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French Socialist Party The Socialist Party ( , PS) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politics, left-wing List of political parties in France, political party in France. It holds Social democracy, social democratic and Pro-Europeanism, pro-European v ...
held a two-round presidential primary to select a candidate for the 2017 presidential election on 22 and 29 January 2017. It was the second
open primary Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...
(''primaires citoyennes'') held by the center-left coalition, after the primary in 2011 in which
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 ...
defeated
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 ...
to become the Socialist nominee. Hollande went on to defeat 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 2012 presidential election. However, because of his low approval rating, he announced that he would not seek re-election, becoming the first president of the Fifth Republic to decide not to run for a second term. The primary was contested by seven candidates, four from the Socialist Party and three representing other parties part of the left-wing electoral alliance (''la Belle Alliance populaire''). The three frontrunners in the first round of the primary were
Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...
, who served as Hollande's
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
from 2014 to 2016 and
interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...
from 2012 to 2014; Benoît Hamon, Minister of National Education in 2014; and Arnaud Montebourg, Minister of the Economy, Production Recovery and the Digital Sector from 2012 to 2014. On 22 January, Hamon received 36.03% and Valls 31.48% of the vote in the first round and advanced to the runoff, far ahead of all other candidates and well ahead of Montebourg, who was eliminated and immediately endorsed Hamon. In the runoff, Hamon easily defeated Valls, beating the ex-PM by nearly 20 percentage points, and officially took the mantle as nominee of the PS in the 2017 presidential election.


Background

At the 2012 Toulouse Congress, the
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 th ...
(PS) modified its statutes to guarantee the selection of a candidate of the left through open primaries, with the National Council of the Socialist Party announcing the timetable and organization of the primaries at least one year beforehand. On 11 January, ''
Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...
'' published an editorial in favor of a "primary of the left and ecologists", and on 9 April the National Council of the Socialist Party unanimously approved the idea of holding such a primary in early December. The same day,
Europe Ecology – The Greens The Ecologists – Europe Ecology The Greens (), commonly known as The Ecologists (, LE) and formerly as Europe Ecology The Greens ( , EELV ) until 2023, is a centre-left to left-wing green political party in France. The party is a member of th ...
(EELV) adopted a motion saying that it would "welcome with interest" such a primary, but withheld formal support. On 18 June, the National Council finally confirmed that it would organize a primary to select a candidate for the 2017 presidential election. Applications could be submitted from 1 to 15 December, with two rounds of voting planned for 22 and 29 January 2017. Under the rules of the primary, candidates of the PS,
Radical Party of the Left 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). Af ...
(PRG), and pro-government ex-EELV forces – i.e., the Ecologist Party (PE) and Union of Democrats and Ecologists (UDE) – in addition to all those who supported the primary process. The PRG suspended its participation in the ''Belle Alliance populaire'' (BAP) of left-wing forces on 29 June 2016, denouncing the Socialist Party's unilateral decision to run a primary, and arguing that the BAP should not become a "simple satellite movement of the Socialist Party". On 2 July, the delegates of the BAP unanimously approved the organization of the primary. The PRG voted to support the candidacy of its party leader Sylvia Pinel, outside the primary, on 26 November, but on 6 December Pinel announced that she would ultimately run in the primary of the left, a decision the party's steering committee confirmed on 14 December. Prospective PS candidates were required to sign the primary's charter of ethics requiring candidates to rally behind its winner and to secure the support of 5% of one of the following groups: members of the National Council; Socialist parliamentarians, regional and departmental Socialist councilors in at least 4 regions and 10 departments; or Socialist mayors representing more than 10,000 people in at least 4 regions and 10 departments. The conditions for becoming a candidate of other member parties of the BAP – the PRG, UDE, PE, and Democratic Front (FD) – were determined by the respective parties' leadership. The EELV declared on 20 June that it would not participate in the primary, and the
French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...
(PCF) did likewise the following day. After declaring his candidacy for the presidential election,
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...
of
En Marche! Renaissance (RE) is a List of political parties in France, political party in France that is typically described as liberalism, liberal and centrist or centre-right. The party was originally known as (EM) and later (, LREM, LaREM or REM), be ...
also declined to participate, as did
Jean-Luc Mélenchon Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon (; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who has been the ''de facto'' leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) since it was established in 2016. He was the Deputy (France), deputy in the National Assembly ( ...
under the banner of
La France Insoumise La France Insoumise (LFI or FI; , ) is a left-wing political party in France. It was launched in 2016 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, then a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and former co-president of the Left Party (PG). It aims to implement th ...
, saying that he did not want to run in a primary with
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 ...
since he would not be able to support Hollande if he won. He later reaffirmed this by saying that with the exclusion of the EELV and PRG the primary was not truly "of the left" but a "primary of the Socialist Party". On 1 December, Hollande declared that he would not seek a second term, becoming the first President of the Fifth Republic to renounce a reelection bid. His announcement reflected his high personal unpopularity and resentment among Socialist colleagues regarding remarks he made about cabinet members and other associates in the book '' Un président ne devrait pas dire ça...'' (A president should not say that...) by Gérard Davet and
Fabrice Lhomme Fabrice Lhomme (born 1965) is a French investigative journalist for ''Le Monde''. Early life Fabrice Lhomme was born on 17 November 1965. He was educated in a boarding school in Normandy. He attended François Rabelais University in Tours, where ...
, journalists at ''
Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
''. On 17 December, the High Authority of the open primary declared that seven candidates qualified to appear on the ballot, including four from the Socialist Party – former
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...
, Arnaud Montebourg, Benoît Hamon, and Vincent Peillon – the other three being
François de Rugy François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * Voltaire, Fran ...
of the PE, Sylvia Pinel of the PRG, and Jean-Luc Bennahmias of the PD.


