President of the General Council of Corrèze and former

First Secretary of the French Socialist Party First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

launched his campaign in March 2011 to become the

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and

Radical Left Party The Radical Party of the Left (, PRG) is a social-liberal political party in France. A party in the Radical tradition, since 1972 the PRG has been a close ally of the major party of the centre-left in France, the Socialist Party (, PS). After ...

candidate for the

2012 French presidential election Presidential elections in France, Presidential elections were held in France on 22 April 2012 (or 21 April in some overseas departments and territories), with a second round Two-round system, run-off held on 6 May (or 5 May for those same territ ...

and announced that he would be contesting the presidential primary. Hollande made the announcement that he was running for President following his

re-election The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be a ...

as a department executive. On 16 October 2011 he won the Socialist and Radical Left Party nomination with more than 56% of the votes over First Secretary

Martine Aubry Martine Louise Marie Aubry (; née Delors; born 8 August 1950) is a French politician. She was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (''Parti Socialiste'', or PS) from November 2008 to April 2012, and has been the Mayor (France), M ...

, following a long campaign. On 22 April he topped the ballot in the first round of voting in the presidential election, and on 6 May he defeated the incumbent

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

in the second round run-off, becoming the new

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...

History

2007 nomination

As the First Secretary of the Socialist Party François Hollande first openly considered running for the

2007 presidential election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto list of sovereign states, sovereign states and their list of dependent territories, dependent territories. Referendums are included ...

. Capitalizing on her popularity

Ségolène Royal Ségolène Royal (; born Marie-Ségolène Royal; 22 September 1953) is a French politician who took part in the 2007 French presidential election, losing to Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round. She was the first woman in France's history to r ...

, his partner of 30 years and the mother of their four children was to take him the nomination. They had separated in 2006 and announced it publicly after the 2007 election.

Resignation as leader of the Socialist Party

Following Ségolène Royal's loss in the 2007 presidential election the defeat of the Socialists in the following

legislative elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

put the Socialist Party in disarray. Hollande announced that he would not seek another term as First Secretary of the party. He publicly declared his support for

Bertrand Delanoë Bertrand Delanoë (; born 30 May 1950) is a French retired politician who served as Mayor of Paris from 2001 to 2014. A member of the Socialist Party (PS), he previously served in the National Assembly from 1981 to 1986 and in the Senate from 19 ...

, the Mayor of Paris, although it was

who would go on to win the race to succeed him in 2008.

Early stages

Hollande began his pre campaign in

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

on 27 June 2009. Without personal announcement it was the first of many speech where he would polish his image as a credible alternative to both Nicolas Sarkozy and the others socialist front figures, mainly

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (; born 25 April 1949), also known as DSK, is a French economist and politician who served as the tenth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and was a member of the French Socialist P ...

, Martine Aubry and Ségolène Royal.

Announcement

François Hollande announced on 31 March 2011 that he will run for his party's nomination in the 2012 presidential race.

Primary

In Socialist primary, Hollande won 39.17 percent of the votes followed by

, the party’s current leader who secured 30.42 percent. He won run-off stage of the primary with a 56.57% score over first secretary who received 43.43% of votes.

Headquarters

The campaign is based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 7th arrondissement. The building of 1,000 square meters is leased 40,000 euros per month.

Political platform

* Regarding

foreign policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

, he supports the withdrawal of French troops present in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

by the end of 2012. * In terms of

European politics The politics of Europe deals with the continually evolving politics within the continent of Europe. It is a topic far more detailed than other continents due to a number of factors including the long history of nation states in the region as ...

, he aims to conclude a new contract of Franco-German partnership and he advocates the adoption of a Directive on the protection of public services. Proposes closer Franco-German partnership: "an acceleration of the establishment of a Franco-German civic service, the creation of a Franco-German research office, the creation of a Franco-German industrial fund to finance common competitiveness clusters (transport, energy or environment) and the establishment of a common military headquarters." * With regard to the

financial system A financial system is a system that allows the exchange of funds between financial market participants such as lenders, investors, and borrowers. Financial systems operate at national and global levels. Financial institutions consist of comple ...

, he backs the creation of a European

rating agency A credit rating agency (CRA, also called a ratings service) is a company that assigns credit ratings, which rate a debtor's ability to pay back debt by making timely principal and interest payments and the likelihood of default. An agency may ra ...

, the separation of lending and investment in banks, and the implementation of the

Robin Hood tax The Robin Hood tax is a package of financial transaction taxes (FTT) proposed by a campaigning group of civil society non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Campaigners have suggested the tax could be implemented globally, regionally, or unil ...

