A French legislative election took place on 25 May and 1 June 1997 to elect the 11th
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 repre ...
of the
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic (french: Cinquième République) is France's current republic, republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of France, Constitution of the Fifth Republic.. ...
. It was the consequence of President
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
's decision to call the legislative election one year before the deadline.
In March 1993, the right won a large victory in
the legislative election and a comfortable parliamentary majority. Two years later, the
RPR leader Jacques Chirac was elected
President of France
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
promising to reduce the "social fracture". However, the programme of welfare reforms ("Plan Juppé") proposed by his Prime Minister
Alain Juppé
Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the coun ...
caused a social crisis in November and December 1995. The popularity of the executive duo decreased.
In spring 1997, President Chirac tried to take the left-wing opposition by surprise by dissolving the National Assembly. The first opinion polls indicated a re-election of the right-wing majority. The "
Plural Left
The Gauche Plurielle (French for ''Plural Left'') was a left-wing coalition in France, composed of the Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS), the French Communist Party (''Parti communiste français'' or PCF), the Greens, the Left Radi ...
" coalition, composed of the
Socialists
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 eco ...
, the
Communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...
, the
Greens, the
Citizens' Movement, and the
Left Radicals, proposed a program of social reforms to reduce unemployment and legislation to limit the length of the work week to 35 hours. Prime Minister Juppé's unpopularity, as well as the unpopularity of his government's policies, contributed to the left's triumph.
In the first round, the left-wing coalition obtained more votes than the incumbent parliamentary majority. After he was blamed for the situation, Juppé announced he would resign even if the right kept their majority in the runoff vote. For all that, the "Plural left" obtained the majority of the seats; however the Socialists needed its allies to form a majority. For the first time, the ecologists were represented in the Parliament. The participation of the
National Front's candidates in the second round increased the defeat of the presidential majority.
This was the first time since
1877 that a
President of France
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
lost a legislative election that he had called. The Socialist leader
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.
Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...
became Prime Minister of the third
cohabitation
Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...
. It finished with the
2002 French presidential election
Presidential elections were held in France on 21 April 2002, with a runoff election between the top two candidates, incumbent Jacques Chirac of the Rally for the Republic and Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front, on 5 May. This presidential ...
, which Jospin unexpectedly lost in the first round, causing his retirement from politics.
Results
![1997 French National Assembly](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/1997_French_National_Assembly.svg)
, -
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" rowspan=2 colspan=3 , Parties and coalitions
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan=2 , 1st round
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan=2 , 2nd round
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" rowspan=2, Total seats
, -
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , %
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , %
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" ,
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 ...
, style="text-align:right;" , PS
, style="text-align:right;" , 5,977,045
, style="text-align:right;" , 23.49
, style="text-align:right;" , 9,722,022
, style="text-align:right;" , 38.20
, style="text-align:right;" , 255
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" ,
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 Unit ...
, style="text-align:right;" , PCF
, style="text-align:right;" , 2,523,405
, style="text-align:right;" , 9.92
, style="text-align:right;" , 921,716
, style="text-align:right;" , 3.62
, style="text-align:right;" , 35
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" ,
The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to:
Current political parties
* Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens''
* Greens of Andorra
* Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Greens of Burkina
* Greens (Greece)
* Greens of Montenegro
*Greens of Serbia
*G ...
, style="text-align:right;" , LV
, style="text-align:right;" , 1,738,287
, style="text-align:right;" , 6.83
, style="text-align:right;" , 414,871
, style="text-align:right;" , 1.63
, style="text-align:right;" , 7
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" ,
Miscellaneous Left
Miscellaneous left (', ''DVG'') in France refers to left-wing candidates who are not members of any party or a member of party that has no elected seats. They include either small left-wing parties or dissidents expelled from their parties for run ...
