French presidential election, 2007
Encyclopedia
The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac
as president
of France for a five-year term.
The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy
. The first round of voting took place on Saturday, 21 April 2007 (French territories in the Americas and the Eastern Pacific) and Sunday, 22 April 2007 (French territories in the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Metropolitan France
). As no candidate obtained a majority
(50 percent plus one), a second round
between the two leading candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy
and Ségolène Royal
, took place on Saturday, 5 May and Sunday, 6 May 2007.
Sarkozy and Royal both represented a generational change. Either candidate would have become the first French president to be born after World War II and the first not to have been in politics under Charles de Gaulle
.
of 64.1 million (not including French people living abroad). The results of that round saw Sarkozy and Royal qualify for the second round with Sarkozy getting 31% and Royal 26%. François Bayrou
came third (19%) and Jean-Marie Le Pen
fourth (10%), unlike in 2002
when Le Pen got a surprising 16.9% and qualified for the second round.
Immediately after the first round's results were made official, four defeated left-wing candidates – José Bové
, Marie-George Buffet
, Arlette Laguiller
and Dominique Voynet
– urged their supporters to vote for Royal. This was the first time since 1981 that Laguiller had endorsed the Socialist Party's candidate. Olivier Besancenot
called his supporters to vote against Sarkozy. Frédéric Nihous
and Gérard Schivardi
never officially supported either Royal or Sarkozy. Philippe de Villiers
called for a vote for Sarkozy. Le Pen told his voters to "abstain massively" in the second round.
On 25 April, Bayrou declared he would not support either candidate in the runoff, and announced he would form a new political party called the Democratic Movement
. He criticised both major candidates, and offered to debate them. Royal agreed to hold a televised debate, while Sarkozy offered to have a private discussion but not a televised debate
.
By around 6:15 pm local time on 6 May, Belgian and Swiss news sources such as Le Soir
, RTBF
, La Libre Belgique
and La Tribune de Genève
had announced Nicolas Sarkozy as the winner of the second round, citing preliminary exit poll data. The final CSA estimate showed him winning with 53% of the votes cast. Royal conceded defeat to Sarkozy that evening.
Nationwide, Nicolas Sarkozy obtained 31% and Ségolène Royal 26% – while in 2002, Jacques Chirac
had obtained 20%, and Lionel Jospin
16.18%. The right-of-centre François Bayrou obtained 18.6% this time, nearly tripling his 2002 result (6.8%). National Front (FN) candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen, made only 10.4%, compared to his stunning 16.9% finish in 2002. Along with the April–May shift to the far right made by Sarkozy, this has led many commentators to allege that traditional voters of the FN had been tempted by Sarkozy. On a global scale, the left-wing reached 36% of the votes, against 19% for the "centre", 33% for the right wing and 11% for the far right.
Other candidates received a much lower share of the vote than they had in 2002, with Olivier Besancenot
(Revolutionary Communist League
, LCR) failing to achieve the 5% necessary to have his political campaign reimbursed by the state. Besancenot received 4.1%, compared to 4.3% in 2002. He was followed by the traditionalist Philippe de Villiers
(2.2%), Communist Marie-George Buffet
(1.9%, compared to 3.4% for Robert Hue
in 2002), Green candidate Dominique Voynet
(1.6%, compared to 5.3% for Noël Mamère
in 2002), Workers' Struggle
's candidate Arlette Laguiller
(1.3%, compared to 5.7% in 2002), alter-globalisation candidate José Bové
(1.3%), Frédéric Nihous
(1.2% , against 4.2% for Jean Saint-Josse
in 2002) and finally Gérard Schivardi
with 0.3% (Daniel Gluckstein
had achieved 0.5% in 2002). The abstention
rate was 15.4%.
With an overall record turnout
of 83.8%, a level not achieved since the 1965 presidential election
when turnout was 84.8%, the vast majority of the electorate decided not to stay home. Most of them decided against protest vote
s, and chose the vote utile (tactical voting
, literally "useful vote"), that is, a vote for one of the purported leaders of the electoral race (Nicolas Sarkozy, Ségolène Royal and/or François Bayrou). The "Anyone But Sarkozy" push benefited both Bayrou and Royal, while the tactical voting, on the right or on the left, explains the low score of the other candidates, in contrast with the last presidential election's first round.
The electoral campaign saw a polarisation of the political scene, encapsulated by the "Anyone But Sarkozy" slogan on the left. But it also saw a reconfiguration of the political chessboard, with various left-wing figures and voters deciding to support Sarkozy against Royal, who saw opposition inside her own party. Bernard Tapie
, a former Socialist, Max Gallo
, who had supported left-wing Republican Jean-Pierre Chevènement
in 2002, Eric Besson
, etc., passed on Sarkozy's side. On the other hand, some right-wing voters, upset by Sarkozy's attitude on law and order, immigration, and even genetics (his recent declarations on paedophilia, homosexuality and suicides as genetically
induced, denounced by the geneticist Axel Kahn
), decided to vote for Bayrou. Centrist figures of the Socialist party, such as Michel Rocard
and Bernard Kouchner
, have called for an alliance between Bayrou and Royal, which might have consequences in the June 2007 legislative elections – these will determine the parliamentary majority, and decide if France will, or not, see another cohabitation
between the President, head of state, and the Prime minister, leader of the government. Former socialist minister Claude Allègre
stated such an alliance was "entirely conceivable", while Royal herself strongly criticised Rocard's comments. François Hollande
, the national secretary of the Socialist Party and Ségolène Royal's partner, excluded any alliance with the centre-right, along with others left-wing leaders, such as Laurent Fabius
or Dominique Voynet
.
