2022 French Legislative Elections
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Legislative elections in France were held on 12 and 19 June 2022 to elect the 577 members of the 16th
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 repre ...
of the Fifth French Republic. The elections took place following the
2022 French presidential election The 2022 French presidential election was held on 10 and 24 April 2022. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held, in which Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen and was re-elected as President of France. Macron, f ...
, which was held in April 2022. They have been described as the most indecisive legislative elections since the establishment of the five-year presidential term in
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
and subsequent change of the electoral calendar in 2002. For the first time since
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, the incumbent
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 ...
does not have 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 ru ...
in Parliament. As no alliance won a
majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Websterhung parliament for the first time since
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. The legislative elections were contested between four principal blocs: the centrist presidential majority
Ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the chorus * ''En ...
coalition, including
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
's
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, the
Democratic Movement A democracy is a political system, or a system of decision-making within an institution or organization or a country, in which all members have an equal share of power. Modern democracies are characterized by two capabilities that differentiate ...
, Horizons, as well as their allies; the left-wing
New Ecological and Social People's Union The New Ecological and Social People's Union (french: Nouvelle Union populaire écologique et sociale, link=no, NUPES) is a left-wing alliance of political parties in France. Formed on May Day 2022, the alliance includes La France Insoumise (LFI ...
(NUPES), encompassing La France Insoumise, 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 th ...
,
Ecologist Pole The Ecologist Pole (french: Pôle écologiste; PE) is a French green political coalition launched in August 2020. This alliance follows the municipal elections of 2020, where several large cities are won by lists led by ecologists. History ...
and the
French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...
, among others; the
Union of the Right and Centre The Union of the Right and Centre (french: Union de la droite et du centre; UDC) is a term used in France to designate an electoral alliance between the parties of the right and of the centre. Throughout the Fifth Republic, the Gaullist party a ...
(UDC), including The Republicans, the
Union of Democrats and Independents The Union of Democrats and Independents (french: Union des démocrates et indépendants, UDI) is a Centrism, centre to Centre-right politics, centre-right list of political parties in France, political party in France and former Electoral alliance ...
, as well as their allies; and the far-right
National Rally The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a Far-right politics, far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as fa ...
(RN). The NUPES alliance was formed in the two months following the presidential election, in which the
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
vote had been fragmented; it consisted of the first
French Left The Left in France (french: gauche française) was represented at the beginning of the 20th century by two main political parties, namely the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and the French Section of the Workers' Internatio ...
alliance since the
Plural Left The Gauche Plurielle (French for ''Plural Left'') was a left-wing coalition in France, composed of the Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS), the French Communist Party (''Parti communiste français'' or PCF), the Greens, the Left Radi ...
in 1997. In the first round, there was some controversy among the
Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
and news media about which bloc finished first, as both the NUPES and Ensemble obtained about 26% of the vote. They were followed by the RN on about 19% and UDC with about 11%. Turnout for the first round was a record-low 47.5%. In the second round, when turnout was higher than that of 2017, Macron's Ensemble coalition secured the most seats (245) but fell 44 seats short of an absolute majority. The NUPES was projected to win 131 (Ministry of the Interior) or 142 seats (''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
''), while the
far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
RN became the largest
parliamentary opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...
as a party (89). The UDC received enough seats (64 or 71) to be a
kingmaker A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a royal or political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious and military means to influence the succession. Origina ...
in the next government but suffered losses. The results were perceived by political commentators as a severe blow for Macron in the aftermath of the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final chaos. They created potential for political instability and gridlock. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne offered her resignation on 21 June 2022, but Macron refused to accept it. Talks among the various parties to form a stable
majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...
began later on 21 June but rapidly failed. On 6 July, Prime Minister Borne presented her
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
policy plan to the Parliament.


