The Second Toulouse Congress was the twenty-third 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 t ...

(''Parti socialiste'' or PS), the congress was held from October 26 to 28, 2012, in the city of

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 ...

in the

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country' ...

. First Secretary

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 (France), Mayo ...

announced that she would not run for a second term. The National Secretary for Coordination

Harlem Désir Harlem Jean-Philippe Désir (; born 25 November 1959) is a French politician who served in the government of France as Secretary of State for European Affairs from 2014 to 2017. Previously he was First Secretary of the French Socialist Party. Sin ...

became the next party leader.

Motions

Five motions were voted upon by members: *Motion 1: "Mobilise the French People for a Successful Change" (''Mobiliser les Français pour réussir le changement''): Led by

and supported by

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 ...

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 ...

, all socialist members of the Cabinet and a majority of MPs. *Motion 2: "Matter of Principle" (''Question de principes''): Led by Juliette Méadel and endorsed by Gaëtan Gorce. *Motion 3: "Now the Left" (''Maintenant la gauche''): Led by Emmanuel Maurel and supported by

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 ...

, Gérard Filoche, Jérôme Guedj and the Utopia movement. *Motion 4: "Dare. Further. Faster" (''Oser. Plus loin. Plus vite''): Led by Stéphane Hessel and supported by Pierre Larrouturou. *Motion 5: "Toulouse, my Congress" (''Toulouse, mon congrès''): Motion led by Constance Blanchard.

Results of the Motions vote

Election of the First Secretary

On October 12, 2012, Emmanuel Maurel confirmed that he would be a candidate for the Party Leadership.Maurel candidat pour la tête du PS
/ref> He lost to Harlem Désir.

References

{{French Socialist Party Congresses of the Socialist Party (France) 2012 in France 2012 in politics 2012 conferences 2012 political party leadership elections October 2012 events in France