former President Jacques Chirac, the right's strongman in normally left-wing
Corrèze Corrèze (; oc, Corresa) is a department in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region ...
had always done very well in Corrèze and the surrounding departments, Sarkozy did very poorly and actually lost the department in the 2007 runoff. However, in the 2009 European election, the UMP's results in those departments were superior to Sarkozy's first round result (nationally, they were 4% lower).


Election results


Presidential


National Assembly


European Parliament


Leadership


Presidents


Vice presidents

* Jean-Claude Gaudin, executive vice president (2002–2007) * Jean-Claude Gaudin,
Pierre Méhaignerie Pierre Méhaignerie (born 4 May 1939) is a French politician. He is a former deputy of the Ille-et-Vilaine's 5th constituency and the former mayor of Vitré (re-elected in March 2008). He was elected in 1973 to the French parliament ...
,
Jean-Pierre Raffarin Jean-Pierre Raffarin (; born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. Howeve ...
as vice presidents of the national council (2007–2012) * Luc Chatel (2012–2014), associate vice president from January 2013 ** joined by
Laurent Wauquiez Laurent Timothée Marie Wauquiez (; born 12 April 1975) is a French politician who has presided over the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes since 2016. He is a member of The Republicans (LR), which he led from 2017 to 2019 following the ...
, Jean-Claude Gaudin,
Christian Estrosi Christian Paul Gilbert Estrosi (born 1 July 1955) is a French sportsman and politician who has served as Mayor of Nice since 2017, previously holding the office from 2008 to 2016. A former professional motorcyclist, he served as a government m ...
,
Brice Hortefeux Brice Hortefeux (born 11 May 1958) is a conservative French politician. He was Minister of the Interior, Overseas Territories and Territorial collectivities. He was previously Minister for Labour, Labour Relations, the Family, Solidarity and Ur ...
, Roger Karoutchi,
Gérard Longuet Gérard Longuet (; born 24 February 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French conservative politician who has served as a member of the Senate from 2001 to 2011 and again since 2012, representing Meuse. He served as Minister of ...
and Henri de Raincourt (January 2013 – May 2015) ** joined by
Hubert Falco Hubert Falco (born 15 May 1947 in Pignans, Var) is a French politician who has been appointed Secretary of State for development of the territory in the government of François Fillon on 18 March 2008. He is the mayor of Toulon Toulon (, ...
,
Rachida Dati Rachida Dati (; ar, رشيدة داتي, link=no; born 27 November 1965) is a French politician who served as Member of the European Parliament, representing Île-de-France. Prior to her election, she held the cabinet post of Keeper of the Sea ...
,
Hervé Gaymard Hervé Gaymard (born 31 May 1960) is a French politician and a member of The Republicans conservative party. He served as the country's Minister of Finances from 30 November 2004 until his resignation on 25 February 2005. Gaymard attended S ...
, Christian Kert,
Jean-François Lamour Jean-François Lamour (born February 2, 1956, in Paris) is a French former fencer and current politician and cabinet minister. During his fencing career, Lamour achieved various athletic accomplishments, notably qualifying for the 1987 world cha ...
,
Jean-Paul Fournier Jean-Paul Fournier (born 16 October 1945 in Génolhac) is a French politician and a member of the Senate of France and mayor of Nîmes. He represents the Gard department and is a member of The Republicans Party. Ahead of the 2022 presidential ...
,
Jean-Pierre Audy Jean-Pierre Audy (born 12 June 1952 in Tulle, Corrèze) is a French politician and a Member of the European Parliament for France. He is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), which is part of the European People's Party. He is a me ...
,
Guillaume Peltier Guillaume Peltier (; born 27 August 1976) is a French politician, former teacher and business leader who has represented the 2nd constituency of the Loir-et-Cher department in the National Assembly since 2017. He has also served in the Depart ...
,
Jean Leonetti Jean Leonetti (born 9 July 1948) is a French politician and former president of The Republicans. He represented Alpes-Maritimes's 7th constituency at the National Assembly from 1997 to 2011 and again from 2012 to 2017, as a member of the R ...
, Thierry Mariani,
Patrick Ollier Patrick Ollier (born 17 December 1944) is a French politician. He is the Mayor of Rueil-Malmaison. He was a national assembly deputy for Hauts-Alpes's 2nd constituency from 1988 to 2002, as a member of the UMP. Secondly for Hauts-de-Seine's ...
and Bernard Perrut (January 2013 – May 2015)


Presidents of the National Council

* ''unknown'' (2002–2013) *
Jean-Pierre Raffarin Jean-Pierre Raffarin (; born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. Howeve ...
(2013–2015)


Secretaries-general

*
Philippe Douste-Blazy Philippe Douste-Blazy (; born 1 January 1953) is a French United Nations official and former centre-right politician. Over the course of his career, he served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Adviser on Innovative Financi ...
(2002–2004) *
Pierre Méhaignerie Pierre Méhaignerie (born 4 May 1939) is a French politician. He is a former deputy of the Ille-et-Vilaine's 5th constituency and the former mayor of Vitré (re-elected in March 2008). He was elected in 1973 to the French parliament ...
(2004–2007) *
Patrick Devedjian Patrick Devedjian ( hy, Պատրիկ Դեւեջեան; 26 August 1944 – 28 March 2020) was a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. A close adviser of Nicolas Sarkozy since the 1990s, he was Minister under the Pri ...
(2007–2008) *
Xavier Bertrand Xavier Bertrand (; born 21 March 1965) is a French politician who has been serving as president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France since the 2015 regional elections. Earlier in his career, Bertrand was Minister of Health from 2005 to ...
(2008–2010) *
Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...
(2010–2012) *
Michèle Tabarot Michèle Tabarot (born 13 October 1962) is a French politician of the Republicans who currently serves as a member of the National Assembly of France. She represents the Alpes-Maritimes 9th constituency. Early life Tabarot is the daughte ...
(2012–2015) ** joined by
Valérie Pécresse Valérie Pécresse (; born Roux, 14 July 1967) is a French politician who has served as President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France since 2015. A member of The Republicans (LR), she previously served as Minister of Higher Education and ...
and Marc-Philippe Daubresse (January 2013 – 2015)


Group leaders in the National Assembly

*
Jacques Barrot Jacques Barrot (3 February 1937 – 3 December 2014) was a French politician, who served as European Commissioner for Justice between 2008 and 2010, after having spent four years serving as Commissioner for Transport (2004–2008) and Commissi ...
(2002–2004) * Bernard Accoyer (2004–2007) *
Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...
(2007–2010) * Christian Jacob (2010–2015)


Group leaders in the Senate

*
Josselin de Rohan Josselin Charles Louis Jean Marie de Rohan-Chabot, 14th Duke of Rohan, known as Josselin de Rohan (born 5 June 1938 in Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French politician. He is a former member of the Senate of France, representing the Morbihan depar ...
(2002–2008) * Henri de Raincourt (2008–2009) *
Gérard Longuet Gérard Longuet (; born 24 February 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French conservative politician who has served as a member of the Senate from 2001 to 2011 and again since 2012, representing Meuse. He served as Minister of ...
(2009–2011) * Jean-Claude Gaudin (2011–2015)


See also

*
Politics of France The politics of France take place with the framework of a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the French Fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic ...
*
List of political parties in France This article contains a list of political parties in France. France has a multi-party political system: one in which the number of competing political parties is sufficiently large as to make it almost inevitable that in order to participate in ...


References


External links


Official website
{{Authority control