Regional elections were held in France on 15 March 1998. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 '' regions'', which, though they don't have legislative autonomy, manage sizeable budgets. The parliamentary right, led by the conservative Gaullist

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 ...

and the centre-right Union for French Democracy won the presidency of 15 of the 26 regions, the rest were won by the

French Socialist Party The Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste , PS) is a French centre-left and social-democratic political party. It holds pro-European views. The PS was for decades the largest party of the "French Left" and used to be one of the two major p ...

and its allies (Communists, Greens, Radicals). The far-right National Front obtained good results, increasing its number of seats. The far-left and Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition also won seats on various regional councils. The election was held using a one-round proportional system (with a 5% threshold), later abolished for the 2004 elections.

Presidents of the Regional Council

* Alsace: Adrien Zeller (UDF- FD, UMP) * Aquitaine :

Alain Rousset Alain Rousset (born 16 February 1951) is the Socialist president of the Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region o ...

(PS) * Auvergne : Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (UDF, UMP) *

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

Jean-Pierre Soisson Jean-Pierre Soisson (born 9 November 1934) is a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement. He was a deputy in the National Assembly of France for the first district of Yonne for several terms between 1968 and 2012; mayor of Auxerre ...

(MDR-UDF, UMP) FN support * Brittany : Josselin de Rohan (RPR, UMP) * Champagne-Ardenne : Jean-Claude Étienne (RPR, UMP) * Corse :

José Rossi José Rossi (born June 18, 1944 in Ajaccio) is French politician, who served as the Corsican Assembly, President of the Corsican Assembly from 1998 to 2004. References

Living people 1944 births French politicians {{Corsica-politician-s ...

(RPR, UMP) *

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

Jean-François Humbert Jean-François Humbert (born 17 October 1952) is a French politician and a member of the Senate of France. He represents the Doubs department and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement Party. In the 2004 Franche-Comté regional election ...

(UDF-PPDF, UMP) *

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

: Lucette Michaux-Chevry (RPR, UMP) * Guyane :

Antoine Karam Antoine Karam (born 21 February 1950, in Cayenne) served as the President of the Regional Council (''Conseil régional'') of French Guiana, a '' région d'outre-mer'' of France, from 1992 to 2010. Karam was born to a Lebanese father and a ...

(PSG) * Île-de-France :

Jean-Paul Huchon Jean-Paul Huchon (; born 29 July 1946) is a French retired civil servant and politician who served as Mayor of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine from 1994 to 2001 and President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France from 1998 until 2015. Biography ...

(PS) * Languedoc-Roussillon : Jacques Blanc (DL, UMP) FN support * Limousin : Robert Savy (PS) * Lorraine :

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 ...

(RPR, UMP) * Martinique :

Alfred Marie-Jeanne Alfred Marie-Jeanne (; born November 15, 1936 in Rivière-Pilote, Martinique) is a French politician, a leader in the Martinican Independence Movement (MIM) since 1978. He served as mayor of the commune of Rivière-Pilote from 1971 to 2000 and s ...

(MIM) * Midi-Pyrénées :

Martin Malvy Martin Malvy (born 24 February 1936) is a French politician. He is a member of the Socialist Party. In 1992, he was the spokesmen of the French government. Between 1992 and 1993, he was Minister of Budget. He is president of the Région Midi-Pyr ...

(PS) *

Nord-Pas de Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-C ...

Michel Delebarre Michel Delebarre (27 April 1946 – 9 April 2022) was a French politician who was a member of the Senate of France. He represented the Nord department, and was a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche. He was also mayor of ...

(PS) * Lower Normandy :

René Garrec René Garrec (born 24 December 1934) is a former member of the Senate of France, and was representing the Calvados department as a member of The Republicans. ReferencesPage on the Senate website 1934 births Living people French people ...

(DL, UMP) * Upper Normandy :

Alain Le Vern Alain Le Vern (born 8 May 1948) is a French politician. He served as a member of the French Senate and the president of the Upper Normandy region between 1998 and 2013. He is also the inaugural President of the transnational Arc Manche Assembl ...

(PS) *

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

: François Fillon (RPR, UMP) *

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

: Charles Baur (UDF-FD, DVD, UMP) FN support * Poitou-Charentes :

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 ...

(UDF-DL, DL, UMP) replaced by Elisabeth Morin (UMP) CPNT support * Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur : Michel Vauzelle (PS) *

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

Paul Vergès Paul Vergès (5 March 1925 – 11/12 November 2016) was a Réunionese politician. Born in Ubon Ratchathani, Siam to a French diplomat father and Vietnamese mother. Vergès founded the Communist Party of Réunion in 1960, a party which he led unt ...

(PCR) * Rhône-Alpes : Charles Millon (UDF-DL, DLC) replaced by Anne-Marie Comparini (UDF)

External links

Election-Politique Regional Elections since 1986 (in french)
{{French local elections

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

1998 elections in France