French legislative election, 2007

French legislative election, 2007

← 2002 10 June and 17 June 2007 2012 →
All 577 seats to the French National Assembly 289 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader François Fillon François Hollande Hervé Morin Party UMP PS NC Leader since 17 May 2007 27 November 1997 29 May 2007 Leader's seat Sarthe-4th Corrèze-1st Eure-3rd Last election 357 seats 140 seats Did not contest Seats won 313 186 22 Seat change 44 46 22 1st round % and swing 10,289,028 39.54% 6.24% 6,436,136 24.73% 0.62% 616,440 2.37% 2nd round % and swing 9,463,408 46.37% 0.89% 8,622,529 42.25% 6.99% 433,057 2.12%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Marie-George Buffet Jean-Michel Baylet Dominique Voynet Party PCF PRG LV Leader since 28 October 2001 28 January 1996 10 July 2001 Leader's seat Seine-Saint-Denis-4th Did not stand none Last election 21 seats 7 seats 3 seats Seats won 15 7 4 Seat change 6 1 1st round % and swing 1,115,663 4.29% 0.53% 343,565 1.32% 0.22% 845,977 3.25% 1.26% 2nd round % and swing 464,739 2.28% 0.98% 333,194 1.63% 0.52% 90,975 0.45% 2.74%   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader François Bayrou Jean-Marie Le Pen Party MoDem FN Leader's seat Pyrénées-Atlantiques-2nd none Last election 29 seats 0 seats Seats won 3 0 Seat change 26 0 1st round % and swing 1,981,107 7.61% 2.75% 1,116,136 4.29% 7.05% 2nd round % and swing 100,115 0.49% 3.43% 17,107 0.08% 1.77%
Map showing the results of the second round.
Prime Minister before election François Fillon UMP Prime Minister-designate François Fillon UMP

François Fillon
UMP

François Fillon
UMP

The French legislative elections took place on 10 June and 17 June 2007 to elect the 13th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, a few weeks after the French presidential election run-off on 6 May. 7,639 candidates stood for 577 seats, including France's overseas possessions. Early first-round results projected a large majority for President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP and its allies; however, second-round results showed a closer race and a stronger left. Nevertheless, the right retained its majority from 2002 despite losing some 40 seats to the Socialists.

Taking place so shortly after the presidential poll, these elections provided the newly elected president with a legislative majority in line with his political objectives – as was the case in 2002, when presidential victor Jacques Chirac's UMP party received a large majority in the legislative elections. It is the first time since the 1978 elections that the governing coalition has been returned after a second consecutive election. The majority, however, was slimmer than the "blue wave" predicted by opinion polls (blue being the colour of French conservatives).

The procedure by which deputies are elected is a mixture of first past the post and run-off systems. A candidate must take an absolute majority (more than 50%) in their constituency to win in the first round, and receive the support of at least 25% of all registered voters. Otherwise, if they get at least 12.5% of the votes of all registered voters in the first round, or are one of the top two candidates remaining, they go through to the second round, where only a simple plurality is needed to win.