The Republican Party (, , PR) was a

liberal-conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

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

in France which existed from 1977 to 1997. Created by the then-

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 ...

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...

, it replaced the National Federation of the Independent Republicans which was founded in 1966. It was known to be conservative in domestic, social and economic policies, pro-

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, pro- G7, and

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...

. In 1978, the Republican Party allied with centrist groups to form the

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy ( ; UDF) was a centre-right political party in France. The UDF was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over ...

(UDF), a confederation created in order to support President Giscard d'Estaing and counterbalance the influence of the Gaullist

Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic ( ; RPR ) was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaul ...

(RPR) over the French centre-right. However, after Giscard d'Estaing's defeat at the 1981 presidential election, the PR gravitated away from its founder and a new generation of politicians, led by François Léotard, took the lead. This group called ''la bande à Léo'' ("Léo(tard)'s band"), advocated an alliance with the RPR and covertly supported RPR leader

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

's candidacy in the 1988 presidential election, against the official UDF candidate Raymond Barre. During the 1995 presidential campaign, the PR divided again between the two main centre-right candidates: François Léotard and Gérard Longuet supported Edouard Balladur while

Alain Madelin Alain Madelin (; born 26 March 1946) is a French politician. Politician Madelin was minister of Industry in Prime Minister Jacques Chirac's cabinet from 1986 to 1988, a minister of Business in Prime Minister Édouard Balladur's cabinet f ...

and

Jean-Pierre Raffarin Jean-Pierre Raffarin (; born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005 under President Jacques Chirac. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Un ...

supported

, who won. Until the split of the UDF confederation in 1998, the Republican Party was its liberal component, advocating

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

. In 1997, it was replaced by

Liberal Democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

(DL) led by

Presidents

Independent Republicans

(1966–74) * Michel Poniatowski (1975–77)

Republican Party

* Jean-Pierre Soisson (1977–88) * François Léotard (1988–90) * Gérard Longuet (1990–95) * François Léotard (1995–97) *

(1997)

References

Defunct political parties in France Political parties of the French Fifth Republic Defunct conservative parties Liberal conservative parties Right-wing parties in France Political parties established in 1977 Political parties disestablished in 1997 1977 establishments in France 1997 disestablishments in France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing {{France-party-stub