The Republican Party (french: Parti républicain, PR) was a conservative-liberal political party in France founded in 1977. It replaced the National Federation of the

Independent Republicans The Independent Republicans (french: Républicains Indépendants, RI) were a liberal-conservative political group in France founded in 1962, which became a political party in 1966 known as the National Federation of the Independent Republicans ...

that was founded in 1966. It was created by the then-

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 ...

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

. It was known to be conservative in domestic, social and economic policies, pro-

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

, 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''. Polit ...

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

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 ...

(UDF), a confederation created in order to support President Giscard d'Estaing and counterbalance the influence of the Gaullist Rally for the Republic (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 François Gerard Marie Léotard (; born 26 March 1942, in Cannes) is a retired French politician. Singer and actor Philippe Léotard (1940–2001) was his brother. Member of the Republican Party, the liberal-conservative component of the ...

, 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's candidacy in the 1988 presidential election, against the official UDF candidate

Raymond Barre Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (; 12 April 192425 August 2007) was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents (Rey, ...

. During the 1995 presidential campaign, the PR divided again between the two main centre-right candidates:

and

Gérard Longuet Gérard Longuet (; born 24 February 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French conservative politician who has served as a member of the Senate from 2001 to 2011 and again since 2012, representing Meuse. He served as Minister of ...

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. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. Howeve ...

supported Jacques Chirac, 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 liberali ...

. In 1997, it was replaced by

Liberal Democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...

(DL) led by

Presidents

Independent Republicans

(1966–74) *

Michel Poniatowski Michel Poniatowski (16 May 1922 – 15 January 2002) was a French politician, member of a legitimized line of Poland's princely Poniatowski family. He was a founder of the Independent Republicans and a part of the administration for President ...

(1975–77)

Republican Party

* Jean-Pierre Soisson (1977–88) *

(1988–90) *

(1990–95) *

(1995–97) *

(1997)

References

Defunct political parties in France Political parties of the French Fifth Republic Defunct liberal political parties Conservative liberal 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