Union pour la Démocratie Française
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Union for French Democracy
Union pour la Démocratie Française |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Leaders |
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Raymond Barre, François Bayrou |
| Founded | February 1, 1978 (alliance) 1997 (unified party) |
| Dissolved | 2007 |
| Merger of | Democratic Force, Liberal Democracy, Independent Republican and Liberal Pole |
| Succeeded by | Democratic Movement |
| Headquarters |
UDF 133 bis, rue de l'Université 75007 Paris |
| Ideology |
Centrism Christian democracy Liberalism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| European affiliation |
European People's Party (1994–04) European Democratic Party (2004–07) |
| International affiliation | None |
| European Parliament group | mostly LDR (1979–94) EPP-ED (1994–2004) ALDE (2004–07) |
| Colours | Orange |
| Website | |
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www |
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UDF 133 bis, rue de l'Université
The Union for French Democracy (French: Union pour la Démocratie Française, UDF) was a centrist political party in France. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the political right in France. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's 1976 book, Démocratie Française. The UDF effectively ceased to exist by the end of 2007, and its membership and assets were transferred to its successor party, the Democratic Movement (MoDem).
The founding parties of the UDF were Giscard's Republican Party (PR), the Centre of Social Democrats (CDS), the Radical Party (Rad.), the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Perspectives and Realities Clubs (CPR). The UDF was most frequently a junior partner in coalitions with the Gaullist Rally for the Republic (RPR) and its successor party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Prior to its dissolution, the UDF became a single entity, due to the defection of Republicans, Radicals and most Christian Democrats to the UMP and the merger of the other centrist components. The party's last leader was François Bayrou, who transferred his leadership to MoDem.
In 1974, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was elected President of France. Two years later, his Gaullist Prime Minister Jacques Chirac resigned and created the Rally for the Republic (RPR) in order to restore the Gaullist domination over the republican institutions. Formally, this party stood in the right-wing parliamentary majority, but it criticised with virulence the policies of the executive duo composed of President Giscard d'Estaing and Prime Minister Raymond Barre.
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