In urban areas, most lower and middle-income neighbourhoods and cities voted largely for Ségolène Royal. In the tenth arrondissement of Paris, Royal obtained 42% against 25% for Sarkozy, and 20.35% for Bayrou; in the 11th arrondissement
, Royal obtained more than 40.8% to 25.8% for Sarkozy and 20.9% for Bayrou. In the 18th arrondissement
, Royal obtained 41.1% against 23.4% for Sarkozy; in the 19th arrondissement
, Royal obtained more than 39%, against almost 28% for Sarkozy; and in the 20th arrondissement
, Royal obtained 42.4% against 23.2% for Sarkozy, and 18.3% for Bayrou. Royal also narrowly beat Sarkozy in the normally conservative city of Bordeaux
(31.4% against 30.8%, and 22% for Bayrou), as well as in Brest
, Caen
, Clermont-Ferrand
, Grenoble
, Nantes
, Rouen
, Lille
, Le Mans
, Montpellier
, Saint-Étienne
, Limoges
, Amiens
, Pau (where Bayrou finished first), Rennes
and Toulouse
(the historical base of the former Radical-Socialist Party
). Working-class Paris suburbs (called les banlieue
s) also massively voted for Royal. This was more or less expected, in particular with the high level of voter registration by suburban youths, who had been strongly opposed to Sarkozy since the 2005 riots
during which he had made controversial remarks. Meanwhile, a large number of university students had participated in the protests against the CPE, proposed by Sarkozy's UMP party, in the spring of 2006; they also strongly backed Royal. She consequently came first in Nanterre
, with almost 36% against 23% for Sarkozy. She reached 41.6% in Saint-Denis
, against 19.6% for Sarkozy and 15.5% for Bayrou. In Évry, she also passed the 40% line, while Sarkozy received only 23.6%. In Créteil
, she won a closer race, gaining 35% to Sarkozy's 30% and 18% for Bayrou. In the department of Seine-Saint-Denis
, home to many people of immigrant origin, Royal obtained 34.2% to 26.8% for Sarkozy and 16.7% for Bayrou.
In contrast, wealthy arrondissements of Paris
voted for Sarkozy. The prosperous 16th arrondissement
gave him 64% of its vote, against 16.4% for Bayrou and only 11.27% for Royal; the seventh arrondissement
voted for 56% in favour of Sarkozy, to 20.35 for Bayrou and 15.35% for Royal; the eighth arrondissement
voted at more than 58% for Sarkozy to 18.65% for Bayrou and 14% for Royal; the 15th arrondissement
voted 41.5% for Sarkozy against 24.3% for Royal and 22.9% for Bayrou. The mostly wealthy Paris suburbs of the Hauts-de-Seine
department, home of Neuilly-sur-Seine
where Sarkozy is mayor, voted 38.3% for him, against 26% for Royal and 21.3% for Bayrou. Sarkozy also won in the Essonne
department (more than 31% against 27% for Royal), in the Seine-et-Marne
(33.5% to almost 24% for Royal) as well as in the Yvelines
(37.7% against 23% for Royal and 22% for Bayrou).
Marseille
, the second-largest city of France, went Sarkozy's way overall as he won 34.25% of the vote to 27.1% for Royal and only 14.1% for Bayrou (putting a close third ahead of Le Pen, who obtained 13.4%). However, in working-class neighbourhoods of the north of Marseille, such as Savine (15th arrondissement) and the Busserine (14th arrondissement), Royal received overwhelming support, receiving 60% of the vote in Busserine.
France's third-largest city, Lyon
, also was won by Sarkozy, who received 34.5% of the vote to 27.3% for Royal and 22% for Bayrou. He triumphed as well in the wealthy city of Aix-en-Provence
with 36.8%, against 25.4% for Royal and 19.8% for Bayrou. In Nice
, a conservative stronghold, Sarkozy obtained more than 41% against 20.4% for Royal and less than 15% for Bayrou. Sarkozy also narrowly beat Royal in the industrial port of Le Havre
(29% against 26.8%), as well as in Avignon
, Nîmes
, Metz
, Nancy, and Strasbourg
(these last three cities belonging to the Alsace-Lorraine
region).
