French Senate election, 2014

French Senate election, 2014

28 September 2014

178 of 348 seats in the Senate 175 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Jean-Claude Gaudin Didier Guillaume Party UMP PS Alliance Presidential Majority Union of the Left Leader since 1 October 2008 Leader's seat Bouches-du-Rhône Drôme Seats before 167 (Alliance) 177 (Alliance) Seats after 187 (Alliance) 152 (Alliance) Swing 20 25

President of the Senate before election Jean-Pierre Bel PS President-elect of the Senate Gérard Larcher UMP

Red areas show departments in contention in the election (Series 2).

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An indirect election for the French Senate was held on Sunday 28 September 2014. Senators were primarily elected by municipal officials, and the number of seats is fixed at 348. In the 2011 election, the Socialist Party (then in opposition) and other left-of-centre parties gained a majority of seats in the French upper house for the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic.^[1] The UMP-led coalition won back the majority, regaining control of the Senate after three years.

Issues

Candidates for the Senate Presidency

The incumbent President Jean-Pierre Bel was not candidate for his reelection.^[2] For the UMP Group, the former President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, former Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin or Senator Philippe Marini were candidates. Former Minister for Relations with Parliament Roger Karoutchi, former Minister of Defense Gérard Longuet and Senato Bruno Retailleau from Vendée ran for the presidency of the UMP Group.

References