French regional elections, 2010

French regional elections, 2010

← 2004 14 and 21 March 2010 2015 →
26 Regional Presidencies
First party Second party Third party   Leader Martine Aubry Xavier Bertrand Jean-Marie Le Pen Party PS UMP FN Regions won 23 3 0 Change 1 First round 5,673,912 5,066,942 2,223,800 Percentage 29.14% 26.02% 11.42% Second round 10,493,988 7,496,897 1,943,307 Percentage 49.52% 35.37% 9.17%
Second round results by region.   Union for a Popular Movement   Socialist Party   Miscellaneous left

Regional elections were held in France on 14 and 21 March 2010. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 régions, which, though they do not have legislative autonomy, manage sizable budgets.

The elections resulted in significant gains for the French Socialist Party (PS) and its allies, who went on to control 21 of the 22 regions of Metropolitan France.

Following the 2004 elections, which saw an historic victory of the left, largely led by the PS, only Alsace and Corsica were still run by the UMP. The left made gains in the national level in 2007 (presidential and legislative), and performed strongly in the 2008 municipal and cantonal elections. In metropolitan France, all incumbent left-wing Presidents are running for a second term in an election which generally favours popular incumbents and anti-government voting. Yet, the left is divided between the PS and Europe Écologie, which performed very strongly in the 2009 European elections.

The right, principally the UMP and its allies, were victorious in the 2007 presidential and legislative elections and also in the 2009 European elections. The right is favoured by its unity, notably by its new alliances with Philippe de Villiers' Movement for France and Frédéric Nihous' Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition. Yet, with this newfound unity, the right lacks a large vote reserve in the eventuality of a second round, where it could count only on partial support from supporters of the centrist MoDem and the far-right FN. In addition, the growing unpopularity of President Nicolas Sarkozy could have hurt the right in an election where voters tend to sanction the incumbent government in Paris.