Europe

France
Last reviewed: 10 July 2009

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POLITICS

Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP) was elected President on 6 May, with 53% of the second round vote, defeating Parti Socialiste candidate Ségolène Royal. He officially took office on 16 May, succeeding Jacques Chirac, and appointed François Fillon as Prime Minister and an interim Council of Ministers. In the following parliamentary elections on 10 and 17 June the UMP won an overall majority, and a full Government under Prime Minister Fillon was appointed. The victory was the first occasion since 1978 that the incumbent party had been re-elected. The UMP party finished with 313 seats, which with aligned Deputées leaves the UMP parliamentary group with 319 seats compared to 204 for the Socialists group. Before the election the UDF (centrist party) had split into two: François Bayrou’s MoDem won just 3 seats while the Nouveau Centre (NC), which broadly supports the UMP, picked up 23. A NC Deputé later switched to MoDem.

Senate elections took place on 21 September 2008, where 114 out of 343 Senators were up for re-election. Although the UMP retained their overall majority, they lost 8 seats, bringing their total number down to 151. The Socialist party gained 21, raising their total to 116. Meanwhile, the third largest party, the UDF, lost one seat, reducing their total to 29.