1967 French legislative election

1967 French legislative election

5 March 1967 (first round) 12 March 1967 (second round)
All 487 seats in the French National Assembly 246 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	80.90% (first round) 12.17pp 70.09% (second round) 2.21pp
Majority party Minority party   Leader Georges Pompidou François Mitterrand Party UDR FGDS Leader's seat Cantal-2nd Nièvre-3rd Last election 249 seats 107 seats Seats won 240 118 Seat change 8 11 Popular vote 8,453,512 (1st round) 7,972,908 (2nd round) 4,207,166 (1st round) 4,505,329 (2nd round) Percentage 37.75% (1st round) 42.61% (2nd round) 18.79% (1st round) 24.08% (2nd round)   Third party Fourth party   Leader Waldeck Rochet Jean Lecanuet Party PCF Democratic Centre Leader's seat Seine-Saint-Denis-3rd Seine-Maritime (Senator) Last election 41 seats 64 seats (MRP and CNIP) Seats won 73 42 Seat change 32 22 Popular vote 5,029,808 (1st round) 3,998,790 (2nd round) 2,864,272 (1st round) 1,328,777 (2nd round) Percentage 22.46% (1st round) 21.37% (2nd round) 12.79% (1st round) 7.10% (2nd round)
Results by constituency
PM before election Georges Pompidou UDR Elected PM Georges Pompidou UDR

Legislative elections were held in France on 5 March 1967, with a second round on 12 March, electing the third National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. Although the Gaullists retained their absolute majority, the results made it clear that Charles de Gaulle's position was weakening, as the French Communist Party and the Socialists achieved 40% representation in parliament.

Background

In December 1965 Charles de Gaulle was re-elected President of France in the first Presidential election by universal suffrage. However, contrary to predictions, there had been a second ballot. This election marked a process of rebuilding by the opposition.

François Mitterrand's unexpected result, as De Gaulle's challenger in the second round of the presidential election, allowed him to establish himself as the leader of the non-Communist Left. He led the Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left (FGDS), composed of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO, socialist party), the Radical Party and several left-wing republican clubs, which concluded an electoral agreement with the French Communist Party (PCF).

Ahead of the election, minor redistricting occurred to account for the impending dissolution of the Seine and Seine-et-Oise departments in Ile-de-France, which contained Paris and its western suburbs, due to take place on 1 January 1968. While the existing constituencies in Paris were already fully contained within the city's boundaries, and thus needed no change in light of its promotion to a department in its own right, the remaining constituencies of the two dissolved departments were replaced by ones for the then-unestablished Yvelines, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, and Val-d'Oise.

The centrist and right-wing opposition to de Gaulle gathered in the Democratic Centre led by Jean Lecanuet, the "third man" of 1965 presidential election. However some centrists refused to integrate into this group and joined the Gaullist Party, which became the Union of Democrats for the Fifth Republic (UD5).

Campaign

Prime Minister Georges Pompidou led the campaign of the incumbent majority, but this was divided. In January 1966, a cabinet reshuffle took place. The Independent Republicans (RI) leader and Economy minister Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was dismissed from the cabinet. His group stayed in the Presidential Majority but with a more critical position. He summed up this attitude by a "yes, but..." to Gaullist policies.

Results

The result of the first round was perceived as a punishment against the Presidential Majority, which obtained a surprisingly low result. The outcome of the second round depended on the centrist voters. The Gaullists warned voters against a return to the Fourth Republic, political instability and "Communist danger". The alliance between centrists and the candidates of the Presidential Majority in some constituencies explained the victory of the Right in the second round.

The left improved in comparison with the previous legislative election and the Presidential Majority won with only a one-seat majority. The centrist deputies were not numerous enough to force the Gaullists to make compromises. Georges Pompidou was confirmed as Prime Minister of a UDR-RI cabinet.

Party		First round		Second round		Total seats
		Votes	%	Votes	%
	Union for the Defence of the Republic–Independent Republicans	8,453,512	37.75	7,972,908	42.61	240
	French Communist Party	5,029,808	22.46	3,998,790	21.37	73
	Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left	4,207,166	18.79	4,505,329	24.08	118
	Democratic Centre	2,864,272	12.79	1,328,777	7.10	42
	Miscellaneous	1,136,191	5.07	702,352	3.75	9
	Unified Socialist Party and far-left	506,592	2.26	173,466	0.93	5
	Republican Alliance for Progress and Liberties	194,776	0.87	28,347	0.15	0
Total		22,392,317	100.00	18,709,969	100.00	487
Valid votes		22,392,317	97.84	18,709,969	96.97
Invalid/blank votes		494,834	2.16	584,368	3.03
Total votes		22,887,151	100.00	19,294,337	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		28,291,838	80.90	27,526,358	70.09
Source: Quid, IPU

Parliamentary groups in the National Assembly

Party		Seats
	Union for the Defence of the Republic Group	200
	Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left Group	121
	French Communist Party Group	73
	Independent Republicans Group	42
	Progress and Modern Democracy Group	41
	Non-Inscrits	9
Total		486
Source: Quid