Candidacies

Former economy minister Arnaud Montebourg, who also ran for the nomination of the Socialists in 2011, was one of the first to declare interest in a speech at Mont Beuvray on 16 May 2016, widely viewed as indicating his interest in running for the presidency, in which he issued a "call" to "build" a "great alternative project for France" to an audience of 200 Socialist Party militants. Among those in attendance were former minister
Aurélie Filippetti Aurélie Filippetti ( ; born 17 June 1973) is a French politician and novelist. She served as French Minister of Culture and Communications from 2012 until 2014, first in the government of Jean-Marc Ayrault and then in the government of Man ...
, as well as MPs Christian Paul, chief among the party's rebels, having had a part in the foundation of the New Socialist Party caucus along with Montebourg, Laurent Baumel and Patrice Prat. Montebourg officially declared his candidacy on 16 August, decrying Hollande's betrayal of the "ideals of the left" in Frangy-en-Bresse in his home département of
Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is B ...
, and laid out an anti-globalization campaign platform based on protectionism for French businesses, threats to nationalize predatory banks, and tax breaks for the middle class, themes which became central to his campaign. These themes were reflective of his combative tenure as economy minister, in which he threatened to nationalize divisions of
ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourg-based multinational steel manufacturing corporation, headquartered in Luxembourg City. It is ranked second on the list of steel producers behind Baowu, and had an annual crude steel production of 58 millio ...
and attempted but ultimately failed to prevent
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...
's partial acquisition of French multinational
Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...
. Former French education minister Benoît Hamon, another founder of the New Socialist Party caucus, declared his candidacy on the same day, arguing that Hollande could "no longer earn the French people's trust" and proposed to raise the minimum wage, to further reduce the 35-hour workweek instituted by the Socialists in 2000 to 32 hours, a €35 billion stimulus for the French economy, and legalizing marijuana. His signature campaign plan, however, was his intention to introduce a €300–400 billion
universal basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a minimum income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment, i.e., without a means test or need to perform Work (hu ...
program funded by a tax on robots, equivalent to a monthly income of approximately €750 per person. Like Montebourg, he was ejected from the Socialist government by prime minister
Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...
in a wider purge of left-wing dissenters after the fall of the First Valls Government in August 2014. On 1 December 2016, incumbent President
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 ...
announced in a televised address from the
Élysée Palace The Élysée Palace (, ) is the official residence of the President of France, President of the French Republic in Paris. Completed in 1722, it was built for Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, a nobleman and army officer who had been appointed g ...
that he would not seek a second term in office, clearing the way for Valls to enter the race, who subsequently announced his candidacy on 5 December. Valls, Montebourg, and Hamon ultimately became the main three contenders for the Socialist nomination, but several other candidates ultimately participated in the primary. Former Minister of National Education Vincent Peillon made a late bid to become the Socialist nominee, announcing his candidacy on 11 December, returning from a two-and-a-half-year residency in Switzerland in which he taught philosophy at the
University of Neuchâtel The University of Neuchâtel (UniNE) is a French-speaking public research university in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The university has four faculties (schools) and more than a dozen institutes, including arts and human sciences, natural sciences, ...
and wrote novels; his bid contrasts with those of Montebourg and Hamon, representing the mainstream Socialist Party as opposed to its left-wing rebels. Three other candidates, not of the Socialist Party, also ran in the primary as members of the parties of ''la Belle Alliance Populaire'', a left-wing grouping. Among these were MP
François de Rugy François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * Voltaire, Fran ...
, representing the Ecologist Party which he founded along with Senator Jean-Vincent Placé after leaving the EELV in August 2015 over concerns about the party pandering to its left wing; Sylvia Pinel of the
Radical Party of the Left 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). Af ...
(PRG), and Jean-Luc Bennahmias, who left the Democratic Movement to found his own centre-left party, the Democratic Front. Several other candidates also filed petitions to run in the primary, including Senator Marie-Noëlle Lienemann, Gérard Filoche, Fabien Verdier, and Pierre Larrouturou. Despite initially contemplating running, Lienemann decided not to run in the primary on 9 December, worried about the splitting of votes between candidates of the party's left wing – Montebourg and Hamon – and urging them to unite forces. Although she stated that she faced pressure to withdraw her candidacy, these pressures were not a factor in her recusal from the primary. Filoche, a trade unionist, failed to secure the necessary number of sponsors to enter the primary (though he attempted to lodge a challenge against the decision of the High Authority), as did Verdier. Both men claimed that, because they represented other left-wing parties (''Parti politique Filoche2017'' and ''Convictions'', respectively), they were not bound by the requirement to seek sufficient support, as with Pinel, de Rugy, and Bennahmias; nevertheless, the decision to exclude both was reaffirmed. Larrouturou's application was rejected because his
New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
party was not a member of the left-wing alliance for the primary, as were those of Bastien Faudot of the
Citizen and Republican Movement The Citizen and Republican Movement ( French: ''Mouvement républicain et citoyen'') is a left-wing political party in France. The party replaced the Citizens' Movement (''Mouvement des citoyens'', MDC) in 2002. The previous party was founded b ...
and Sébastien Nadot of the Movement of Progressives.