A map of France's departments shows the candidate of the Socialist Party, Ségolène Royal, came first in the South-West and the Massif Central
, which were traditional bases of the Radical-Socialist Party during the Third Republic
. She also topped the poll in Brittany, except in the department of Morbihan
, but a fifth of electors in Brittany voted for Bayrou. Nièvre
and Seine-Saint-Denis
were other departments where she came first, as well as the overseas departments of Martinique
and Réunion
and the overseas territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Sarkozy came first everywhere else, except for Pyrénées-Atlantiques
, where Bayrou topped the poll in the department of his birth.
The left regressed, compared 2002, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, which has traditionally favored Socialist and Communist candidates. The Nord department, hit hard during the 1980s by an industrial crisis, gave a plurality to Sarkozy (29.3%), while Royal won 24.8% (and won the city of Lille
) and Bayrou received 15.6%. Marie-George Buffet
barely received 5% in the constituency of the Communist deputy Alain Bocquet
.
The Haute-Garonne
, traditional Radical-Socialist territory, voted (including its capital, Toulouse), for Ségolène Royal, giving her 33%, against less than 27% for Sarkozy and slightly more than 19% for Bayrou. The Corrèze
, where Jacques Chirac began his political career as the deputy of Ussel
, also voted slightly in favour of Royal, as did the Creuse
, one of the least-populated departments of France.
The Alpes-Maritimes
, part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
region where the National Front won several cities in the 1990s (Toulon
of the Var, Marignane
of the Bouches-du-Rhône
and Orange
of the Vaucluse
) voted for Sarkozy at 43.6%, while Royal received only 17.9%, Bayrou 15.0%, and Jean-Marie Le Pen 13.5%. The Vaucluse
department gave 32.8% of its votes to Sarkozy, 20.9% to Royal, 16.8% to Le Pen and 15.5% to Bayrou.
The Vendée
voted 29.7% for Sarkozy, 21.7% for Royal, 20.8% for Bayrou, and 11.3% for Philippe de Villiers
, deputy of the department. Le Pen. meanwhile, managed only 6.5%.
Le Pen's highest departmental tallies occurred in Aisne
(17.3%) and Haute-Marne
(17%). Other departments to gave him more than 15% were the Vaucluse
(16.8%), Haute-Saône
(16.5%), Meuse
(16.3%), Ardennes
(16.2% – where far-left candidate Besancenot received 5.35%), Pas-de-Calais (16%), Oise
(15.9%), Corse-du-Sud
(15.9%), Vosges
(15.7%), and Gard
(15.4%),
Departments where Besancenot obtained more than 5% of the vote include Ardennes
, Aisne (where Le Pen also achieved a strong results), Ariège
, Allier (where Sarkozy obtained 28% against nearly 26% for Royal), Calvados
(where Sarkozy finished first with 29% to 25% for Royal), Finistère
, Cher, Côtes d'Armor, Creuse, Indre
, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Nord, Meuse, Moselle
, Pas-de-Calais (6.2%), Sarthe
, Nièvre, Puy-de-Dôme
, Somme, Territoire-de-Belfort, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Vienne
and the overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (6.5%, along with 5.1% for José Bové; only 6.7% for Le Pen).
The overseas department
of Martinique
has been strongly opposed to Sarkozy; Aimé Césaire
, mayor of Fort-de-France
and leader of the Négritude
movement, refused to see him during his visit there in December 2005 (due to the UMP vote of the 2005 law on colonialism
). In the first round, it heavily supported Royal (48.5%, against 33.8% for Sarkozy and only 8.6% for Bayrou; the next highest total was received by Besancenot, with 2.5%). Réunion
also strongly supported Royal (46.2%, to 25% for Sarkozy and 13% for Bayrou). Meanwhile, Sarkozy won in New Caledonia
(with 49.7% of the vote) and in Guadeloupe
(with 42.6%, against 38.3% for Royal), as well as in French Guiana
and the overseas territories of French Polynesia
and Wallis and Futuna
.
, see Sociologie du vote du 1er tour, L'Humanité
, 5 May 2007.
30% of men voted for Sarkozy, 24% of them for Royal. 32% of women voted Sarkozy, 27% Royal. 29% of 18–24 years-old voted Royal, against 26% for Sarkozy. Sarkozy also made a higher score for 35–44 years-old and 60–69 years-old, but a lesser score in the 45–59 years-old category.
36% of farmers voted Sarkozy against 8% for Royal. Workers voted at similar levels for both Sarkozy and Royal (21% for each), while public servants voted at 34% for Royal (18% for Sarkozy). 19% of unemployed people voted for Sarkozy, 32% of them for Royal. Students also voted in majority for Royal (32% against 21%), while pensioned elders voted at 41% for Sarkozy (23% for Royal).
The second round of the 2007 French presidential election started in Saint Pierre and Miquelon on Saturday, 5 May 2007 at 8 am local time (2007-05-05 10:00 UTC) and ended in the large cities of Metropolitan France
on Sunday, 6 May 2007 at 8 pm local time (2007-05-06 18:00 UTC). Turnout
in the second round of the election was 84.0%, higher than in the first round. Nicolas Sarkozy got 53.06% of the votes and Ségolène Royal got 46.94%.