Background

Following the
2017 French legislative election Legislative elections in France were held on 11 and 18 June 2017 (with different dates for voters overseas) to elect the 577 members of the 15th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. They followed the two-round presidential election won by ...
, the incumbent president
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
's party,
La République En Marche! Renaissance (RE), previously known as La République En Marche ! (frequently abbreviated LREM, LaREM or REM; translated as "The Republic on the Move" or "Republic Forward"), or sometimes called simply En Marche ! () as its original name, is a l ...
(LREM), and its allies held a majority 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 repre ...
(577 seats). The
LREM group The Together for the Republic Group (french: Groupe Ensemble pour la République), previously La République En Marche group (french: Groupe La République en marche) until 2022 and as Renaissance Deputies until 2024, is a parliamentary group in t ...
had 308 deputies, the
Democratic Movement and affiliated democrats group The The Democrats group (french: Groupe Les Démocrates), known as the Democratic, MoDem and Independents group (french: Groupe démocrate, MoDem et indépendants) until 2024, is a parliamentary group in the National Assembly of France including ...
had 42 deputies, and
Agir ensemble The Agir Ensemble group (''"Act Together"'') was a parliamentary group of the French National Assembly in the 15th legislature of the Fifth Republic from 2020 to 2022. It was made up of deputies from Agir and the UDI and Independents group. ...
, which was created in November 2017, had 9 deputies. Although a proposal to have part of the French Parliament elected with a
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
system was included in Macron's platform in 2017, this election promise was not fulfilled. A similar promise was made by
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 (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...
during 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: E ...
. Macron, from the
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 the l ...
LREM, had defeated
Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its pre ...
, leader of the far-right
National Rally The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a Far-right politics, far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as fa ...
, 66–34% in the
2017 French presidential election The 2017 French presidential election was held on 23 April and 7 May 2017. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held between the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron of En Marche! (EM) and Marine Le Pen of the Nationa ...
. The
2022 French presidential election The 2022 French presidential election was held on 10 and 24 April 2022. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held, in which Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen and was re-elected as President of France. Macron, f ...
was held on 10 and 24 April. As no candidate won a
majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Websterrunoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
was held, in which Macron defeated Le Pen 58–41% and was reelected as
President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
. In the first round, Macron took the lead with 27.9% of votes, while
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 ...
, the candidate for the Republicans, took under 5% of the vote in the first round, the worst result in the history of the party or its Gaullist predecessors.
Anne Hidalgo Ana María "Anne" Hidalgo Aleu (, ; born 1959) is a Spanish-French politician who has served as Mayor of Paris since 2014, the first woman to hold the office. She is a member of the Socialist Party. Hidalgo served as First Deputy Mayor of Paris ...
, the
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 C ...
, received 1.75% of the vote, the worst in the history 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 th ...
(PS). With more than 30% of the vote, it was the best result for French far-right figures since the founding of the Fifth French Republic with the
1958 French presidential election The President of the French Republic was elected on an indirect basis during the Third Republic and Fourth Republic, as well as at the start of the Fifth Republic. During the Third Republic and Fourth Republic, the officeholder was elected b ...
.
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 ...
of La France Insoumise (LFI) came third in the first round with 21.95% of the vote and 1.2% behind second-placed Le Pen, also coming first in the 18–24 and 25–34 age groups, as well in
Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...
, the most populous region of France. In the context of the legislative election common participation, as the largest
French Left The Left in France (french: gauche française) was represented at the beginning of the 20th century by two main political parties, namely the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and the French Section of the Workers' Internatio ...
force in the presidential election, LFI sought to unite the main left-leaning parties around the banner of the
New Ecological and Social People's Union The New Ecological and Social People's Union (french: Nouvelle Union populaire écologique et sociale, link=no, NUPES) is a left-wing alliance of political parties in France. Formed on May Day 2022, the alliance includes La France Insoumise (LFI ...
, or NUPES. Discussions were held with
Europe Ecology – The Greens Europe Ecology – The Greens (french: Europe Écologie Les Verts , EELV ) is a centre-left to left-wing green political party in France. The party is a member of the European Green Party. The party was formed on 13 November 2010 from the merge ...
, including the
Ecologist Pole The Ecologist Pole (french: Pôle écologiste; PE) is a French green political coalition launched in August 2020. This alliance follows the municipal elections of 2020, where several large cities are won by lists led by ecologists. History ...
, as well as the
French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...
, which joined the coalition on 2–3 May 2022, respectively; the PS reached an agreement to join the coalition on 4 May, which was confirmed by a National Council party vote on 5 May. This resulted in the first wide left-wing alliance since the
Plural Left The Gauche Plurielle (French for ''Plural Left'') was a left-wing coalition in France, composed of the Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS), the French Communist Party (''Parti communiste français'' or PCF), the Greens, the Left Radi ...
in the
1997 French legislative election A French legislative election took place on 25 May and 1 June 1997 to elect the 11th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic. It was the consequence of President Jacques Chirac's decision to call the legislative election one year before ...
. Discussion with the
Federation of the Republican Left The Federation of the Republican Left (french: Fédération de la gauche républicaine; FGR) is a French political coalition of several small centre-left to left-wing parties. Announced on 29 April 2022, following the 2022 French presidential el ...
(FGR), which wanted to join NUPES, went unanswered; the FGR then formed alliances with the Radical Party of the Left, which internally rejected integration into NUPES, and the dissident minority in the PS, among the miscellaneous left. Their candidates presented themselves as part of the "secular and republican" left between Macron and Mélenchon. The
New Anticapitalist Party The New Anticapitalist Party (french: Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste , abbreviated NPA) is a far-left political party in France founded in February 2009. The party launched with 9,200 members and was intended to unify the fractured movements o ...
announced it would not enter the coalition due to what they called insurmountable ideological differences with the PS, while
Lutte Ouvrière The French Trotskyist political party Union Communiste (Communist Union) is usually known as Lutte Ouvrière (Workers' Struggle, ), after the name of its weekly paper. Arlette Laguiller has been the party's spokeswoman since 1973 and ran in each ...
announced that the party would run its own slate separate from NUPES, which they believe to be reformist. On 5 May 2022, LREM changed its name to Renaissance, introducing its
big tent A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...
coalition for the legislative election made up of the presidential majority parties called
Ensemble Citoyens Ensemble () is a liberal political coalition in France. Formed in November 2021 as Ensemble Citoyens, it includes Renaissance (REN), formerly known as En Marche, Democratic Movement (MoDem) Horizons, En commun, and the Progressive Federati ...
(Ensemble). On 16 May, Macron appointed Élisabeth Borne as Prime Minister, replacing
Jean Castex Jean Castex (; born 25 June 1965) is a French politician who was the country's Prime Minister from 3 July 2020 to 16 May 2022. He was a member of The Republicans (LR) until 2020, when he joined La République En Marche! (LREM). Castex served fo ...
. Borne, a member of Renaissance and formerly of the PS, was serving as Macron's Minister of Labour, Employment and Economic Inclusion prior to her appointment as prime minister. She is only the second woman to hold the office.


