French legislative election, 1997
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French legislative election took place in May 25 and June 1, 1997 to elect the 11th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. It was the consequence of President Jacques Chirac's decision to anticipate the legislative election one year before the deadline.
In March 1993, the right obtained 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 in promising to reduce the "social fracture". However, the plan of Welfare States's reforms ("Plan Juppé") proposed by his Prime Minister Alain Juppé 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 breaking up the National Assembly. The first polls indicated a re-election of the right-wing majority. The "Plural Left" coalition, notably composed of the Socialists, the Communists and the Greens, proposed a program of social reforms to reduce unemployment. It contained the reduction of work time to 35 hours. Alain Juppé's unpopularity may have made the left's win easier.
In the first round, the left-wing coalition obtained more votes than the incumbent parliamentary majority and the National Front achieved its best result in a legislative election. The right obtained its worst result in a legislative election during the Fifth Republic.
Accused to be responsible of this situation, Alain Juppé announced he will resign even if the right kept the majority in the National Assembly after the second round. For all that, the "Plural left" obtained the majority of the seats. However the Socialist Party needed of its allies to be majoritary. For the first time, the ecologists are represented in the Parliament. The participation of National Front's candidates in the second round increased the defeat of the "Presidential majority".
That was the first time since 1877 a President of France lost a legislative election which he was the cause. The Socialist leader Lionel Jospin became Prime minister of the third "cohabitation". It finished with the 2002 French presidential election.
Results
|- !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left colspan=2 valign=top| Parties and coalition !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right| Abbr. !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right| Votes (1st round) !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align-right| % (1st round) !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right| Seats (2nd round) |- |bgcolor="#E75480"| |align=left| Socialist Party (Parti socialiste) |align=right| PS |align=right| 5 961 612 |align=right| 23,5 |align=right| 255 |- |bgcolor="#FF0000"| |align=left| French Communist Party (Parti communiste français) |align=right| PCF |align=right| 2 519 281 |align=right| 9,9 |align=right| 35 |- |bgcolor="#2E8B57"| |align=left| The Greens (Les Verts) | |align=right| 918 873 |align=right| 3,6 |align=right| 7 |- | |align=left| Miscalleaneous Left-wing |align=right| DVG |align=right| 435 122 |align=right| 1,7 |align=right| 4 |- |bgcolor="#FFD1DC"| |align=left| Radical-Socialist Party (Parti radical-socialiste) |align=right| PRS |align=right| 366 067 |align=right| 1,5 |align=right| 12 |- |bgcolor="#FFFF00"| |align=left| Citizens' Movement (Mouvement des citoyens) |align=right| MDC |align=right| 255 483 |align=right| 1,0 |align=right| 7 |- | |align=left| Total "Plural Left" | |align=right| 10 456 438 |align=right| 41,3 |align=right| 320 |- |bgcolor="#0000C8"| |align=left| Rally for the Republic (Rassemblement pour la République) |align=right| RPR |align=right| 3 977 964 |align=right| 15,7 |align=right| 139 |- |bgcolor="#00CCCC"| |align=left| Union for French Democracy (Union pour la démocartie française) |align=right| UDF |align=right| 3 601 279 |align=right| 14,2 |align=right| 112 |- | |align=left| Miscalleaneous Right-wing |align=right| DVD |align=right| 1 065 271 |align=right| 4,2 |align=right| 0 |- |bgcolor="#003366"| |align=left| The Independent Right (La Droite Indépendante) |align=right| LDI |align=right| 606 355 |align=right| 2,4 |align=right| 2 |- | |align=left| Total "Presidential Majority" (Right) | |align=right| 9 250 869 |align=right| 36,5 |align=right| 251 |- |bgcolor="#704214"| |align=left| National Front (Front national) |align=right| FN |align=right| 3 785 383 |align=right| 14,9 |align=right| 1 |- | |align=left| Others Ecologists | |align=right| 807 145 |align=right| 3,2 |align=right| - |- |bgcolor="#960018"| |align=left| Far-Left | |align=right| 638 710 |align=right| 2,5 |align=right| - |- | |align=left| Miscalleaneous | |align=right| 351 503 |align=right| 1,4 |align=right| 3 |- | |align=left| Others Far-Right | |align=right| 26 438 |align=right| 0,1 |align=right| - |- | |align=left| Total | |align=right| 25 344 486 |align=right| 100 |align=right| 577 |- |align=left colspan=6| Abstention: 32,1% (1st round); 28,9% (2nd round) |}
11th Assembly by Parliamentary Group
| Group | Members | Caucusing | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socialist Group | 242 | 8 | 250 | |
| Rally for the Republic | 136 | 6 | 140 | |
| Union pour la Démocratie Française | 107 | 6 | 113 | |
| Communiste | 34 | 2 | 36 | |
| Radical, Citizen, and Green | 33 | 0 | 33 | |
| Non-Inscrits | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
| Total | 555 | 22 | 577 | |
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