Campaign

The unpopularity of incumbent president Hollande led to widespread speculation as to whether he would choose to run for re-election, facing fierce competition within his own party in the Socialist primary; when he ultimately renounced his candidacy on 1 December 2016, he cleared the way for prime minister
Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...
to enter the field on 5 December. Valls, considered the "natural successor" to Hollande and whose attempts to modernize the Socialist Party have been characterized as similar to those of
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
with the
British Labour Party The Labour Party, often referred to as Labour, is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that sits on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum. The party has been describe ...
, earned a reputation for his law-and-order approach as prime minister, instituting business-friendly supply-side reforms and taking a tough position on migration, at one point even questioning whether Islam was compatible with the French Republic; all these views placed him well to the right wing of his party. Valls' important role in Hollande's government resulted in him becoming similarly unpopular, even within his own party and on the left. On 15 December, he declared that if elected president, he would abolish article 49-3, an executive degree enshrined within the
Constitution of France The current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic , and it replaced the Constitution of the Fourth Republic of 1946 with the exception of the preamble per a 1971 d ...
. He controversially used it as prime minister to force laws through 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 ...
, bypassing legislative approval, to send them directly to 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 ...
, and his repudiation of the 49-3 was met with derision, Valls having used it to force through controversial labour reforms in the El Khomri law and the reformist Macron law, moves often described as indicative of his authoritarian tendencies. Valls further attempted to portray himself as a candidate "profoundly of the left" by backing down on his earlier tough tone towards labour, promising not to institute any further reforms to France's 35-hour workweek – beloved by the French left – nor its labour laws, instead taking an anti-austerity tone; despite this, his campaign was overshadowed by past policies such as the abolition of the
wealth tax A wealth tax (also called a capital tax or equity tax) is a tax on an entity's holdings of assets or an entity's net worth. This includes the total value of personal assets, including cash, bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and ...
. Unveiling his platform on 3 January 2017, he proposed a 2.5% increase in public spending contingent on annual economic growth of 1.9% while keeping the deficit below the 3% of GDP requirement mandated by the
Stability and Growth Pact The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) is an agreement, among all the 27 member states of the European Union (EU), to facilitate and maintain the stability of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union, Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). ...
, the creation a "decent income" of €800 for all adult French nationals, halving the gender pay gap in France, a "pause" in the
enlargement of the European Union The European Union (EU) has expanded a number of times throughout its history by way of the accession of new member state of the European Union, member states to the Union. To join the EU, a state needs to fulfil economic and political condit ...
, the addition of a charter of secularism to the Constitution, and the consolidation of the nuclear industry. Valls was physically attacked twice during the campaign; the first incident occurred on 22 December 2016, in which he was flour-bombed by a protester screaming "We do not forget the 49-3. We don't forgive it," a reference to his claim that he would abolish the constitutional provision he twice used to bypass legislative approval, during a visit to a Christmas market in
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
. The second incident, on 17 January 2017, involved an apparent Breton nationalist who slapped him during a campaign stop in
Lamballe Lamballe (; ; Gallo: ''Lanball'') is a town and a former commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Lamballe-Armor. It lies on the river Gouessant east ...