The left-right division was reinforced, according to many observers, by the election of Nicolas Sarkozy. 91% of the electors self-identifying as members of the centre-left voted for Royal, and 92% of those who self-identified as centre-right voted for Sarkozy. The center thus appears to be submitted to the left-right polarization. The vast majority of the far-left also voted for Royal, while their far-right counterparts strongly supported Sarkozy. Although Jacques Chirac was successful among young electors in 1995
, mostly due to his discourse on the "social rupture" (fracture sociale), Sarkozy's electorate is more traditionally right-wing and focused on older people. The only age group that gave him a majority was the over-50, who account for 52% of his voters, compared to only 37% of Royal's. Sarkozy obtained only 40% among those 18–24 years old, while Chirac had obtained 55% in the same category in 1995.
In social categories, Sarkozy won majorities among pensioned and inactive elders (58%), CEOs, negotiants and craftworkers (82% ), categories which are traditionally conservative. Sarkozy lost votes, compared to Chirac, among workers (59% for Royal) and employees (58% for Royal).
The general electoral geography did not significantly change from the first Chirac election. However, Sarkozy received a lesser score in Corrèze
, Chirac's home department, and bettered Chirac's score in the North-East, where Le Pen had obtained some of his better scores in 2002. Overall, the increase in votes for Sarkozy between the two rounds occurred mostly in departments where the National Front's presence is strong.
Spoilt votes represented 4.2% of the electors (as much as in 2002 and 1995).
The requirements for being successfully nominated as a candidate
are defined by the organic law of 6 November 1962.
All candidates must be of French nationality and at least 23 years old (the same requirement as for the candidates to the National Assembly).
Candidates must obtain signatures from 500 elected officials (mayors, members of Parliament, elected representatives) supporting their candidacy. These signatures from elected officials (informally known in French as parrainages, but legally known as "presentations") must be from at least 30 different departments or overseas territories, and no more than 10 percent can be from any individual department. A presentation from an elected official does not imply the official supports the policies of the candidate, but rather that this official considers the candidate to be a serious candidate.
Candidates must also submit a statement with details of their personal assets.
The Constitutional Council
published the official candidate list on 20 March 2007. The candidates are listed in a randomised order. This order will be used for the official campaign: thus, posters for Olivier Besancenot will always be on the #1 board, those for Marie-George Buffet on the #2 board, etc., regardless of where in France the boards are located.
There were a total of 12 candidates for the 2007 election.
Apart from issues related to TV and radio time regulated by the broadcasting authorities during the two-week "official campaign", other legal issues related to freedom of speech of candidates appeared during the month before the first round.
was exceptionally low, as well as protest vote
s. Blank vote (going to vote, but deliberately cancelling one's ballot, by any means possible – tearing it in two, writing Tintin
on it, or anything absurd as such) is not included in official counts – i.e. it is considered a spoilt vote
, counted as equivalent to abstention. A very small party, the Parti Blanc (White Party, for "white vote", i.e. blank vote) has called for the official count of white votes by the state (as in None of the above
systems). It organised a march in Paris on Wednesday 18 March 2007 in which only thirty people participated.
For the first time in a presidential election, electronic voting
has been introduced in some areas. Voting machines have been authorised in 2004. They have been introduced in only 82 of 36,000 voting districts, and have been criticised by a number of people, both on the left and on the right. A petition
against them has also been made (see Wikinews:Electronic voting disputed in France).
(a student of Louis Althusser
), the editor François Maspero
, the historian Pierre Rosanvallon
, the psychanalyst Fethi Benslama, the philosopher Jacques Bouveresse
, the sociologist Robert Castel
, the philosopher Catherine Colliot-Thélène, the writer Chloé Delaume
, the historian Michel Dreyfus, the anthropologist Françoise Héritier
, the sculptor Françoise Jolivet, the film-maker Roy Lekus, the sociologist Eric Macé, the philosopher Pierre Macherey
, the philosopher Jean-Claude Monod the artist Ariane Mnouchkine
, the economist Yann Moulier Boutang (involved with Multitudes
), the historian Gérard Noiriel, the historian Pascal Ory
, the historian Michelle Perrot, the economist Thomas Piketty
, the historian Benjamin Stora
, the anthropologist Emmanuel Terray, the lawyer Michel Tubiana (former president of the Human Rights League
), and the sociologist Loïc Wacquant
(a student of Pierre Bourdieu
).
Régis Debray
called to vote first for a far-left candidate, then Royal in the second round.