Electoral system

The 577 members of 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 repre ...
, known as
deputies A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...
, are elected for five years by a
two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...
in single-member constituencies. A candidate who receives an absolute majority of valid votes and a vote total greater than 25% of the registered electorate is elected in the first round. If no candidate reaches this threshold, a runoff election is held between the top two candidates plus any other candidate who received a vote total greater than 12.5% of registered voters. The candidate who receives the most votes in the second round is elected.


Dates

According to the provisions of the Electoral Code, the election must be held within the sixty days which precede the expiry of the powers of the outgoing National Assembly, attached to the third Tuesday of June, five years after its election, except in the event of dissolution of the National Assembly. The end of the mandate of the Assembly elected in 2017 is set for 21 June 2022. The dates for the legislative elections in mainland France were set for 12 and 19 June. Declarations of candidacy must be submitted no later than 20 May for the first round and 14 June for the second round. French nationals who live abroad were able to vote in the days preceding the ballot.


Major parties and alliances contesting

Below are the major parties and alliances contesting the elections, listed by their combined results in the previous elections. According to '' Le Journal du dimanche'', the elections are mainly contested between three blocs: a left-wing bloc (NUPES), a presidential bloc on the center-right (Ensemble), and a far-right bloc.


Deputies not standing for reelection


Opinion polls


Results


First round

After the first round, the
New Ecological and Social People's Union The New Ecological and Social People's Union (french: Nouvelle Union populaire écologique et sociale, link=no, NUPES) is a left-wing alliance of political parties in France. Formed on May Day 2022, the alliance includes La France Insoumise (LFI ...
(NUPES) and
Ensemble Citoyens Ensemble () is a liberal political coalition in France. Formed in November 2021 as Ensemble Citoyens, it includes Renaissance (REN), formerly known as En Marche, Democratic Movement (MoDem) Horizons, En commun, and the Progressive Federati ...
(Ensemble) obtained about 26%. Amid significant losses on the
right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
of the political spectrum for the Republicans (LR) and the
Union of the Right and Centre The Union of the Right and Centre (french: Union de la droite et du centre; UDC) is a term used in France to designate an electoral alliance between the parties of the right and of the centre. Throughout the Fifth Republic, the Gaullist party a ...
(UDC), results for
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
's Ensemble alliance showed it was now the
centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...
, having performed strongly among the traditionally centre-right electorate of UDC. The French far-right achieved mixed results; while the
National Rally The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a Far-right politics, far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as fa ...
(RN) achieved 18% and was likely to obtain the necessary seats to form a
parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamentar ...
, Éric Zemmour's
Reconquête Reconquête (; en, Reconquest), styled as Reconquête! (R!), is a nationalist political party in France founded in late 2021 by Éric Zemmour, who has since served as its leader. He was a far-right candidate in the 2022 presidential election, ...
reached 4%, and both he and the party failed to win a seat, and former RN leader
Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its pre ...
had to go through the second round for her seat due to low turnout. In contests between NUPES and RN candidates, officials from Ensemble said they would decide on a "case-by-case basis" on whether or not to support a candidate. Élisabeth Borne,
Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister ...
, said: "Our position is no vote for RN." At the same time, she expressed support only for NUPES candidates who in her view respect republican values. The first round confirmed that La France Insoumise (LFI) within NUPES and among the
French Left The Left in France (french: gauche française) was represented at the beginning of the 20th century by two main political parties, namely the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and the French Section of the Workers' Internatio ...
, while the
centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...
dissidents achieved a much lower numbers of votes like the
2022 French presidential election The 2022 French presidential election was held on 10 and 24 April 2022. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held, in which Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen and was re-elected as President of France. Macron, f ...
; of the over 70 dissident candidates, only 15 qualified for the second round. The first round was marked by a record low turnout at 47.5%. Additionally, there was some controversy in the results between the
Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
and French news outlets, such as France Info and ''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'', in particular on whether NUPES or Ensemble finished first; This was due to disagreements on whether left-wing candidates should be considered within the NUPES framework or not; similar discrepancies also existed for UDC and other alliances. NUPES finished either second (per the Ministry of the Interior) or first (per ''Le Monde''), slightly behind or ahead of Ensemble (25.75–25.66% per the Ministry of the Interior and 26.1–25.9% per ''Le Monde'').


Second round

The second round had a higher turnout than that in the
2017 French legislative election Legislative elections in France were held on 11 and 18 June 2017 (with different dates for voters overseas) to elect the 577 members of the 15th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. They followed the two-round presidential election won by ...
but did not match that of the first round in 2020. The Ensemble alliance slightly underperforming polls and lost their
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 ru ...
in Parliament, while still winning the most seats. NUPES slightly underperformed from polling but still managed to substantially increase their proportion of seats and was to reported to have won 131 seats per the Ministry of the Interior. RN substantially overperformed polls to win an unprecedented 89 seats and become the largest
parliamentary opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...
group due to each component party of NUPES intending to form their own parliamentary group, eclipsing the UDC coalition, which received enough seats to be a
kingmaker A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a royal or political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious and military means to influence the succession. Origina ...
in the next government but lost seats as expected, and was projected to win 75 seats. It was the best performance for the far right in the era of the French Fifth Republic, and the best overall since the late 19th century. Several news outlets, such as
Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D.C ...
, gave a different result as to the final seat count, with Ensemble on 247, NUPES on 142, and UDC on 64, respectively, per ''Le Monde''. This was due to differences as to candidates, particularly in the French overseas constituencies, being classified as members of these alliances or not. The elections resulted in a hung parliament, as Ensemble had only a
relative majority A plurality vote (in American English) or relative majority (in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth) describes the circumstance when a party, candidate, or proposition polls more votes than any other but does not receive more than half of all vote ...
(a plurality). It was the first hung parliament since the establishment of the five-year presidential term after the
2000 French constitutional referendum A constitutional referendum was held in France on 24 September 2000.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p674 The proposal to reduce the mandate of the President from seven years to five years was app ...
, as well as the first relative majority only since the
1988 French legislative election French legislative elections took place on 5 and 12 June 1988, to elect the ninth National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, one month after the re-election of François Mitterrand as President of France. In 1986, the Socialist Party (PS) of Pr ...
. The overall results were seen as a disavowal and major blow for Macron, with a risk of political instability and
gridlock Gridlock is a form of traffic congestion where "continuous queues of vehicles block an entire network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a complete standstill". The term originates from a situation possible in a grid ...
. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called the outcome a "democratic shock", and said that if the other blocs did not cooperate, "this would block our capacity to reform and protect the French". Prime Minister Borne commented: "The result is a risk for our country in view of the challenges we have to face." LR, the leading party of UDC, was thought to be the kingmaker and potentially play a role for Macron to keep his presidential majority; however, Christian Jacob, the president of LR and the leader of UDC, stated that his party would remain in
opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...
, meaning Macron's party would not remain in control of the legislature. Mélenchon called the results "disappointing" and said that NUPES and the French Left should form a united, single parliamentary group to avoid RN from becoming the largest opposition group in Parliament, which was refused by leaders of
Europe Ecology – The Greens Europe Ecology – The Greens (french: Europe Écologie Les Verts , EELV ) is a centre-left to left-wing green political party in France. The party is a member of the European Green Party. The party was formed on 13 November 2010 from the merge ...
(EELV),
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 Unit ...
(PCF), and
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 th ...
(PS).


National results

, - style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right" , - , colspan="13" , , - ! style="text-align:center" colspan="3" rowspan="2", Parties and coalitions ! colspan="3", First round ! colspan="3", Second round ! colspan="2", Total , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center" ! width="75", Votes ! width="30", % ! width="30", Seats ! width="75", Votes ! width="30", % ! width="30", Seats ! width="30", Seats ! +/- , - , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;",
Ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the chorus * ''En ...
, ENS , 5,857,364 , 25.75 , 1 , 8,002,419 , 38.57 , 244 , 245 , style="text-align:centre;", , - , style="background-color:#BB1840", , style="text-align:left;", , NUPES , 5,836,079 , 25.66 , 4 , 6,556,198 , 31.60 , 127 , 131 , style="text-align:centre;", 79 , - , - , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;",
National Rally The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a Far-right politics, far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as fa ...
, RN , 4,248,537 , 18.68 , 0 , 3,589,465 , 17.30 , 89 , 89 , style="text-align:centre;", 81 , - , style="background-color:#B9DAFF", , style="text-align:left;",
Union of the Right and Centre The Union of the Right and Centre (french: Union de la droite et du centre; UDC) is a term used in France to designate an electoral alliance between the parties of the right and of the centre. Throughout the Fifth Republic, the Gaullist party a ...
, UDC , 2,568,502 , 11.29 , 0 , 1,512,281 , 7.29 , 64 , 64 , style="text-align:centre;", 66 , - , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;",
Reconquête Reconquête (; en, Reconquest), styled as Reconquête! (R!), is a nationalist political party in France founded in late 2021 by Éric Zemmour, who has since served as its leader. He was a far-right candidate in the 2022 presidential election, ...
, REC , 964,775 , 4.24 , 0 , – , – , 0 , 0 , style="text-align:centre;", ''New'' , - , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;", Miscellaneous left , DVG , 713,574 , 3.14 , 0 , 408,706 , 1.97 , 21 , 21 , style="text-align:centre;", 9 , - , style="background-color:#77ff77", , style="text-align:left;", Ecologists , ECO , 608,314 , 2.67 , 0 , – , – , 0 , 0 , style="text-align:centre;", 1 , - , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;", Miscellaneous right , DVD , 530,782 , 2.33 , 0 , 231,071 , 1.11 , 10 , 10 , style="text-align:centre;", 4 , - , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;", Regionalists , REG , 291,384 , 1.28 , 0 , 264,779 , 1.28 , 10 , 10 , style="text-align:centre;", 5 , - , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;", Miscellaneous centre , DVC , 283,612 , 1.25 , 0 , 99,145 , 0.48 , 4 , 4 , style="text-align:centre;", 4 , - , style="background-color:#bb0000", , style="text-align:left;", Miscellaneous far-left , DXG , 266,412 , 1.17 , 0 , 11,229 , 0.05 , 0 , 0 , style="text-align:centre;", 0 , - , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;", Sovereignist right , DSV , 249,603 , 1.10 , 0 , 19,306 , 0.09 , 1 , 1 , style="text-align:centre;", 0 , - , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;", Miscellaneous , DIV , 192,624 , 0.85 , 0 , 18,295 , 0.09 , 1 , 1 , style="text-align:centre;", 2 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Radical Party of the Left , PRG , 126,689 , 0.56 , 0 , 34,576 , 0.17 , 1 , 1 , style="text-align:centre;", 2 , - , style="background-color:#404040", , style="text-align:left;", Miscellaneous far-right , DXD , 6,457 , 0.03 , 0 , – , – , 0 , 0 , style="text-align:centre;", 1 , - , style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="13", , - style="font-weight:bold" , style="text-align:left" colspan="3", Total , 22,744,708 , 100.00 , 5 , 20,747,470 , 100.00 , 572 , 577 , , - , style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="12", , - , style="text-align:left" colspan="3", Valid votes , 22,744,708 , 97.80 , style="background-color:#E9E9E9" rowspan="6", , 20,747,470 , 92.36 , style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="3" rowspan="6", , - , style="text-align:left" colspan="3", Blank ballots , 362,193 , 1.56 , 1,235,844 , 5.50 , - , style="text-align:left" colspan="3", Null ballots , 149,306 , 0.64 , 480,962 , 2.14 , - , style="text-align:left" colspan="3", Turnout , 23,256,207 , 47.51 , 22,464,276 , 46.23 , - , style="text-align:left" colspan="3", Abstentions , 25,697,541 , 52.49 , 26,125,084 , 53.77 , - , style="text-align:left" colspan="3", Registered voters , 48,953,748 , style="background-color:#E9E9E9", , 48,589,360 , style="background-color:#E9E9E9", , - , style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="12", , - , style="text-align:left" colspan="12", Source
Ministry of the Interior


Results by constituency

;2022 French legislative election map results by constituency File:2022 French Legislative Election First Round Simplified.svg, Simplified map shows which group led in each seat after the 1st round. File:Simplified 2022 French Legislative Election Results Map Second Round.svg, Simplified map shows which group won in each seat after the 2nd round. File:2022 French Legislative Election Results Map Second Round Parties.svg, Winning party in each constituency after the 2nd round.


Electorate


Aftermath

Due to the Ensemble's loss of 100+ seats, they were now 44 seats shy of a majority 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 repre ...
, and need to find support among other MPs from the left or the right side of politics to help build a working
majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...
. President Macron asked Prime Minister Borne, who offered her resignation, to stay in office with the same cabinet in an effort to gain time according to analysts to form a stable government, with or without Borne. LFI requested a
vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
to be held on 5 July. Despite not ruling out any deal with any party, it is speculated that Macron and Ensemble are eyeing a deal with UDC. Despite previously stating otherwise, UDC's Jacob confirmed that he would take part in talks with Macron. RN's Le Pen and the leaders of two NUPES parties,
Olivier Faure Olivier Faure (French: �livie fɔʁ born 18 August 1968) is a French politician who has served as the First Secretary of the Socialist Party since 2018 and Member of the National Assembly for Seine-et-Marne's 11th constituency since 2012. He ...
(PS) and
Fabien Roussel Fabien Roussel (; born 16 April 1969) is a French politician who has served as national secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF) since 2018. He was elected to represent the 20th constituency of the Nord department in the National Assembl ...
(PCF), stated that they would take part in talks with Macron. LFI's Mélenchon confirmed that he would not take part in talks.


Parliamentary groups formation


Vote of no confidence

Shortly after the election, a vote of no confidence was tabled by the
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
NUPES The New Ecological and Social People's Union (french: Nouvelle Union populaire écologique et sociale, link=no, NUPES) is a left-wing alliance of political parties in France. Formed on May Day 2022, the alliance includes La France Insoumise (LFI) ...
coalition. It was rejected as only left-wing parliamentary groups supported the motion. Prime Minister Borne offered her resignation on 21 June 2022, but President Macron refused to accept it. Talks among the various parties to form a stable
majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...
began later on 21 June but rapidly failed. On 6 July, Borne presented her
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
policy plan to the Parliament."Discours de politique générale sans vote de confiance : comment Elisabeth Borne prépare son baptême du feu"
''Le Parisien'' (in French), 4 July 2022.


See also

*
Elections in France France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with a bicameral legislature. Public officials in the legislative and executive branches are either elected by the citizens ( directly or indirectly) or appointed by elected officials. Referendum ...


Notes


References

{{2022 French legislative election 2022 elections in France June 2022 events in France
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
June 2022 events in Europe Legislative elections in France