A Senate election was held for 165 of the 348 seats in the Senate of France on 25 September 2011. Senate members were primarily elected by municipal officials, and the number of senators was increased from 343 to 348, due to the growth of France's population since the previous election was held in 2008. The Socialist Party

Socialist Party (France)

The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...

 and other left-of-center parties gained a majority of seats in the upper house for the first time in the Fifth Republic

French Fifth Republic

The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...

.

Results

|-
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left colspan=2 valign=top| Parties and coalitions
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Abbr.
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|2004

French Senate election, 2004

Following the end of the 9-year terms of 127 "series C" senators, indirect senatorial elections were held in France on September 26, 2004.This was the last renewal of serie C senators- following the electoral reform, senators are not elected by thirds to nine-year terms but by halves to six-year...

!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=centre|a
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|2008

French Senate election, 2008

Indirect Senate elections were held for 114 of the 343 seats in the French Senate on 21 September 2008. With this election, the number of senators was increased from 331 to 343; Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin elected two senators each for the first time...

!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|±
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|2011

French Senate election, 2011

A Senate election was held for 165 of the 348 seats in the Senate of France on 25 September 2011. Senate members were primarily elected by municipal officials, and the number of senators was increased from 343 to 348, due to the growth of France's population since the previous election was held in...

!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|±
|-
|-
|style="background-color:#0233D2"|
|align=left|Union for a Popular Movement

Union for a Popular Movement

The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party...

 (Union pour un mouvement populaire)
|align=right|UMP
|align=right|159
|align=right|56
|align=right|151
|align=right|–8
|align=right|132
|align=right|–19
|-
|style="background-color:#4AAAFF"|
|align=left| Centrist Union-UDF

Centrist Union

The Centrist Union is a current parliamentary group in the French Senate founded in 1983. As of April 2009, the UC group has 29 Senators.Since the 2008 Senate elections, the group is known as the Centrist Union. Prior to that, between 2005 and 2008, it was known as the Centrist Union-Union for...

 (Union centriste–Union pour la démocratie française)
|align=right|UC-UDF
|align=right|30
|align=right|4
|align=right|29
|align=right|–1
|align=right|31
|align=right|+2
|-
|
|align=left| Total "Presidential Majority" (Right)
|
|align=right|189
|align=right|60
|align=right|180
|align=right|–9
|align=right|163
|align=right|–17
|-
|style="background-color:#E75480"|
|align=left| Socialist Party (Parti socialiste)
|align=right|PS
|align=right|95
|align=right|29
|align=right|116
|align=right|+21
|align=right|131
|align=right|+15
|-
|style="background-color:#FF0000"|
|align=left| Communist Party

French Communist Party

The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...

 (Parti communiste)
|align=right|CRC
|align=right|23
|align=right|3
|align=right|23
|align=right|+0
|align=right|21
|align=right|–2
|-
|bgcolor="#00c000"|
|align=left| Europe Écologie – The Greens

Europe Écologie–The Greens

Europe Écologie–The Greens is a green political party in France, formed in 2010 from the merger of the Greens and other ecologists and regionalists who formerly composed together the Europe Écologie coalition for the 2009 European elections....

 (Europe Écologie – Les Verts)
|align=right|VEC
|align=right|0
|align=right|0
|align=right|5
|align=right|0
|align=right|10
|align=right|+5
|-
|
|align=left| Total Left
|
|align=right|118
|align=right|32
|align=right|139
|align=right|+21
|align=right|162
|align=right|+23
|-
|style="background-color:#7D05B1"|
|align=left| European Democratic and Social Rally

European Democratic and Social Rally

The European Democratic and Social Rally is a social-liberal parliamentary group representing the Radical tradition in the French Senate.-Chamber of Deputies:...