On the other hand, the so-called Nouveaux Philosophes were split on their support. André Glucksmann
called to vote Sarkozy, while Bernard-Henri Lévy
voted for Ségolène Royal. Max Gallo
, who had supported the left-wing Republican Jean-Pierre Chevènement
in 2002, joined Sarkozy five years later. Pascal Bruckner
and Alain Finkielkraut
have also proved close to Sarkozy, although they did not declare support for him, but Sarkozy did support Finkielkraut after controversial statements made in Haaretz
newspaper following the 2005 civil unrest. According to the journalist Jacques Julliard, the support of some French intellectuals for the 2003 invasion of Iraq is the root of their rallying to Sarkozy, following the creation of the review titled Le Meilleur des mondes (Brave New World). Pascal Bruckner
, historian Stéphane Courtois
, Thérèse Delpech
, André Glucksmann
, Romain Goupil, Pierre-André Taguieff
, Olivier Rollin, and Pierre Rigoulot
are frequent contributors to this review.
Tennis player Yannick Noah
called to vote for Royal, while Sarkozy obtained the support of singers Johnny Hallyday
, Mireille Mathieu
and Faudel
, of rapper Doc Gyneco
, and former politician and current actor Bernard Tapie
. He also had the support of actors Jean Reno
and Christian Clavier
, both residing in Neuilly-sur-Seine
where Sarkozy was the mayor between 1983 and 2002 and of Gérard Depardieu
. But also of industrialist Martin Bouygues
, whose children attended the same school as Sarkozy's offspring. The humourist Dieudonné
and the writer Alain Soral
supported Jean-Marie Le Pen. Actress Juliette Binoche
supported José Bové.
The song Elle est facho (She's a fascist) on the Rouge sang
album by singer Renaud
released in 2006 gained particular media attention for lyrics in the lqst verse the translated as "she's a fascist and votes Sarko"
, the former prime minister of Italy
, gave his support to Sarkozy immediately following the first round, while Romano Prodi
, the then Italian premier and leader of the centre-left Union
coalition, called for an alliance between Bayrou and Royal.
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
has shown his support for Royal.
European commissioner
and Vice-President
Margot Wallström
was criticised after she informally suggested support for Royal on her blog, celebrating the fact that a woman got into the second round. She said: "J'étais si contente de voir qu'une femme participera au deuxième tour de l‘élection présidentielle!" (I was so happy to see that a woman would be participating in the second round of the presidential election!) Commissioners are not meant to be politically biased in elections under their code of conduct. It should be noted that Wallström is a social-democrat, like Royal. José Manuel Barroso, the head of the European Commission, has privately discussed the idea of forming a "strategic partnership" with Mr. Sarkozy.
Many U.S. pundits and western economists expressed support for Nicolas Sarkozy
. Steve Forbes
devoted several columns in the influential financial publication FORBES Magazine
. The London-based magazineThe Economist
also expressed support for Sarkozy's economic platform .
In 2011, according to the son of the Libyan leader Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, Sarkozy was provided with financial support from Libya during the presidential election.
carried live coverage of Ségolène Royal
's speech after the day's election. Hala Gorani
of CNN
also conducted a live interview and analysis with some of France's bloggers and political insiders after Ségolène Royal
's speech.
Thousands of youths took to the streets Sunday night following the final presidential election results. While many simply expressed their discontent at the elections of Nicolas Sarkozy, others chose to engage in violent action. Riots erupted in several urban centers including the capital Paris where some of the most intense clashes were reported in the Place de la Bastille
. A gathering of opponents to Sarkozy there quickly ended in confrontations between the youth and the riot control forces, who tear gased the whole place.
732 cars were torched according to estimates of the DGPN (direction of the police) and government buildings and property came under attack. Police clashed with protesters who were described by French media as members of the ultra-left and of the autonome movement
or youth from the suburbs. During the fighting dozens of officers were injured and 592 alleged rioters were arrested. 70 people were arrested in the North department and 79 in Paris. Overall the situation remained calm.
Some clashes continued on the night of Monday to Tuesday, with 365 torched cars and 160 alleged rioters detained by the police. Ten people were in court already by Monday. Two of them were given firm prison sentences of six and three months respectively, and two others to 120 hours of TIG
(General Interest Labour, an alternative sentence to prison). Another one has been given a two months firm prison sentence and two others TIG hours. Some of the people judged in Lyon
have denied any involvement in the riots (two of them received 120 hours of TIG and a 200 euros fine).
300 to 400 people demonstrated on the Boulevard Saint-Michel
on Wednesday 9 May, in opposition to a demonstration of white supremacists. By 9 pm that night 118 of them had been arrested. A 31 year-old engineer took legal action following his release from custody claiming he had been a victim of police brutality
. He claimed that he had not taken part to the demonstrations, but had been arrested nonetheless.
Under French Law, exit polls were not officially allowed to be published until after the polling stations close at 1800 UTC. Three polls, the first published by France 2 television conducted by Ipsos, the second conducted by Sofres, the third conducted by CSA, gave:
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
as president
President of the French Republic
The President of the French Republic colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France's elected Head of State....
of France for a five-year term.
The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
. The first round of voting took place on Saturday, 21 April 2007 (French territories in the Americas and the Eastern Pacific) and Sunday, 22 April 2007 (French territories in the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...
