The Republicans group (french: groupe Les Républicains), formerly the Union for a Popular Movement group (french: groupe Union pour un mouvement populaire), is a

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamentar ...

in the

French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 34 ...

including representatives of The Republicans (LR), formerly the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Social ...

History

The Union for a Popular Movement group (''groupe Union pour un mouvement populaire'') in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

was officially formed on 10 December 2002 after the foundation of the

earlier that year; at the time of its creation, it included 167 members, an absolute majority, with

Josselin de Rohan Josselin Charles Louis Jean Marie de Rohan-Chabot, 14th Duke of Rohan, known as Josselin de Rohan (born 5 June 1938 in Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French politician. He is a former member of the Senate of France, representing the Morbihan depa ...

elected as its first president. The group united 93 out of 94 members of the

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 ...

(RPR) group, 40 out of 41 members of the Republicans and Independents (RI) group (associated with

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 diff ...

), 29 out of 54 members of the

Centrist Union The Centrist Union group (french: groupe Union centriste, abbreviated UC) is a centrist parliamentary group in the Senate uniting members of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) and Democratic Movement (MoDem), as well as the Centrist All ...

(UC) group, 4 out of 21 members of the

European Democratic and Social Rally The European Democratic and Social Rally group (french: groupe du Rassemblement démocratique et social européen, abbreviated RDSE), formerly the Democratic and European Rally group (french: groupe du Rassemblement démocratique et européen), is ...

(RDSE) group, and 1 non-inscrit. The group maintained its absolute majority until the 2004 renewal. On 15 January 2008, de Rohan stood down as president of the group to assume the role of president of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces Committee, and was succeeded the same day by the former member of the Radical Party Henri de Raincourt. De Raincourt subsequently stepped down on 6 July 2009, ahead of his appointment to the government, with

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 Def ...

elected unopposed as his successor on 7 July, his only opponent –

Eric Doligé The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

– having withdrawn his candidacy before the vote. On 7 March 2011, Longuet departed from the presidency of the group after his appointment as Minister of Defense within the government, with

Jean-Claude Gaudin Jean-Claude Gaudin (; born 8 October 1939) is a French politician for The Republicans. He served as the Mayor of Marseille from 1995 to 2020. He was a member of the National Assembly of France from Bouches-du-Rhône from 1978 to 1989 and has be ...

taking his place on 8 March uncontested; though

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 ...

envisaged the possibility of presenting his candidature, he ultimately supported Gaudin for the post. The UMP group lost its relative majority in the 2011 renewal, after which the left took control of the upper chamber for the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic. Though Gaudin remained in the Senate after the 2014 renewal, he did not wish to seek the presidency of the group, leaving it to an open contest instead. On 2 October,

Bruno Retailleau Bruno Daniel Marie Paul Retailleau (; born 20 November 1960) is a French politician who has presided over The Republicans group in the Senate since 2014. He has represented the Vendée department in the Senate since 2004. Retailleau also served a ...

, a supporter of

François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

in the disputed 2012 leadership election, was elected president of the group with 79 votes against Sarkozyist

Roger Karoutchi Roger Karoutchi (born 26 August 1951) is a French teacher and politician who has been serving as the first Vice President of the Senate since 2020. He previously served as the French Ambassador to the OECD'Karoutchi ambassadeur auprès de l'OCD ...

with 39 votes and Longuet with 25. On 2 June 2015, the group was renamed to The Republicans group (''groupe Les Républicains'') following the founding congress of the renamed party. In the

2020 French Senate election Senatorial elections were held on 27 September 2020 to pick 172 of the 348 seats in the Senate of the French Fifth Republic. The elections were a modest victory for the centre-right Republicans. The environmentalist Europe Ecology – The Gree ...

the

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

held their majority.

List of presidents

Historical membership

Founding members

The UMP group was founded on 10 December 2002 with 167 members, including 93 out of 94 members of the

(RPR) group, 40 out of 41 members of the Republicans and Independents (RI) group (associated with

), 29 out of 54 members of the

(UC) group, 4 out of 21 members of the

(RDSE) group, and 1 non-inscrit.

References

External links