French legislative election, 1978

French legislative election, 1978

12 March and 19 March 1978

All 491 seats to the French National Assembly 246 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Jacques Chirac Jean Lecanuet Party RPR UDF Leader's seat Corrèze-3rd Seine-Maritime (Senator) Last election 183 seats (UDR) 119 seats (Reforming Movement, Centre, Democracy and Progress, and Independent Republicans) Seats won 150 121 Seat change 33 2 Popular vote 6,462,462 (1st round) 6,651,756 (2nd round) 6,128,849 (1st round) 3,489,363 (2nd round) Percentage 22.62% (1st round) 26.11% (2nd round) 21.45% (1st round) 23.18% (2nd round)   Third party Fourth party   Leader François Mitterrand Georges Marchais Party PS PCF Leader's seat Nièvre-3rd none Last election 102 seats 73 seats Seats won 104 86 Seat change 2 13 Popular vote 6,451,151 (1st round) 7,212,916 (2nd round) 5,870,402 (1st round) 4,744,868 (2nd round) Percentage 22.58% (1st round) 28.31% (2nd round) 20.55% (1st round) 18.62% (2nd round)

PM before election Raymond Barre UDF Elected PM Raymond Barre UDF

France
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of France
Republic Fifth Republic Constitution Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Executive President (list) François Hollande Prime Minister (list) Bernard Cazeneuve Government Cazeneuve Government
Legislature National Assembly President: Claude Bartolone Senate President: Gérard Larcher Congress of the French Parliament
Judiciary Constitutional Council Council of State Court of Cassation Court of Audit Cour de Justice de la République
Administrative divisions Regions Departments
Elections Presidential Legislative Municipal Political parties
Foreign relations Africa Americas Asia France and the United Nations Foreign alliances Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
Related topics Human rights Political scandals
France portal
Other countries Atlas

The French legislative elections took place on 12 March and 19 March 1978 to elect the sixth National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.

On 2 April 1974 President Georges Pompidou died. The non-Gaullist center-right leader Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was elected to succeed him. Because the Gaullist UDR was the largest party in the pro-Giscard majority in the Assembly, Giscard chose Jacques Chirac to lead the cabinet. This period was one of renovation for Gaullism.

The presidential will to "govern towards the center" and to promote a "modern liberal society" disconcerted the Gaullist party. The Abortion Act and the reduction of the age of majority to 18 years worried a part of the conservative electorate. Furthermore, a personal conflict opposed the two heads of the executive. In August 1976, Chirac resigned because he considered that he "(had) not the means to carry on (his) function of Prime Minister".

Three months later, the UDR was replaced by the Rally for the Republic (Rassemblement pour la République or RPR). This, Chirac's electoral machine, was officially a member of the Presidential Majority, but frequently criticized the liberal and pro-European policy of President Giscard d'Estaing and his new Prime minister Raymond Barre. The executive duo reacted by federating the non-Gaullist center-right in the Union for French Democracy (Union pour la démocratie française or UDF).

While the right-wing majority was divided, and the economic situation deteriorated, the "Union of Left" won the mid-term local elections. According to the polls, it was favourite to win the legislative election. In his Verdun-sur-le-Doubs speech, President Giscard d'Estaing warned the French voters that he could not prevent the enforcement of the left-wing Common programme if the "Union of Left" won. However, Socialists and Communists did not update their Common programme due to increasing tension between the two parties resulting from the PS gaining in electoral success at the PCF's expense.

Contrary to what polls indicated, the Presidential Majority won but it obtained only 2,284 votes more than the "Union of Left". For the first time since 1936, the Socialists obtained more votes than the Communists. Furthermore, the French electorate appeared evenly shared between four equivalent political parties (RPR, UDF, PS, PCF). Raymond Barre was confirmed as Prime Minister. Until the French legislative election, 2007, it was the last time that either the right or the left had won back-to-back legislative elections.

Results

^[1]

6th National Assembly by Parliamentary Group

Elections and referendums in France
Presidential	1848 1965 1969 1974 1981 1988 1995 2002 2007 2012 2017
Parliamentary	1791 1792 1795 1798 1815 1816 1817 1819 1820 1824 1827 1830 1831 1834 1837 1839 1842 1846 1848 1849 1852 1857 1863 1869 1871 1876 1877 1881 1885 1889 1893 1898 1902 1906 1910 1914 1919 1924 1928 1932 1936 1945 1946 (Jun) 1946 (Nov) 1951 1956 1958 1962 1967 1968 1973 1978 1981 1986 1988 1993 1997 2002 2007 2012 2017
Regional	1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2015
Departemental	1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1992 1994 1998 2001 2004 2008 2011 2015
Municipal	1959 1965 1971 1977 1983 1989 1995 2001 2008 2014
European	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014
Referendums	1793 1795 1800 1802 1804 1815 1851 1852 1870 1945 1946 (May) 1946 (Oct) 1958 1961 1962 (Jun) 1962 (Oct) 1969 1972 1988 1992 2000 2005
See also: Indirect presidential and Senate elections Elections in French Guiana French Polynesia Guadeloupe Martinique Mayotte New Caledonia Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Wallis and Futuna