Indirect Senate elections were held for 114 of the 343 seats in the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

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 ...

on 21 September 2008. With this election, the number of senators was increased from 331 to 343; Saint Barthélemy and

Saint Martin Saint Martin may refer to: People * Saint Martin of Tours (c. 316–397), Bishop of Tours, France * Saint Martin of Braga (c. 520–580), archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga in Portugal) * Pope Martin I (598–655) * Saint Mart ...

elected two senators each for the first time. Furthermore, this election was the last to be held under the old system: prior to this election, senators were elected in three classes for nine-year terms. Under the new system instituted in 2011, senators are elected for six-year terms in two classes.

New seats

Twelve new seats were filled in this election. They were divided in the following way: 1 new Senator each for the

Ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

, Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, Eure-et-Loir, Haute-Garonne,

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...

, Hérault, and Guyane ''départements'' and one in

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

. The election marked the first time that French Polynesia had two seats in the Senate instead of just one. The

President of French Polynesia , flag = , flagsize = , flagcaption = , insignia = Coat of arms of French Polynesia.svg , insigniasize = , insigniacaption = Coat of arms of French P ...

Gaston Tong Sang and another member of his coalition, Béatrice Vernaudon, a former member of the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

who lost her seat in June 2007, contested the seats. Former French Polynesian President

Gaston Flosse Gaston Flosse (born 24 June 1931) is a French politician who has been President of French Polynesia on five separate occasions. He is currently a member of the Senate of France and has been a French junior minister under Jacques Chirac. He receiv ...

ran for his Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party and teamed up with Richard Tuheiava, a member of the pro-independence party

Union for Democracy Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** Union ...

System

Electoral college

For the 114 seats up for election, the electoral college was composed of 50,720 elected officials (49,602 in metropolitan France). Of these, 48,453 were local councillors, 178 were

MPs MPS, M.P.S., MPs, or mps may refer to: Science and technology * Mucopolysaccharidosis, genetic lysosomal storage disorder * Mononuclear phagocyte system, cells in mammalian biology * Myofascial pain syndrome * Metallopanstimulin * Potassium perox ...

, 765 were regional councillors and 1,504 were general councillors.

Election

*Departments with 1 to 3 senators: Two-round system, using the same system as legislative elections. *Departments with 4 or more senators: Proportional representation, highest averages method, no Panachage or preferential voting.

Result

, - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" colspan=2 , Parties and coalitions ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Abbr. ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , ''a'' ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , 2008 ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , ± ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , ± , - , - , style="background-color:#0233D2", , style="text-align:left;" , Union for a Popular Movement (''Union pour un mouvement populaire'') , style="text-align:right;" , UMP , style="text-align:right;" , 159 , style="text-align:right;" , 56 , style="text-align:right;" , 151 , style="text-align:right;" , –8 , style="text-align:right;" , 132 , style="text-align:right;" , –19 , - , style="background-color:#4AAAFF", , style="text-align:left;" , Centrist Union-UDF (''Union centriste–Union pour la démocratie française'') , style="text-align:right;" , UC-UDF , style="text-align:right;" , 30 , style="text-align:right;" , 4 , style="text-align:right;" , 29 , style="text-align:right;" , –1 , style="text-align:right;" , 31 , style="text-align:right;" , +2 , - , style="background-color:#E75480", , style="text-align:left;" , Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'') , style="text-align:right;" , PS , style="text-align:right;" , 95 , style="text-align:right;" , 29 , style="text-align:right;" , 116 , style="text-align:right;" , +21 , style="text-align:right;" , 131 , style="text-align:right;" , +15 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Communist 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 s ...

, Republican and Citizen (''Communiste, républicain, et citoyen'') , style="text-align:right;" , CRC , style="text-align:right;" , 23 , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , style="text-align:right;" , 23 , style="text-align:right;" , +0 , style="text-align:right;" , 21 , style="text-align:right;" , –2 , - , style="background-color:#00c000;" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Europe Écologie–The Greens Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

(''Europe Écologie–Les Verts'') , style="text-align:right;" , VEC , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;" , +0 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , style="text-align:right;" , +0 , style="text-align:right;" , 10 , style="text-align:right;" , +10 , - , style="background-color:#7D05B1", , style="text-align:left;" , European Democratic and Social Rally (''Rassemblement démocratique et social européen'') , style="text-align:right;" , RDSE , style="text-align:right;" , 17 , style="text-align:right;" , 8 , style="text-align:right;" , 17 , style="text-align:right;" , +0 , style="text-align:right;" , 16 , style="text-align:right;" , –1 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Total UMP, UC-UDF and one RDSE (Right) , , style="text-align:right;" , 189 , style="text-align:right;" , 60 , style="text-align:right;" , 180 , style="text-align:right;" , –9 , style="text-align:right;" , 164 , style="text-align:right;" , –16 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Total "Presidential Majority" PS, CRC, VEC and all but one RDSE (Left) , , style="text-align:right;" , 118 , style="text-align:right;" , 32 , style="text-align:right;" , 139 , style="text-align:right;" , +21 , style="text-align:right;" , 177 , style="text-align:right;" , +38 , - , style="background-color:GRAY", , style="text-align:left;" , Non-Inscrits , style="text-align:right;" , NI , style="text-align:right;" , 6 , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;" , 7 , style="text-align:right;" , +1 , style="text-align:right;" , 7 , style="text-align:right;" , +0 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Total , , style="text-align:right;" , 331 , style="text-align:right;" , 114 , style="text-align:right;" , 343 , style="text-align:right;" , +12 , style="text-align:right;" , 348 , style="text-align:right;" , +5 , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=9 , ''a'' - Seats up for election (Serie A)
Source: Public Senat

References

{{French Senate

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...