; although Valls initially brushed the episode off, saying "it's nothing," he later made to press charges, saying "Democracy cannot be about violence." Valls' most prominent opponent was initially considered to be former economy minister Arnaud Montebourg, who formally unveiled his platform in Paris on 3 January. The left-wing firebrand proclaimed that French employees should receive wage rises equivalent to executives' in order to constrain corporate pay and called for a "supertax" on banks to raise €5 billion a year. Challenged by former education minister Benoît Hamon, who argued that the focus on economic growth and employment is misplaced, Montebourg argued that the prior was a "necessity" and claimed that he "challenged the theory of the end of work." He also criticized a perceived European obsession with austerity, condemning it as the cause of the country's persistently high rates of unemployment and dismal economic growth, promising to "liberate the French from European-imposed austerity." He also pledged during the campaign that he would not comply with EU deficit rules, in contrast to Valls, embark upon an "economic patriotism" (described as protectionism by some observers), reserve 80 percent of government contracts for French small businesses, reinstate border controls, repeal the El Khomri jobs bill, defend small domestic businesses, warn that he might engage in a trade war against China, and support a €30 billion infrastructure plan. Montebourg's months-long position in second place, however, was challenged by a surge of support for Benoît Hamon, with the primary becoming a three-man race between Valls, Hamon, and Montebourg by mid-January. Hamon's strongly left-wing program of legalizing cannabis, taxing robots to fund a
universal basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a minimum income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment, i.e., without a means test or need to perform Work (hu ...
, and reducing the 35-hour workweek to 32 hours, attracted many left-wing voters disillusioned by the Socialists' turn toward business-friendly policies, championed under Hollande's presidency by the likes of Valls and Macron. The former education minister's late rise was likened to that of
François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired 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 primary of the centre-right Republicans party, his rise propelled by his championing of left-wing values and vision of a society that spends less time working, enjoys higher pay, and emphasizes the importance GDP growth less. Hamon has also decried "neoconservatives" and "even those on the left" who wished to restrict the rights of French Muslims, a less-than-subtle denunciation of Valls's hardline stance on immigration. His proposal for a universal income has been his signature policy; in the final primary debate, he insisted that it "creates work" and "allows employees to reduce their workdays, and it can further contract and eradicate poverty," and post-debate polls indicated left-wing voters consistently viewed Hamon as being the most convincing candidate. Three debates were held before the first round of the primary. The first, syndicated by
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
, Public Sénat, LCI, RTL, and co-organized by ''L'Observateur'', aired at 21:00 CET on 12 January, moderated by Gilles Bouleau, Élizabeth Martichoux, and Matthieu Croissandeau; the second, by BFM TV, RMC, and I-TV, aired at 18:00 CET on 15 January, moderated by Ruth Elkrief, Laurence Ferrari, and Laurent Neumann; the third, by
France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...
,
Europe 1 Europe 1, (''Europe un'') formerly known as Europe nº 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. It was owned and operated by Lagardère News, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it was one of the leading radio broadcasting s ...
, LCP,
TV5Monde TV5Monde (), formerly known as TV5, is a French public television network, broadcasting several channels of French-language programming. It is an approved participant member of the European Broadcasting Union. The network is available across ...
, and regional daily newspapers, aired at 21:00 CET on 19 January, moderated by David Pujadas,
Léa Salamé Hala Léa Salamé, known as Léa Salamé (; born 27 October 1979), is a Lebanese-born French journalist. Early life Hala Léa Salamé is the daughter of Ghassan Salamé, former Lebanese Minister of Culture and former special advisor to UN Secreta ...
, and Fabien Namias. The first debate attracted 3.83 million viewers, representing an audience share of 18.3%; the second 1.75 million, representing a share of 7.9%; and the third 3.07 million, a share of 15%.


