VIA, the Way of the People (, VIA) is a

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...

and

Christian right The Christian right are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with their interpretation ...

ist party in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The party was known as the Forum of Social Republicans (FRS) between 2001 and June 2009 before adopting the name Christian Democratic Party (, PCD), which it used until 3 October 2020. The party was founded by

Christine Boutin Christine Boutin (, born 6 February 1944) is a French former politician leading the small French Christian Democratic Party. She served as a member of the French National Assembly representing Yvelines, from 1986 until 2007, when she was appo ...

. On 3 October 2020, the party would change its name to the current one. The FRS was established in March 2001 as a

faction within the liberal conservative

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy ( ; UDF) was a centre-right political party in France. The UDF was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over ...

(UDF) and emerged as an independent party in December of the same year, when Boutin announced her candidacy in the

2002 French presidential election Presidential elections in France, 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 Ra ...

, in contrast with UDF leader and official candidate

François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has served as Prime Minister of France since December 2024. He has presided over the European Democratic Party (EDP) since 2004 and the Democratic Movement (France ...

, and was consequently expelled. In 2005, the FRS called for a NO vote in the referendum over the

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an Ratification, unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for ...

. VIA is a Christian-oriented social conservative party, opposed to

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% ...

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

and

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

. VIA was an associate party of the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

and was a member of the

Liaison Committee for the Presidential Majority The Liaison Committee for the Presidential Majority (, also called the Committee of the Presidential Majority or Committee of the Majority) was a structure initiated by Nicolas Sarkozy to coordinate the political parties that support his action. ...

. Since November 2013,

Jean-Frédéric Poisson Jean-Frédéric Poisson (; born 22 January 1963) is a French right-wing politician and the president of VIA, the Way of the People (previously called the Christian Democratic Party). He was mayor of Rambouillet from 2004 to 2007, then became a N ...

has been the president of the party.

Elected officials

*Deputies: Dino Cinieri (

UMP UMP may refer to: Science * Ultra metal-poor star, refers to a type of star with extremely low levels of heavier elements * Uniformly most powerful test, in statistical hypothesis testing * Uridine monophosphate, a nucleotide * Utility maximizat ...

group) The party also claims 9,500 members as of 2009.

Election results

European Parliament

References

External links

Official website
Political party factions in France Factions and associate parties of the Union for a Popular Movement Far-right political parties in France European Christian Political Party Union for French Democracy breakaway groups Catholic political parties Anti-LGBTQ Christian organizations Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in Europe Opposition to same-sex marriage in Europe Anti-abortion organizations in Europe {{France-party-stub