). As no candidate obtained a majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
(50 percent plus one), a second round
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
between the two leading candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
and Ségolène Royal
Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
, took place on Saturday, 5 May and Sunday, 6 May 2007.
Sarkozy and Royal both represented a generational change. Either candidate would have become the first French president to be born after World War II and the first not to have been in politics under Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
.
Summary of results
The first round saw a very high turnout of 83.8% – 36.7 million of the 44.5 million electorate voted from a populationDemographics of France
This article is about the demographic features of the population of France, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects....
of 64.1 million (not including French people living abroad). The results of that round saw Sarkozy and Royal qualify for the second round with Sarkozy getting 31% and Royal 26%. François Bayrou
François Bayrou
François Bayrou is a French centrist politician, president of Union for French Democracy since 1998 and was a candidate in the 2002 and 2007 French presidential elections. In the first round, he received 18.6% of the vote, finishing in 3rd place and therefore was eliminated from the race....
came third (19%) and Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
fourth (10%), unlike in 2002
French presidential election, 2002
The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002, and a runoff election between the top two candidates on 5 May 2002. This presidential contest attracted a greater than usual amount of international attention because of Le Pen's unexpected appearance in...
when Le Pen got a surprising 16.9% and qualified for the second round.
Immediately after the first round's results were made official, four defeated left-wing candidates – José Bové
José Bové
Joseph Bové is a French farmer and syndicalist, member of the alter-globalization movement, and spokesman for Via Campesina. He was one of the twelve official candidates in the 2007 French presidential election...
, Marie-George Buffet
Marie-George Buffet
Marie-George Buffet is a French politician. She was the head of the French Communist Party from 2001 to 2010. She joined the Party in 1969, and was the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports from June 4, 1997 to May 5, 2002. Ms...
, Arlette Laguiller
Arlette Laguiller
Arlette Yvonne Laguiller is a French Trotskyist politician. Since 1973, she has been the spokeswoman and the best known leader and perennial candidate of the Lutte Ouvrière political party...
and Dominique Voynet
Dominique Voynet
Dominique Voynet was a French senator for the département of Seine-Saint-Denis, the mayor of Montreuil and a member of The Greens.-Life:...
– urged their supporters to vote for Royal. This was the first time since 1981 that Laguiller had endorsed the Socialist Party's candidate. Olivier Besancenot
Olivier Besancenot
Olivier Besancenot is a French far left political figure and trade unionist, and the founding main spokesperson of the New Anticapitalist Party from 2009 to 2011....
called his supporters to vote against Sarkozy. Frédéric Nihous
Frédéric Nihous
Frédéric Nihous is a French politician from the Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions party. He was a candidate for the 2007 French presidential election, but was eliminated in the first round of balloting...
and Gérard Schivardi
Gérard Schivardi
Gérard Schivardi is a French politician. He contended in the French presidential election of 2007 under the colours of the Workers' Party of Trotskyist legacy. He came last in the first round of balloting on 22 April, obtaining 0.34% of the popular vote .-Biography:Schivardi was born in 1950 in...
never officially supported either Royal or Sarkozy. Philippe de Villiers
Philippe de Villiers
Viscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers, born on 25 March 1949, is a French politician. He was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. As only the top...
called for a vote for Sarkozy. Le Pen told his voters to "abstain massively" in the second round.
On 25 April, Bayrou declared he would not support either candidate in the runoff, and announced he would form a new political party called the Democratic Movement
Democratic Movement (France)
The Democratic Movement , MoDem) is a centrist, social liberal and pro-European French political party that was founded by centrist politician François Bayrou to succeed his Union for French Democracy and to contest the 2007 legislative election, after his strong showing in the 2007 presidential...
. He criticised both major candidates, and offered to debate them. Royal agreed to hold a televised debate, while Sarkozy offered to have a private discussion but not a televised debate
French presidential debates
French presidential debates traditionally occur between the two rounds of the presidential elections, and are broadcast on TV.- 1974 :The role of TV in French presidential election became prominent after Charles de Gaulle's decision to propose a referendum on the establishment of the election of...
.
By around 6:15 pm local time on 6 May, Belgian and Swiss news sources such as Le Soir
Le Soir
Le Soir is a Berliner Format Belgian newspaper. Le Soir was founded in 1887 by Emile Rossel. It is the most popular Francophone newspaper in Belgium, and considered a newspaper of record.-Editorial stance:...
, RTBF
RTBF
Radio Télévision Belge Francophone is the public broadcasting organization of the French Community of Belgium, the southern, French-speaking part of Belgium...
, La Libre Belgique
La Libre Belgique
La Libre Belgique is a Belgian newspaper in French. In Belgium, it can be roughly seen as an equivalent of Flemish De Standaard. The paper is widely perceived as pro-catholic...
and La Tribune de Genève
Tribune de Genève
Tribune de Genève is the most prominent regional newspaper of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland.Tribune de Genève was founded on 1 February 1879 by James T. Bates. The French language daily is published by Edipresse in Geneva...
had announced Nicolas Sarkozy as the winner of the second round, citing preliminary exit poll data. The final CSA estimate showed him winning with 53% of the votes cast. Royal conceded defeat to Sarkozy that evening.
