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The French legislative elections took place on 12 and 19 March 1978 to elect the sixth
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 ...
of the Fifth Republic.
On 2 April 1974, President Georges Pompidou
Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...
died. The non-Gaullist center-right leader 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 ...
was elected to succeed him. Because the Gaullist UDR was the largest party in the pro-Giscard majority in the Assembly, Giscard chose Jacques Chirac to lead the cabinet. This period was one of renovation for Gaullism.
The presidential will to "govern towards the center" and to promote a "modern liberal society" disconcerted the Gaullist party. The Abortion Act and the reduction of the age of majority to 18 years worried a part of the conservative electorate. Furthermore, a personal conflict opposed the two heads of the executive. In August 1976, Chirac resigned because he considered that he "(had) not the means to carry on (his) function of Prime Minister".
Three months later, the UDR was replaced by the Rally for the Republic (''Rassemblement pour la République'' or RPR). This, Chirac's electoral machine, was officially a member of the Presidential Majority, but frequently criticized the liberal and pro-European policy of President Giscard d'Estaing and his new Prime minister Raymond Barre
Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (; 12 April 192425 August 2007) was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents (Rey, ...
. The executive duo reacted by federating the non-Gaullist center-right in 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 ...
(''Union pour la démocratie française'' or UDF).
While the right-wing majority was divided, and the economic situation deteriorated, the "Union of Left" won the mid-term local elections. According to the polls, it was favourite to win the legislative election. In his Verdun-sur-le-Doubs
Verdun-sur-le-Doubs (, literally ''Verdun on the Doubs'') is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France.PS gaining in electoral success at the PCF's expense.
Contrary to what polls indicated, the Presidential Majority won but it obtained only 2,284 votes more than the "Union of Left". For the first time since 1936, the Socialists obtained more votes than the Communists. Furthermore, the French electorate appeared evenly shared between four equivalent political parties (RPR, UDF, PS, PCF). Raymond Barre was confirmed as Prime Minister. Until the 2007 French legislative election, it was the last time that either the right or the left had won back-to-back legislative elections.
, -
! 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:#0000C8",
, style="text-align:left;" , Rally for the Republic (''Rassemblement pour la République'')
, style="text-align:right;" , RPR
, style="text-align:right;" , 6,462,462
, style="text-align:right;" , 22.62
, style="text-align:right;" , 6,651,756
, style="text-align:right;" , 26.11
, style="text-align:right;" , 150
, -
, style="background-color:#00CCCC",
, style="text-align:left;" ,
Map of Deputies elected in 1978 according to their group in the House, including overseas (in french)
{{French elections 1978 1978 elections in France
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:#0000C8",
, style="text-align:left;" , Rally for the Republic (''Rassemblement pour la République'')
, style="text-align:right;" , RPR
, style="text-align:right;" , 6,462,462
, style="text-align:right;" , 22.62
, style="text-align:right;" , 6,651,756
, style="text-align:right;" , 26.11
, style="text-align:right;" , 150
, -
, 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;" , 6,128,849
, style="text-align:right;" , 21.45
, style="text-align:right;" , 5,907,603
, style="text-align:right;" , 23.18
, style="text-align:right;" , 121
, -
, style="background-color:#4C4CB0",
, style="text-align:left;" , Presidential Majority (''Majorité présidentielle'')
, style="text-align:right;" , MAJ
, style="text-align:right;" , 684,985
, style="text-align:right;" , 2.39
, style="text-align:right;" , 305,763
, style="text-align:right;" , 1.20
, style="text-align:right;" , 16
, - style="background-color:lightblue"
, style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Total "Presidential Majority" (Right)
,
, style="text-align:right;" , 13,276,296
, style="text-align:right;" , 46.46
, style="text-align:right;" , 12,865,122
, style="text-align:right;" , 50.49
, style="text-align:right;" , 287
, -
, 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 t ...
(''Parti socialiste'')
, style="text-align:right;" , PS
, style="text-align:right;" , 6,451,151
, style="text-align:right;" , 22.58
, style="text-align:right;" , 7,212,916
, style="text-align:right;" , 28.31
, style="text-align:right;" , 104
, -
, 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 Un ...
(''Parti communiste français'')
, style="text-align:right;" , PCF
, style="text-align:right;" , 5,870,402
, style="text-align:right;" , 20.55
, style="text-align:right;" , 4,744,868
, style="text-align:right;" , 18.62
, style="text-align:right;" , 86
, -
, 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;" , 603,932
, style="text-align:right;" , 2.11
, style="text-align:right;" , 595,478
, style="text-align:right;" , 2.36
, style="text-align:right;" , 10
, - style="background-color:pink"
, style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Total "Union of Left"
,
, style="text-align:right;" , 12,925,485
, style="text-align:right;" , 45.24
, style="text-align:right;" , 12,553,262
, style="text-align:right;" , 49.24
, style="text-align:right;" , 200
, -
, style="background-color:gray",
, style="text-align:left;" , Miscellaneous including the Unified Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste unifié'')
,
, style="text-align:right;" , 793,274
, style="text-align:right;" , 2.77
, style="text-align:right;" , 57,418
, style="text-align:right;" , 0.22
, style="text-align:right;" , 1 PSU
, -
, style="background-color:#77ff77",
, style="text-align:left;" , Ecologists
, style="text-align:right;" , ECO
, style="text-align:right;" , 621,100
, style="text-align:right;" , 2.14
, style="text-align:right;" , -
, style="text-align:right;" , -
, style="text-align:right;" , -
, -
, style="background-color:#960018",
, style="text-align:left;" , Far-Left
,
, style="text-align:right;" , 953,088
, style="text-align:right;" , 3.33
, style="text-align:right;" , -
, style="text-align:right;" , -
, style="text-align:right;" , -
, -
,
, style="text-align:left;" , Total
,
, style="text-align:right;" , 28,560,243
, style="text-align:right;" , 100
, style="text-align:right;" , 25,475,802
, style="text-align:right;" , 100
, style="text-align:right;" , 488
, -
, style="text-align:left;" colspan=8 , Abstention: 17.22% (1st round); 15.34% (2nd round)
National Assembly by Parliamentary Group
References
External links
Map of Deputies elected in 1978 according to their group in the House, including overseas (in french)
{{French elections 1978 1978 elections in France