The Left Party (French: ', PG) is a

democratic-socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, founded in 2009 by

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 Natio ...

and

Marc Dolez Marc Dolez (born , in Douai, Nord) is French politician. He represented the Nord's 17th constituency from 1988 to 1993, and again from 1997 to 2017. A former member of the Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different poli ...

after their departure from the Socialist Party (PS). The PG brings together personalities and groups from different political traditions; it claims a socialist, ecologist and republican orientation. Politically located between the Socialist Party 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 Un ...

, the Left Party intends to federate all the sensitivities of the anti- liberal left—which they also calls "the other left"—within the same alliance. In 2008, the PG joined forces with the Communist Party of the United Left and six other left-wing and far-left organizations in the coalition of the Left Front, of which

was the candidate for the presidential election. The PG was co-chaired from 2010 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Martine Billard. In 2016, the Left Party had 8,000 members. At the end of 2014, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Martine Billard resigned, and the party leadership was then collectively ensured by the national secretariat. The weekly newspaper, ''L'Intérêt général'' (formerly ''À gauche'') is sent to all members but also to simple subscribers. It is printed at more than 15,000 copies a week. In 2016, in view of the presidential and legislative elections of the following year, Jean-Luc Mélenchon formed a new movement, La France Insoumise, that the Left Party helped to animate.

History

A Manifestation of the Left Party (France)

It was founded in November 2008 by former

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

senator

, deputy

, and other dissidents of the party together with the ' movement (', "Movement for a Republican and Social Alternative"). They had left the five days earlier, in protest of the result of the

Reims Congress The Reims Congress was the twenty-second national congress of the French Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS), taking place from 14 to 16 November 2008 in the city of Reims in the Marne. Incumbent First Secretary François Hollande announc ...

vote on motions, where the leftist motion they supported won only 19%. They were joined after by other members from the left of the Socialist Party, by people who hadn't been members of a political party before, and by dissidents from the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...

following the deputy

Martine Billard Martine Billard (born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French politician and a deputy to the National Assembly of France. She is a member of the Parti de Gauche. Martine Billard entered politics in May 1968 with the "comité d'a ...

. In 2010 the PG was accepted in the

Party of European Left The Party of the European Left (PEL), commonly abbreviated European Left, is a European political party that operates as an association of democratic socialist and communist political parties in the European Union and other European countries. ...

. In November 2013, the joined the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Co-presidents and co-founders Mélenchon and stepped down from office in 2014. Since its 2015 congress, the party is led by its coordinators and spokespersons Eric Coquerel and Danielle Simonnet. On 2 July 2018 the party withdrew from the Party of European Left, not agreeing with the presence of the Greek party

Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...

in the alliance.

Elected officials

* Member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adop ...

Around 90 local elected officials (municipal, regional and general councillors), including two members of the Council of Paris, initially joined the party. This number has dropped since then.

Popular support and electoral record

The PG has not yet run independently in an election, so its base of support is hard to pin-point.

European Parliament

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2008 establishments in France Alter-globalization Democratic socialist parties in Europe Eurosceptic parties in France La France Insoumise Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Parties represented in the European Parliament Party of the European Left former member parties Political parties established in 2008 Political parties of the French Fifth Republic Socialist parties in France Jean-Luc Mélenchon