Results
First round and analysis
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
had obtained 20%, and Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
16.18%. The right-of-centre François Bayrou obtained 18.6% this time, nearly tripling his 2002 result (6.8%). National Front (FN) candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen, made only 10.4%, compared to his stunning 16.9% finish in 2002. Along with the April–May shift to the far right made by Sarkozy, this has led many commentators to allege that traditional voters of the FN had been tempted by Sarkozy. On a global scale, the left-wing reached 36% of the votes, against 19% for the "centre", 33% for the right wing and 11% for the far right.
Other candidates received a much lower share of the vote than they had in 2002, with Olivier Besancenot
Olivier Besancenot
Olivier Besancenot is a French far left political figure and trade unionist, and the founding main spokesperson of the New Anticapitalist Party from 2009 to 2011....
(Revolutionary Communist League
Revolutionary Communist League
The Revolutionary Communist League can refer to one of several different parties:*Japan Revolutionary Communist League*Revolutionary Communist League *Revolutionary Communist League...
, LCR) failing to achieve the 5% necessary to have his political campaign reimbursed by the state. Besancenot received 4.1%, compared to 4.3% in 2002. He was followed by the traditionalist Philippe de Villiers
Philippe de Villiers
Viscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers, born on 25 March 1949, is a French politician. He was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. As only the top...
(2.2%), Communist Marie-George Buffet
Marie-George Buffet
Marie-George Buffet is a French politician. She was the head of the French Communist Party from 2001 to 2010. She joined the Party in 1969, and was the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports from June 4, 1997 to May 5, 2002. Ms...
(1.9%, compared to 3.4% for Robert Hue
Robert Hue
Robert Hue, in full Robert Georges Auguste Hue , is a French politician who was National Secretary of the French Communist Party from 1994 to 2001 and President of the PCF from 2001 to 2002...
in 2002), Green candidate Dominique Voynet
Dominique Voynet
Dominique Voynet was a French senator for the département of Seine-Saint-Denis, the mayor of Montreuil and a member of The Greens.-Life:...
(1.6%, compared to 5.3% for Noël Mamère
Noël Mamère
Noël Mamère is a French singer, cyclist and politician.He rose to fame in the 1980s as a TV entertainer, in particular on Antenne 2....
in 2002), Workers' Struggle
Workers' Struggle
Lutte Ouvrière is the usual name under which the Union Communiste , a French Trotskyist political party, is known, after the name of its weekly paper. Arlette Laguiller has been its spokeswoman since 1973 and has run in each presidential election, but Robert Barcia was its founder and central...
's candidate Arlette Laguiller
Arlette Laguiller
Arlette Yvonne Laguiller is a French Trotskyist politician. Since 1973, she has been the spokeswoman and the best known leader and perennial candidate of the Lutte Ouvrière political party...
(1.3%, compared to 5.7% in 2002), alter-globalisation candidate José Bové
José Bové
Joseph Bové is a French farmer and syndicalist, member of the alter-globalization movement, and spokesman for Via Campesina. He was one of the twelve official candidates in the 2007 French presidential election...
(1.3%), Frédéric Nihous
Frédéric Nihous
Frédéric Nihous is a French politician from the Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions party. He was a candidate for the 2007 French presidential election, but was eliminated in the first round of balloting...
(1.2% , against 4.2% for Jean Saint-Josse
Jean Saint-Josse
Jean Saint-Josse is a French politician and former member of the Rally for the Republic , he is currently the leader of the ruralist Hunt, Fish, Nature, Traditions party....
in 2002) and finally Gérard Schivardi
Gérard Schivardi
Gérard Schivardi is a French politician. He contended in the French presidential election of 2007 under the colours of the Workers' Party of Trotskyist legacy. He came last in the first round of balloting on 22 April, obtaining 0.34% of the popular vote .-Biography:Schivardi was born in 1950 in...
with 0.3% (Daniel Gluckstein
Daniel Gluckstein
Daniel Gluckstein is a French Trotskyist politician for running for French presidential election of 2002 as candidate of the Workers' Party .-Biography:...
had achieved 0.5% in 2002). The abstention
Abstention
Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrasted with "blank vote", in which a voter casts a ballot willfully made invalid by...
rate was 15.4%.
With an overall record turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
of 83.8%, a level not achieved since the 1965 presidential election
French presidential election, 1965
The 1965 French presidential election was the first presidential election by direct universal suffrage of the Fifth Republic. It was also the first presidential election by direct universal suffrage since the Second Republic in 1848. It was won by incumbent president Charles de Gaulle who resigned...
when turnout was 84.8%, the vast majority of the electorate decided not to stay home. Most of them decided against protest vote
Protest vote
A protest vote is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate the caster's unhappiness with the choice of candidates or refusal of the current political system...
s, and chose the vote utile (tactical voting
Tactical voting
In voting systems, tactical voting occurs, in elections with more than two viable candidates, when a voter supports a candidate other than his or her sincere preference in order to prevent an undesirable outcome.It has been shown by the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem that any voting method which is...