First round

Hamon came on top in the first round of the primary, followed by Valls; as neither of the two secured more than 50% of the vote, a second round was held on 29 January. Montebourg, relegated to third place, conceded defeat and pledged to vote for Hamon in the second round. Peillon came fourth, de Rugy fifth, Pinel sixth, and Bennahmias last. Of these four candidates, Pinel backed Valls in the second round; Peillon did not endorse but encouraged voters to mobilize; and de Rugy also chose not to endorse immediately afterwards, hoping to meet the top two contenders on 23 January to decide. Only 7,350 polling stations were open during the primary, compared to 9,425 in the 2011 primary and 10,228 in the primary of the right. Meanwhile, Bennahmias, with just over 1% of the primary vote, did not initially endorse any candidate and expressed his intent to announce a decision on 25 January; he ultimately backed Valls. An overnight update of the official primary results published 10:00 CET on 23 January added approximately three hundred thousand votes, without any change in the vote share of any candidate, arousing suspicions among observers and the French press. Two hours later, an update to the total of votes obtained by Sylvia Pinel was published, increasing her vote share by 0.01% (i.e., 160 additional votes). However, the total number of votes for Pinel increased by 161, more than the total number of overall votes, with changes to no other candidates. The results were initially speculated to have been manipulated into inflate the apparent turnout, which was low compared to past primaries. The PS initially attributed the results to a "bug", but later conceded that it had been a result of "human error." However, the French press remained skeptical, noting the improbability of a nearly-identical 28% increase in votes for all seven candidates. There was also additional confusion, even prior to reports about the potential manipulation of vote totals, surrounding the number of polling stations open (which, according to PS, is fewer than 7,350 because many were merged with others) and the vagueness of PS officials on primary turnout, compounded by the fact that no comprehensive public record of primary results was published.


