The Reims Congress was the twenty-second national congress of the French

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

(''Parti socialiste'' or PS), taking place from 14 to 16 November 2008 in the city of

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded b ...

in the Marne. Incumbent First Secretary

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of the Socialist P ...

announced that he would not run again, opening the way for a three-way battle between 2007 presidential 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 ...

;

Bertrand Delanoë Bertrand Delanoë (; born 30 May 1950) is a French retired politician who served as Mayor of Paris from 2001 to 2014. A member of the Socialist Party (PS), he previously served in the National Assembly from 1981 to 1986 and Senate from 1995 unt ...

Mayor of Paris The Mayor of Paris (french: Maire de Paris) is the chief executive of Paris, the capital and largest city in France. The officeholder is responsible for the administration and management of the city, submits proposals and recommendations to the ...

; and

Martine Aubry Martine Louise Marie Aubry (; née Delors; born 8 August 1950) is a French politician. She was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (''Parti Socialiste'', or PS) from November 2008 to April 2012, and has been the Mayor of Lille (No ...

, mayor of

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

. Each candidate endorsed motions that would be voted upon by the eligible voters as a determinant for the endorsement of each candidate.

Motions

Six motions were presented to be voted upon by members: *Clarity, courage, creativity (''Clarté, courage, créativité''): Led by

and supported by

Jean-Marc Ayrault Jean-Marc Ayrault (; born 25 January 1950) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2012 to 31 March 2014. He later was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2017. He previously was Mayor of Nantes from 1989 t ...

Michel Rocard Michel Rocard (; 23 August 1930 – 2 July 2016) was a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party (PS). He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991 during which he created the ''Revenu minimum d'ins ...

Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...

, and

Élisabeth Guigou Élisabeth Guigou (; born Élisabeth Vallier; 6 August 1946) is a French politician of the Socialist Party who served as a member of the National Assembly from 2002 until 2017, representing Seine-Saint-Denis' 9th constituency. Early life and ...

. *For a staunchly ecologist Socialist Party (''Pour un Parti Socialiste résolument écologique''):

Eco-socialist Eco-socialism (also known as green socialism or socialist ecology) is an ideology merging aspects of socialism with that of green politics, ecology and alter-globalization or anti-globalization. Eco-socialists generally believe that the expansi ...

motion. *A World in Front, Rebuilding hope on the left (''Un monde d’avance, Reconstruire l'espoir à gauche''):

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

and staunchly left-wing current led by

Benoît Hamon Benoît Hamon (; born 26 June 1967) is a French politician known for his former role within the Socialist Party (PS) and Party of European Socialists (PES) and his political party Génération.s. Hamon joined the Socialist Party in 1988 and ...

and supported by Henri Emmanuelli,

Marie-Noëlle Lienemann Marie-Noëlle Lienemann (born 12 July 1951, in Belfort) is a French politician who served as Member of the European Parliament for the North West of France. Until 2018, she was a member of the Socialist Party, part of the Party of European Socia ...

Pierre Larrouturou Pierre Larrouturou (born 1964) is a French economist and politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. He previously was a regional councilor of the Île-de-France. Political career Early beginnings While ...

, and

Jean-Luc Mélenchon Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon (; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who was a member of the National Assembly for the 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône from 2017 to 2022. He led the ''La France Insoumise'' group in the Nation ...

. *Change on the Left to Change France (''Changer à gauche pour changer la France''): Left-wing motion led by

and supported by

Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician serving as President of the Constitutional Council since 8 March 2016. A member of the Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 Mar ...

, Pierre Mauroy, Jack Lang, and

Arnaud Montebourg Arnaud Montebourg (; born 30 October 1962) is a French politician, lawyer and entrepreneur who served as the Minister of Industrial Renewal from 2012 to 2014,Gérard Collomb Gérard Collomb (; born 20 June 1947) is a French politician who served as Mayor of Lyon from 2001 to 2017 and again from 2018 until 2020. A member of La République En Marche! (LREM) since he left the Socialist Party (PS) in 2017, he was Minist ...

on the behalf of

and supported by

Vincent Peillon Vincent Benoît Camille Peillon (; born 7 July 1960) is a French politician who served as Minister for Education in the French Government. He is a longstanding French politician and, from 2014 until 2019, served as a Member of the European Parl ...

, and Manuel Valls. *Socialists, Alterglobalists, Ecologists (''Socialistes, Altermondialistes, Écologistes''): Motion led by the Utopia current.

Results of the Motions vote

128,978 out of 233,000 eligible voters took part in the election by motion, which represents a turnout of 55.38%

First-Secretary run-off

dropped out of the race for First Secretary during the Reims Congress and endorsed

the next day.

stayed in the race, as did

(endorsed by Utopia). Royal led in the first round of voting held on Thursday 20 November with around 42% against 34% for Aubry. Hamon had around 22% of the votes and was eliminated. He endorsed Aubry for the runoff, held the next day. According to official results, Aubry won by a tiny margin of 42 votes, although Royal did not concede and called for a third round to be held. A PS National Council examined the results on Tuesday 25 November. In the recount, Aubry was declared the winner with wider margin of 102 votes First round Second round

References

{{French Socialist Party Congresses of the Socialist Party (France) 2008 in France 2008 in politics Reims 2006 conferences