, style="text-align:right;" , DVG
, style="text-align:right;" , 713,082
, style="text-align:right;" , 2.80
, style="text-align:right;" , 543,789
, style="text-align:right;" , 2.14
, style="text-align:right;" , 4
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" ,
Radical-Socialist Party
, style="text-align:right;" , PRS
, style="text-align:right;" , 389,782
, style="text-align:right;" , 1.53
, style="text-align:right;" , 558,959
, style="text-align:right;" , 2.20
, style="text-align:right;" , 12
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" ,
Citizens' Movement
, style="text-align:right;" , MDC
, style="text-align:right;" , 263,490
, style="text-align:right;" , 1.04
, style="text-align:right;" , ''see DVG''
, style="text-align:right;" , ''see DVG''
, style="text-align:right;" , 7
, - style="background-color:pink"
, style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Total "Plural Left"
,
, style="text-align:right;" , 11,605,091
, style="text-align:right;" , 45.61
, style="text-align:right;" , 12,161,357
, style="text-align:right;" , 47.79
, style="text-align:right;" , 320
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" ,
Rally for the Republic
The Rally for the Republic (french: Rassemblement pour la République ; 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 a ...
, style="text-align:right;" , RPR
, style="text-align:right;" , 3,983,257
, style="text-align:right;" , 15.65
, style="text-align:right;" , 5,714,354
, style="text-align:right;" , 22.46
, style="text-align:right;" , 139
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" ,
Union for French Democracy
The Union for French Democracy (french: Union pour la démocratie française, UDF) was a centre to centre-right political party in France. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to c ...
, style="text-align:right;" , UDF
, style="text-align:right;" , 3,617,440
, style="text-align:right;" , 14.22
, style="text-align:right;" , 5,284,203
, style="text-align:right;" , 20.07
, style="text-align:right;" , 112
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" ,
Miscellaneous Right
Miscellaneous right (', ''DVD'') in France refers to right-wing candidates who are not members of any large party. This can include members of small right-wing parties, dissidents expelled from their party for running against their party's candida ...
, style="text-align:right;" , DVD
, style="text-align:right;" , 1,073,014
, style="text-align:right;" , 4.22
, style="text-align:right;" , 594,862
, style="text-align:right;" , 2.34
, style="text-align:right;" , 0
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" ,
The Independent Right
, style="text-align:right;" , LDI
, style="text-align:right;" , 606,355
, style="text-align:right;" , 2.38
, style="text-align:right;" , ''see DVD''
, style="text-align:right;" , ''see DVD''
, style="text-align:right;" , 2
, - style="background-color:lightblue"
, style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Total "
Presidential Majority" (Right)
,
, style="text-align:right;" , 9,280,066
, style="text-align:right;" , 36.50
, style="text-align:right;" , 11,593,419
, style="text-align:right;" , 46.02
, style="text-align:right;" , 253
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" ,
National Front
, style="text-align:right;" , FN
, style="text-align:right;" , 3,800,785
, style="text-align:right;" , 14.94
, style="text-align:right;" , 1,434,854
, style="text-align:right;" , 5.64
, style="text-align:right;" , 1
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" , Far-Left
,
, style="text-align:right;" , 644,051
, style="text-align:right;" , 2.53
, style="text-align:right;" , -
, style="text-align:right;" , -
, style="text-align:right;" , 0
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" , Miscellaneous
,
, style="text-align:right;" , 354,249
, style="text-align:right;" , 1.39
, style="text-align:right;" , ?
, style="text-align:right;" , ?
, style="text-align:right;" , 3
, -
, style="background-color:;" ,
, style="text-align:left;" , Others
Far-Right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
,
, style="text-align:right;" , 26,759
, style="text-align:right;" , 0.11
, style="text-align:right;" , -
, style="text-align:right;" , -
, style="text-align:right;" , 0
, -
,
, style="text-align:left;" , Total
,
, style="text-align:right;" , 25,423,790
, style="text-align:right;" , 100.00
, style="text-align:right;" , 25,189,630
, style="text-align:right;" , 100.00
, style="text-align:right;" , 577
, -
, style="text-align:left;" colspan=8 , Abstention: 32.09% (1st round); 28.48% (2nd round)
11th Assembly by Parliamentary Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:French Legislative Election, 1997
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
1997 elections in France
May 1997 events in Europe
June 1997 events in Europe