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List of political parties in France

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France

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Political parties in France lists political parties in France. France has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. Since the 1980s, France's government has alternated between two rather stable coalitions:

It is difficult for parties outside those coalitions to make significant inroads, though the far-right National Front has had sizable successes.

Contents

Political parties and leaders in Metropolitan France


Nationwide parties

In the "remarks" column: "minor" indicates a party that makes less than 3% in national elections; "major" indicates a party that has a reasonable chance of leading a national government; "one-person" indicates a party that has only one leading and commanding personality.

Name in English Name Acronym Leader or Chairman Remarks Political Position
Trotskyists
Revolutionary Communist League Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire LCR Olivier Besancenot minor marxism, trotskyist
Workers' Struggle Lutte Ouvrière LO Arlette Laguiller, spokeswoman minor trotskyist
Left-wing
Socialist Party Parti Socialiste PS François Hollande major social democracy, socialism
Left Radical Party Parti Radical de Gauche PRG Jean-Michel Baylet minor; previously Parti Radical Socialiste, Radical Socialist Party or PRS, Mouvement des Radicaux de Gauche, Left Radical Movement or MRG, Radical left radicalism, social liberalism
French Communist Party Parti Communiste Français PCF Marie-George Buffet In decline since the 1980s, formerly major party, it now polls around 3% eurocommunism and communism, democratic socialism
Citizen and Republican Movement Mouvement républicain et citoyen MRC Jean-Pierre Chevènement minor left-wing nationalism, socialism, republicanism
Greens
The Greens Les Verts VEC Cécile Duflot major French green-ecologist party of the left green politics, social democracy
Centrists
Democratic Movement Mouvement Démocrate MoDem François Bayrou major, former UDF created by Bayrou after his relative success in the 2007 presidential ballot to contest the legislative election of June 2007 social liberalism, liberalism, centrism
New Center Nouveau Centre PSLE or NC Hervé Morin major; formed by 80% of former UDF assembly members in May 2007 following the creation of the independent Democratic Movement. These assembly members wished to remain in the presidential majority with UMP liberalism, Christian democracy
Right-wing
Union for a Popular Movement Union pour un Mouvement Populaire UMP Patric Devedjiao (acting) major; As of 2007, the president (Nicolas Sarkozy), the prime minister (Francois Fillon) and the speakers of both houses of parliament are from UMP. conservatism, liberal-conservatism, also libertarianism and nationalism
National Center of Independents and Peasants Centre National des Indépendants et Paysans CNI, CNIP Annick du Roscoät minor, associated with UMP Conservatism
Radical Party Parti Radical RAD Jean-Louis Borloo and André Rossinot minor, associated with UMP, with some members in government Full historical name: Parti Radical Républicain et Radical Socialiste" - Radical-Republican and Radical-Socialist Party social liberalism, liberalism
Far-right/Eurosceptics
National Front Front National FN Jean-Marie Le Pen major; personalist strong law enforcement, anti-immigration, eurosceptic
National Republican Movement Mouvement National Républicain MNR Bruno Mégret minor, personalist. Split off the National Front strong law enforcement, anti-immigration, eurosceptic
Movement for France Mouvement pour la France MPF Philippe de Villiers minor strong law enforcement, anti-immigration, anti-islamicization, eurosceptic, traditionalist
Rally for France and European Independence Rassemblement pour la France et l'Indépendance de l'Europe RPF Charles Pasqua minor, one-person eurosceptic
Miscellaneous
Hunt, Fish, Nature, Traditions Chasse, Pêche, Nature, Traditions CPNT Jean Saint-Josse minor, mostly in European and local elections traditional rural values; refusal of environmental legislation and regulations restricting the right to hunt and fish, conservatism
Liberal Alternative Alternative Liberale AL Édouard Fillias minor new libertarian-liberal party, in local and general elections libertarianism; classical liberalism; self-ownership
Former Parties of Note
Rally for the Republic Rassemblement pour la République RPR Michelle Alliot-Marie major; merged into UMP conservatism
Liberal Democracy Démocratie Libérale DL Alain Madelin minor; originally Parti Républicain - Republican Party or PR; merged into UMP neoliberalism
French Section of the Workers' International Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière SFIO Guy Mollet major; disbanded after creation of the Parti Socialiste. Major party of the third and fourth republics socialism

Minor parties

Royalists

Left

Greens

Center

Other mainland (and Corsican) parties

(with past or present representation in at least a regional council)

Political parties in French overseas possessions

Note: Many of the parties in French oversea possessions have strong ties to counterparts in Metropolitan France.

Overseas departemental parties represented in the National Assembly

This list is incomplete.

Lists

See also

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List of political parties in France from Wíkipedia. ©2006 by Wíkipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. View a list of authors or edit this article.

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