Second round

The second round runoff was held on 29 January between Benoît Hamon and
Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...
. An additional debate was held before the second round, syndicated between
France Inter France Inter () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is the successor to Paris Inter, later known as France I, and created as a merger of the France I and France II networks, first as RTF Inter in October 1963, then ren ...
, TF1, and France 2 at 21:00 CET on 25 January, moderated by Gilles Bouleau, David Pujadas, and Alexandra Bensaid, after which an Elabe poll found that 60% of viewers were most convinced by Hamon, compared to 37% for Valls; the margin was 61–36 among left-wing sympathizers. In the second round of the primary on 29 January, Hamon defeated Valls, by a comfortable margin, with 58.69% of votes against 41.31%; turnout, at 2.05 million, was considerably higher than that in the first round. As the winner of the primary, Hamon was designated the Socialist nominee for the presidential election.


Aftermath

On 22 February, François de Rugy announced his support for Emmanuel Macron, breaking the commitment requested of former candidates to back the winner of the primary, stating that he preferred "coherence to obedience," albeit acknowledging that Hamon was the legitimate nominee of the PS. On 13 March, ''
Le Parisien ''Le Parisien'' (; ) is a French daily newspaper covering both international and national news, and local news of Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of ...
'' reported that Valls, rather than backing Socialist nominee Benoît Hamon, would urge voters to support Macron in the first round of the presidential election; Valls denied the report at the time, but declared on 29 March that he personally would vote for Macron, but did not rally behind his candidacy. On 15 March, the PRG announced its support for Hamon's candidacy, securing concessions on issues pertaining to European governance, and confirmed an agreement with the Socialist Party for the legislative elections; this followed a period of hesitation after the primary in which the party contemplated the candidacy of Macron, who secured the support of several of its parliamentarians.


Candidates


Withdrawn

* Marie-Noëlle Lienemann, Senator *Marc Jutier, PS member; joined
Jean-Luc Mélenchon Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon (; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who has been the ''de facto'' leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) since it was established in 2016. He was the Deputy (France), deputy in the National Assembly ( ...
's
La France Insoumise La France Insoumise (LFI or FI; , ) is a left-wing political party in France. It was launched in 2016 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, then a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and former co-president of the Left Party (PG). It aims to implement th ...


Declined

*
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 ...
, mayor of
Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
, former Minister of Social Affairs, Minister of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training, Socialist leader, and 2012 presidential candidate *
Matthias Fekl Matthias Fekl (; born 4 October 1977) is a French politician of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party who served as Minister of the Interior (France), Minister of the Interior in the Cazeneuve government, government of Prime Minister of F ...
, Trade Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development *
Annick Girardin Annick Girardin (; born 3 August 1964) is a French politician of the Radical Party who served as Minister of the Sea in the government of Prime Minister Jean Castex (2020–2022), Minister of Overseas France in the government of Prime Mini ...
, PRG member and Minister of the Civil Service; endorsed the candidacy of Sylvia Pinel *
Anne Hidalgo Ana María "Anne" Hidalgo Aleu (, ; born 19 June 1959) is a Spanish-French politician who has served as Mayor of Paris since 2014, the first woman to hold the office. She is a member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS). Hidalg ...
,
mayor of Paris The mayor of Paris (, ) is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of Paris, the capital and largest city in France. The officeholder is responsible for the administration and management of the city, submits proposals and recommendations to ...
; endorsed the candidacy of Vincent Peillon *
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 ...
, incumbent
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 ...
*
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 ...
, 2007 Socialist Party presidential candidate, incumbent Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy *
Christiane Taubira Christiane Marie Taubira (; born 2 February 1952) is a French politician who served as Minister of Justice of France in the governments of Prime Ministers Jean-Marc Ayrault and Manuel Valls under President François Hollande from 2012 until 20 ...
, former Minister of Justice *
Marisol Touraine Marisol Touraine (; born 7 March 1959) is a French politician who served as Minister of Social Affairs and Health under Prime Ministers Jean-Marc Ayrault,Angelique ChrisafisWomen in the French cabinet ''The Guardian'', 18 May 2012Olivier Augu ...
, Minister of Social Affairs and
Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
* Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Minister of Education, Higher Education and Research; endorsed the candidacy of Manuel Valls


