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 rep ...

of the

French Fifth Republic The Fifth Republic (french: Cinquième République) is France's current republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic.. The Fifth Republic emerged from ...

. 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 ...

'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 is ...

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 (France), The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced 1995 strikes ...

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" 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 e ...

, 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 ...

, the

Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...

, 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 Events January–March * January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed ''Empress of India'' by the ''Royal Titles Act 1876'', introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . * January 8 – Great Sio ...

that a

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 Romance (love), romantic or Human sexuality, sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such a ...

. 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

, - ! 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 t ...

, 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 Un ...

, 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 , 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 ru ...

, 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 , 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 ...

, 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 Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically suppor ...

, 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 The Movement for France (french: Mouvement pour la France, MPF; ) was a conservative, soft Eurosceptic and Gaullist French political party, founded on 20 November 1994, with a marked regional stronghold in the Vendée. It was led by Philipp ...

, 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 In French politics, the presidential majority ( ''French'': ''majorité présidentielle'') designates the political parties and parliamentary groups in the Parliament of France which support the action of the President of France when they are in ...

" (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 bein ...

, , 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 ...

1997 elections in France May 1997 events in Europe June 1997 events in Europe