, literally "useful vote"), that is, a vote for one of the purported leaders of the electoral race (Nicolas Sarkozy, Ségolène Royal and/or François Bayrou). The "Anyone But Sarkozy" push benefited both Bayrou and Royal, while the tactical voting, on the right or on the left, explains the low score of the other candidates, in contrast with the last presidential election's first round.
The electoral campaign saw a polarisation of the political scene, encapsulated by the "Anyone But Sarkozy" slogan on the left. But it also saw a reconfiguration of the political chessboard, with various left-wing figures and voters deciding to support Sarkozy against Royal, who saw opposition inside her own party. Bernard Tapie
Bernard Tapie
Bernard Tapie is a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Ministre de la Ville in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy, a businessman specializing in recovery for bankrupted companies, among which Adidas is the most famous ; and owner of sports teams...
, a former Socialist, Max Gallo
Max Gallo
Max Gallo is a French writer, historian and politician.The son of Italian immigrants, Max Gallo's early career was in journalism. At the time he was a Communist . In 1974, he joined the Socialist Party. On April 26, 2007, the French Academy recorded his candidacy for its Seat 24, formerly held by...
, who had supported left-wing Republican Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement is a French politician. He was Minister of Defense from 1988 to 1991 and Minister of the Interior from 1997 to 2000. He was a presidential candidate in 2002 and since 2008 has been a member of the Senate....
in 2002, Eric Besson
Éric Besson
Éric Besson is a French politician and Minister of Industry, Energy and the Digital economy under the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, Christine Lagarde...
, etc., passed on Sarkozy's side. On the other hand, some right-wing voters, upset by Sarkozy's attitude on law and order, immigration, and even genetics (his recent declarations on paedophilia, homosexuality and suicides as genetically
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
induced, denounced by the geneticist Axel Kahn
Axel Kahn
Axel Kahn is a French scientist and geneticist. He is the brother of the journalist Jean-François Kahn. He was a member of the French National Consultative Ethics Committee from 1992 to 2004 and worked in gene therapy. He first entered the INSERM with a specialization in biochemistry...
), decided to vote for Bayrou. Centrist figures of the Socialist party, such as Michel Rocard
Michel Rocard
Michel Rocard is a French politician, member of the Socialist Party . He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991, during which he created the Revenu minimum d'insertion , a social minimum welfare program for indigents, and led the Matignon Accords regarding the status...
and Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner is a French politician, diplomat, and doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde...
, have called for an alliance between Bayrou and Royal, which might have consequences in the June 2007 legislative elections – these will determine the parliamentary majority, and decide if France will, or not, see another cohabitation
Cohabitation (government)
Cohabitation in government occurs in semi-presidential systems, such as France's system, when the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament. It occurs because such a system forces the president to name a premier that will be acceptable to the...
between the President, head of state, and the Prime minister, leader of the government. Former socialist minister Claude Allègre
Claude Allègre
Claude Allègre is a French politician and scientist.- Scientific work :The main scientific area of Claude Allègre is geochemistry....
stated such an alliance was "entirely conceivable", while Royal herself strongly criticised Rocard's comments. 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...
, the national secretary of the Socialist Party and Ségolène Royal's partner, excluded any alliance with the centre-right, along with others left-wing leaders, such as Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
or Dominique Voynet
Dominique Voynet
Dominique Voynet was a French senator for the département of Seine-Saint-Denis, the mayor of Montreuil and a member of The Greens.-Life:...
.
Urban votes
XIe arrondissement
The 11th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the Right Bank of the River Seine, the 11th is one of the most densely populated urban districts not just of Paris but of any European city.-Description:The eleventh arrondissement is a...
, Royal obtained more than 40.8% to 25.8% for Sarkozy and 20.9% for Bayrou. In the 18th arrondissement
XVIIIe arrondissement
The 18th arrondissement , located on the Rive Droite , is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, France...
, Royal obtained 41.1% against 23.4% for Sarkozy; in the 19th arrondissement
XIXe arrondissement
The 19th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the Right Bank of the River Seine, it is crossed by two canals, the Canal Saint-Denis and the Canal de l'Ourcq, which meet near the Parc de la Villette.The 19th arrondissement includes two...
, Royal obtained more than 39%, against almost 28% for Sarkozy; and in the 20th arrondissement
XXe arrondissement
The 20th arrondissement, also known as arrondissement de Ménilmontant, located on the Right Bank, is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, France. It contains the cosmopolitan districts of Ménilmontant and Belleville which have welcomed many successive waves of immigration since the middle of the...
, Royal obtained 42.4% against 23.2% for Sarkozy, and 18.3% for Bayrou. Royal also narrowly beat Sarkozy in the normally conservative city of Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
(31.4% against 30.8%, and 22% for Bayrou), as well as in Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
, