The fifth French legislative constituency for citizens abroad (''cinquième circonscription des Français établis hors de France'') is one of eleven constituencies each electing one representative of French citizens abroad to the French

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 repr ...

. This constituency elected its first ever representative at the

2012 French legislative election Legislative elections were held in France on 10 and 17 June 2012 (and on other dates for small numbers of voters outside metropolitan France) to select the members of the 14th National Assembly of France, National Assembly of the Fifth French R ...

- Arnaud Leroy 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 ...

. The election of Samantha Cazebonne of

LREM Renaissance (RE) is a political party in France that is typically described as liberal and centrist or centre-right. The party was originally known as (EM) and later (, LREM, LaREM or REM), before adopting its current name in September 2022 ...

in 2017 was invalidated by the Constitutional Council. Cazebonne was elected at the subsequent by-election.

Area

This constituency covers four countries:

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

and

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. As of New Year's Day 2011, it contained 116,196 registered French voters. The bulk of these, 89,391, were living in Spain, while 15,049 were living in Portugal, 8,302 in Monaco (a

microstate A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state having a very small population or land area, usually both. However, the meanings of "state" and "very small" are not well-defined in international law. Some recent attempts to define microstates ...

which has a border only with France), and 3,454 in Andorra (a microstate, between Spain and France, of which the

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...

is ''ex officio'' Co-Prince).

Deputies

Election results

2024

2022

, - , colspan="8" bgcolor="#E9E9E9", , - *

dissident

2018 by-election

2017

2012

Candidates

The list of candidates was officially finalised on 14 May. There were thirteen candidates:Candidates for the fifth constituency
, in ''Le Petit Journal'' The

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

initially chose Minister of Industry

Éric Besson Éric Besson (born 2 April 1958 in Marrakesh) is a French politician and businessman. From 2009 to 2010, he was the Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development in the government of François Fillon. He left the Soc ...

as its candidate. A former

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

MP, Besson joined the UMP in 2007 and was appointed to President

Nicolas 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. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

's government. In December 2011, however, the party announced that Laurence Sailliet, its national secretary for the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, would be its candidate. Francis Huss was her deputy (''suppléant''). The

chose Arnaud Leroy, a resident of

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. He worked for the

European Maritime Safety Agency The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) is a European Union agency charged with reducing the risk of maritime accidents, marine pollution from ships and the loss of human lives at sea by helping to enforce the pertinent EU legislation. It is ...

, as an expert on environmental protection and

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. Formerly a member of

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *The Greens – The Green Alternative, Austria *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * The Greens (Benin) *The Greens (Bulgaria) * Greens of Bosnia and He ...

, he joined the Socialist Party, stating that

political ecology Political ecology is the study of the relationships between political, economic and social factors with environmental issues and changes. Political ecology differs from apolitical ecological studies by politicizing environmental issues and pheno ...

should become a central issue in the renovation of

social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...

ideas. His deputy (''suppléante'') was Soledad Margareto, a resident of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. Juliette Estivil, originally from Spain and a member of the Left Party, was the chosen candidate of the Left Front, which also included the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

. She was a teacher of Spanish. Her deputy (''suppléant'') was Bruno Fialho.

Europe Écologie–The Greens The Ecologists – Europe Ecology The Greens (), commonly known as The Ecologists (, LE) and formerly as Europe Ecology The Greens ( , EELV ) until 2023, is a centre-left to left-wing green political party in France. The party is a member of th ...

chose

Carolina Punset Carolina Punset Bannel (born 5 January 1971) is a Spanish politician, lawyer and forensic handwriting expert. She served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2016 until 2019. Punset has a post-graduate certificate in international develop ...

, with Stéphane Etcheverry as her deputy (''suppléant''). A resident of

Altea Altea (, ) is a city and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain, on the section of Mediterranean coast called the Costa Blanca. At present, the economy of Altea is based on tourism, which started to grow in the 1950s because of ...

, in Spain, Punset was a municipal councillor in her home town. The National Front chose Alain Lavarde, with Jacques Struzynski as his deputy (''suppléant''). The centre-right Radical Party and the centrist Republican, Ecologist and Social Alliance jointly chose Richard Onses, a resident of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, as their candidate. He was also a member of the centre-right

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #13 ...

party

Convergence and Union Convergence and Union (, CiU; ) was a Catalan nationalist electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. It was a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller counterpart, the Democratic ...

. Guy-Michel Sembres was his deputy (''suppléant''). The

Radical Party of the Left The Radical Party of the Left (, PRG) is a social-liberal political party in France. A party in the Radical tradition, since 1972 the PRG has been a close ally of the major party of the centre-left in France, the Socialist Party (, PS). Af ...

chose Muriel Guenoux, with Stéphane Grandpierre as her deputy (''suppléant''). Jean-Bastien Urfels, a resident of Spain working as headmaster in a French school, was the candidate endorsed by

Arise the Republic Debout la France (, , DLF), originally called Debout la République (, , DLR), is a French political party founded by Nicolas Dupont-Aignan in 1999 as the "genuine Gaullist" branch of the Rally for the Republic. It was relaunched again in 2000 ...

. Norman Ledoux was his deputy (''suppléant'').

Solidarity and Progress Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

, the French branch of the

LaRouche movement The LaRouche movement is a political and cultural network promoting the late Lyndon LaRouche and his ideas. It has included many organizations and companies around the world, which campaign, gather information and publish books and periodicals. ...

, was represented by Sébastien Drochon, with Karim Bakouri as his deputy (''suppléant''). The

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

chose Sophie Levamis. A resident of

Hendaye Hendaye (; Basque: ''Hendaia'',HENDAIA
Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, she argued that expatriates should choose a candidate who lived in France and would thus be "independent from every country" in their constituency. Jan Laarman was her deputy (''suppléant'').

Prince Charles Philippe, Duke of Anjou A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fema ...

, grandson of Henri, Count of Paris (the

Orléanist Orléanist () was a 19th-century French political label originally used by those who supported a constitutional monarchy expressed by the House of Orléans. Due to the radical political changes that occurred during France in the long nineteenth ...

claimant to the throne of France until his death), stood (under the name Charles-Philippe d'Orléans) as an independent candidate, with the expressed hope of joining a "recomposed centre-right party" after the election. He was a resident of Portugal, and former resident of Spain. Sylvie Gourgeon was his deputy (''suppléante''). Bernard Soulier, an economist and resident of

, stood as an independent candidate. Pascale Lagneaux was his deputy (''suppléante''). Catherine N'Guyen Thi Minh was an independent candidate, with Michel Rioche as her deputy.

Results

As in other constituencies, turnout in the first round was low: 19.5% in Portugal, 20% in Monaco, 20.5% in Spain, and 22.1% in Andorra. The result was the closest of any of the eleven expatriate constituencies, with UMP candidate Laurence Sailliet taking a 1.33% lead (217 votes). She finished first in Andorra and Monaco, while her Socialist rival Arnaud Leroy was first in Spain and Portugal. (Leroy was only third in Monaco, behind National Front candidate Alain Lavarde.) Juliette Estivil obtained the Left Front's joint best result abroad (fourth with 8.61%), matched by Raquel Garrido in the first constituency.

Charles-Philippe d'Orléans Charles Philippe Marie Louis d'Orléans (born 3 March 1973) is a member of the House of Orléans. He is the elder of two sons of Prince Michel d'Orléans and his former wife Béatrice Pasquier de Franclieu. His paternal grandfather was Prince Henr ...

obtained only 3% of the vote overall, but did finish fourth in Portugal, his country of residence, with 7.37%, and fourth also in Monaco, with 5.33%.Official results of the first round
French Ministry for Foreign Affairs
''Le Nouvel Observateur'', 4 June 2012

References

{{French National Assembly constituencies 5