. * Concerning energy, he endorses reducing the share of

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

in electricity generation from 75 to 50% in favor of

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

sources. * Regarding taxation, he supports the merger of

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

and the General Social Contribution (CSG), the creation of an additional 45% for additional income of 150 000 euros, capping tax loopholes at a maximum of €10,000 per year, and questioning the relief ISF measure that should bring €29 billion in additional revenue. * On the integration of young people, the recruitment of 60 000 teachers, creating a study allowance and training means-tested, setting up a contract that would allow generation of an experienced employee to be the guardian of a young hired in exchange for exemptions from, creating a total of 150,000 subsidized jobs. * Aid to SME's, with the creation of a public bank investment-oriented SME's and reducing the

corporate tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax or corporate income tax, is a type of direct tax levied on the income or capital of corporations and other similar legal entities. The tax is usually imposed at the national level, but ...

rate to 30% for medium

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

s and 15% for small. * Recruitment of 5 000 judges,

police officers A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of ...

and

gendarmes A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (). In France and som ...

. * Construction of 500 000

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

s per year, including 150 000

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

, funded by a doubling of the ceiling of the A passbook, the

State State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

making available its

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

land within five years. * Restoration of

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

at age 60 for those who have contributed more than 41 years. * Hollande supported

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and adoption for LGBT couples, he’ll be pushing the issue in early 2013. * The provision of development funds for deprived suburbs. * Return to a deficit of 0% of

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

in 2017. * Favours ratifying the

European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is a European treaty (CETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe. However, t ...

, for the recognition of regional

languages of France French is the sole official language in France according to the second article of the French Constitution. French, a Gallo-Romance language, is spoken by nearly the entire population of France. In addition to French, several regional langua ...

: Alsatian,

Lorraine Franconian Lorraine Franconian ( native name: or ; or '; ) is an ambiguous designation for dialects of West Central German (), a group of High German dialects spoken in the Moselle department of the former northeastern French region of Lorraine (See ...

French Flemish French Flemish (, Standard Dutch: , ) is a West Flemish dialect spoken in the north of contemporary France. Place names attest to Flemish having been spoken since the 8th century in the part of Flanders that was ceded to France at the 1659 ...

, Catalan, Corsican,

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

, Gallo,

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

Langues d'oïl The ''langues d'oïl'' are a dialect continuum that includes standard French and its closest relatives historically spoken in the northern half of France, southern Belgium, and the Channel Islands. They belong to the larger category of Gallo- ...

Franco-Provençal Franco-Provençal (also Francoprovençal, Patois or Arpitan) is a Gallo-Romance languages, Gallo-Romance language that originated and is spoken in eastern France, western Switzerland, and northwestern Italy. Franco-Provençal has several di ...

and

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

. *Wants to "combine the positions of presidents of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

and of the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

(currently held by

José Manuel Barroso José Manuel Durão Barroso (; born 23 March 1956) is a Portuguese politician and law professor. He previously served from 2002 to 2004 as the List of Prime Ministers of Portugal, 114th prime minister of Portugal and from 2004–2014 as the 11 ...

and

Herman van Rompuy Herman Achille, Count Van Rompuy (; born 31 October 1947) is a Belgian politician who served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 2008 to 2009, and later as the first permanent President of the European Council from 2009 to 2014. Van Rompuy, a ...

respectively) into a single office and that it should be directly chosen" by the

Members of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Comm ...

Potential Prime Ministers

Leader of the

Socialist Group Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and social ...

in the

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 repr ...

Jean-Marc Ayrault Jean-Marc Ayrault (; born 25 January 1950) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2012 to 31 March 2014. He later was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2017. He previously was Mayor of Nantes from 1989 ...

, MP and former minister

Michel Sapin Michel Sapin (; born 9 April 1952) is a French politician who served as Minister of Finance from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2014 to 2017. He is a member of the Socialist Party. He was Minister of the Civil Service from 2000 to 2002 and Mini ...

, campaign manager

Pierre Moscovici Pierre Moscovici (, ; born 16 September 1957) is a French politician who served as the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as Minister of Finance from 2012 to ...

and Party Secretary

are favorites to be selected as

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (), officially the prime minister of the French Republic (''Premier ministre de la République française''), is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of its Council of Ministers. The prime ...

if Hollande win. A poll showed that 50% of people believed Aubry should be given the job, followed by Moscovici on 17%,

Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. Fabius was 37 years old when he was a ...

on 11%, Jean-Marc Ayrault on 10% and Sapin on 9%. In the final days leading up to the Presidential election, two individuals were left on Hollande's final list for Prime Minister:

and

Polls

When he entered his candidacy he was very low in polls, but after the

Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case ''The People of the State of New York v. Strauss-Kahn'' was a criminal case relating to allegations of sexual assault and attempted rape made by a hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, against Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the Sofitel New York Hotel on ...

Hollande was propelled to head of the polls for the remainder of the primary. Boosted by his victory, Hollande was constantly in mind in the first round and widely the projected winner against President

in a hypothetical runoff.

Endorsements

Actors, singers and humorists *

Gérard Darmon Gérard Darmon (, ; born 29 February 1948) is a French-Moroccan actor and singer. He has been nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, for his roles in '' Betty Blue'' (1987) and '' Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra'' ( ...