Refused to participate

*
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...
, former Minister of the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs, and founder of
En Marche! Renaissance (RE) is a List of political parties in France, political party in France that is typically described as liberalism, liberal and centrist or centre-right. The party was originally known as (EM) and later (, LREM, LaREM or REM), be ...
, standing as an independent in the presidential election *
Jean-Luc Mélenchon Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon (; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who has been the ''de facto'' leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) since it was established in 2016. He was the Deputy (France), deputy in the National Assembly ( ...
, Left Front MEP, former Minister of Vocational Education and Senator, standing as a far-left candidate in the presidential election


Opinion polls


First round


Second round


Hamon–Valls


Valls–Montebourg


Hollande–Montebourg


Hollande–Hamon


Valls–Macron


Montebourg–Macron


Hollande–Macron


Results

, - style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left" , Candidates ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left" , Parties ! colspan="2" , 1st round ! colspan="2" , 2nd round , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! width="60" , Votes ! width="30" , % ! width="60" , Votes ! width="30" , % , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" , Benoît Hamon , 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 th ...
, PS , , , , , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,
Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...
, 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 th ...
, PS , , , , , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" , Arnaud Montebourg , 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 th ...
, PS , , , colspan="2" rowspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" , Vincent Peillon , 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 th ...
, PS , , , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,
François de Rugy François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * Voltaire, Fran ...
, style="text-align:left;" , Ecologist Party , PÉ , , , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" , Sylvia Pinel , style="text-align:left;" ,
Radical Party of the Left 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). Af ...
, PRG , , , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" , Jean-Luc Bennahmias , style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Front , FD , , , - , colspan="8" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - , colspan="4" style="text-align:left" , Valid votes , , , , , - , colspan="4" style="text-align:left" , Spoilt and null votes , , , , , - style="font-weight:bold;" , colspan="4" style="text-align:left" , Total , , 100% , , 100% , - , colspan="8" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - , colspan="8" style="text-align:left" , List of candidates by High Authority. Source


Non-candidates

Twenty-four applications were filed with the High Authority for the left-wing primary, but not all were made public; of these, several were disqualified for not securing enough sponsors under the rules of the primary. *Gérard Filoche, former labor inspector, militant communist *Sidi Hamada-Hamidou, member of the
Radical Party of the Left 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). Af ...
(PRG) *Maxime Legrand, opposition councillor in
Poissy Poissy () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the ÃŽle-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Inhabitan ...
*Régis Passerieux, candidate of the PS's Christian faction *Fabien Verdier, Socialist Party member, advisor to two cabinet ministers and former town councillor Several other individuals filed applications which were rejected as they were not members of PS, UDE, PE, or FD. *Bastien Faudot, spokesman of the
Citizen and Republican Movement The Citizen and Republican Movement ( French: ''Mouvement républicain et citoyen'') is a left-wing political party in France. The party replaced the Citizens' Movement (''Mouvement des citoyens'', MDC) in 2002. The previous party was founded b ...
(MRC) * Pierre Larrouturou, former co-president of Nouvelle Donne * Sébastien Nadot, nominee of the Movement of Progressives


See also

* The Republicans (France) presidential primary, 2016 *
2017 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 23 April and 7 May 2017. Incumbent president François Hollande of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS) was eligible to run for a second term, but declared on 1 December 2016 that he wo ...


References


External links


Official website
{{French Socialist Party
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 th ...
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 th ...
January 2017 in France Primary elections in France History of the Socialist Party (France)