 (Rassemblement démocratique et social européen)
|align=right|RDSE
|align=right|17
|align=right|8
|align=right|17
|align=right|+0
|align=right|16
|align=right|–1
|-
|style="background-color:GRAY"|
|align=left| Non-Inscrits
|align=right|NI
|align=right|6
|align=right|1
|align=right|7
|align=right|+1
|align=right|7
|align=right|+0
|-
|
|align=left| Total
|
|align=right|331
|align=right|114
|align=right|343
|align=right|+12
|align=right|348
|align=right|+5
|-
|align=left colspan=9| a - Seats up for election (Serie A)
Source: Public Senat

La Chaîne parlementaire

La Chaîne parlementaire is a French television network responsible for broadcasting activity from the National Assembly of France and the Senate of France . It is available through digital terrestrial television "TNT"...

|}

Swing to the left

Prior to the 2011 election, the French Senate had been under the majority control of right

Right-wing politics

In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...

 or centre-right parties since the start of the Fifth Republic

French Fifth Republic

The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...

. Following left-wing

Left-wing politics

In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...

 gains in the senatorial elections of 2004

French Senate election, 2004

Following the end of the 9-year terms of 127 "series C" senators, indirect senatorial elections were held in France on September 26, 2004.This was the last renewal of serie C senators- following the electoral reform, senators are not elected by thirds to nine-year terms but by halves to six-year...

 and 2008

French Senate election, 2008

Indirect Senate elections were held for 114 of the 343 seats in the French Senate on 21 September 2008. With this election, the number of senators was increased from 331 to 343; Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin elected two senators each for the first time...

, the 2011 elections saw the Senate coming under the control of left-wing parties such as the Socialist Party

Socialist Party (France)

The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...

, who gained around 24 new seats.

Senate Presidency

After the election, the incumbent President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher

Gérard Larcher

Gérard Larcher is a French politician who was President of the Senate of France from 2008 to 2011. A member of the center-right Union for a Popular Movement, he was a Senator for the Yvelines département from 1986 to 2004 and has been again since 2007.Larcher was born in Flers, Orne to a Catholic...

, stated his intention to run for re-election; he believed that he could win despite the left-wing majority, with the aid of alliances with independents, centrists, and some leftists.

Jean-Pierre Bel

Jean-Pierre Bel

Jean-Pierre Bel is a French politician who has been President of the Senate of France since 2011. From the Ariège department, Bel is a member of the Socialist Party; he was elected to the Senate in September 1998 and re-elected in September 2008...

, President of the Socialist Group, was elected as President of the Senate on 1 October 2011, replacing Larcher. He received 179 votes against 134 votes for Larcher; a centrist, Valerie Letard

Valérie Létard

Valérie Létard was Secretary of State for Solidarity in the government of François Fillon from June 2007 to 14 November 2010....

, received 29 votes.

Interpretations and potential consequences

The election was seen in many circles as a referendum on the incumbent French president Nicholas Sarkozy, whose popularity had been in decline over the preceding months. François Hollande

François Hollande

François Gérard Georges Hollande is a French politician. From 1997 to 2008, he was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party. He has also served as a Deputy of the National Assembly of France, representing the first constituency of Corrèze, since 1997. He previously represented that seat...

, a Socialist politician considered to be a leading contender for the 2012 Socialist presidential nomination, pointed out that the defeat meant the Sarkozy's incumbent Union for a Popular Movement

Union for a Popular Movement

The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party...

 party had lost seats in every election since he took office in 2007. UMP politicians described the election results as "a serious warning for [their] party".

Socialist control of the French Senate would prevent Sarkozy from passing a balanced budget constitutional amendment, which requires three-fifths of the vote from the combined French Parliament. It would also enable the Socialists to launch commissions of inquiry into, for instance, possible political corruption allegations.

The German news magazine Der Spiegel

Der Spiegel

Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...

, looking at September 2011 polls and forward to the May 2012 presidential election

French presidential election, 2012

The 2012 French presidential election is the next presidential election, to be held on 22 April and 6 May 2012, the latter being used for a run-off if necessary...

, observed that "the Socialist Party – still licking its wounds after a sex scandal brought down their great hope Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn , often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party...

 – would win ... if it were held today." It also opined that Sarkozy's "foreign policy actionism" in Libya – including a 15 September visit to Tripoli

Tripoli

Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...

 with David Cameron

David Cameron

David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....

– and "proposals for a quick resolution to the Middle East conflict at the United Nations" just prior to the election were not "able to perceptively increase his popularity".