Yannick Noah Yannick Noah (; born 18 May 1960) is a French former professional tennis player and singer, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005. Noah won the French Open in 1983 French Open – Men's singles, 1983, and is a forme ...

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin ( ; 14 December 1946 – 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress, singer, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema. A native of London, Birkin began her career as an actress, ...

Jacques Higelin Jacques Joseph Victor Higelin (; 18 October 1940 – 6 April 2018) was a French pop singer who rose to prominence in the early 1970s. Early life Higelin was born on 18 October 1940. His father, Paul, a railway worker and musician of Alsatian de ...

Michel Piccoli Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...

Pierre Arditi Pierre Arditi (born 1 December 1944) is a French actor, whose career in film, stage, and television has spanned six decades. He is known for his collaboration with director Alain Resnais in nine films, including '' Mélo'' (1986) and '' Smoking ...

Denis Podalydès Denis Podalydès (; born 22 April 1963) is a French actor, scriptwriter, and theatre director of Greek descent. Podalydès has appeared in more than 140 films and television shows since 1989. He starred in '' The Officers' Ward'', which was ente ...

Jamel Debbouze Jamel Debbouze (; ; born 18 June 1975) is a Moroccan-French actor, comedian, screenwriter, film producer and director. Best known for his stand-up comedy sketches, he also worked with director Alain Chabat in several films and other notable Fren ...

Benjamin Biolay Benjamin Biolay (; born 20 January 1973) is a French singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the brother of singer Coralie Clément—whose first three albums he wrote and produced—and the ex-husband of Chiara Mastroia ...

Bénabar Bruno Nicolini (born 16 June 1969), better known by his stage name Bénabar, is a French songwriter and singer, who could be compared to Vincent Delerm and other singers from his generation. As many of them he was influenced by Georges Brassens, ...

Joyce Jonathan Joyce Jonathan (born 3 November 1989) is a French singer and songwriter. Her first album ''Sur mes gardes'' went gold in May 2010 only five months after its release, and was certified platinum less than a year later. On 23 January 2011 she rece ...

Jean Benguigui Jean Benguigui (born 8 April 1944 in Oran) is a French actor. He is of Jewish-Algerian descent. In 2006 and 2007 he played the role of impresario Cartoni in a new adaptation of the operetta Le Chanteur de Mexico at the Théâtre du Châtelet ...

Gérald Dahan Gérald is a French male given name, a variant of the old Géraud and more common Gérard, both equivalent to Gerald in English. People with the name include: * Gérald Mossé, French jockey * Gérald de Palmas, French recording artist and singer * ...

Geneviève de Fontenay Geneviève Suzanne Marie-Thérèse Mulmann (30 August 1932 – 1 August 2023), known professionally as Geneviève de Fontenay (), was a French businesswoman who served as the president of the Miss France, Miss France Committee from 1981 until 200 ...

Politicians (across party lines support) *

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

, Former

President of the French Republic The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...

, President of the Regional Council of

Poitou-Charentes Poitou-Charentes (; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ) was an administrative region on the southwest coast of France. It comprised four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. It included the historical provinces of Angoumo ...

, Socialist Party candidate for the

2007 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 21 and 22 April 2007 to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France (and ''ex officio'' Co-Prince of Andorra) for a five-year term. As no candidate received a majority of the vot ...

, and former partner of Hollande *

Brigitte Girardin Brigitte Girardin (; born 12 January 1953 in Verdun, Meuse (department), Meuse, France) is a French diplomat and politician. She was the minister of Overseas France under Jacques Chirac from 7 May 2002 to 2 June 2005. Biography In 1976, Girardin ...

, General Secretary of United Republic and Former Minister *

Jean-Jacques Aillagon Jean-Jacques Aillagon (; born 2 October 1946, Metz) is a French museum director and politician. Aillagon was a close confidant of Jacques Chirac, as well as a member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) political party. He became Minist ...

, Former Minister *

Corinne Lepage Corinne Dominique Marguerite Lepage (; born 11 May 1951) is a French environmental lawyer and politician. She served as French Minister of the Environment in the Alain Juppé cabinets 1 and II 1995–1997 and as Member of the European Parliame ...

, Former Minister and Presidential candidate *

Fadela Amara Fadela Amara (born Fatiha Amara on 25 April 1964) is a French feminist and politician, who began her political life as an advocate for women in the impoverished ''banlieues''. She was the Secretary of State for Urban Policies in the liberal Un ...

, Former Secretary of State of Nicolas Sarkozy *

Martin Hirsch Martin Hirsch (born 6 December 1963 in Suresnes) is a French civil servant who was the former head of Emmaus (charity), Emmaüs France, the former High Commissioner for Active Solidarity against Poverty, and the High Commissioner for Youth i ...

, Former High Commissioner of Nicolas Sarkozy * Azouz Begag, Former Deputy Minister

References

External links

Official website

Contains link to Hollande's 60-point manifesto (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francois Hollande presidential campaign, 2012 2012 French presidential election Presidential campaign, 2012 French presidential campaigns 2012 presidential campaigns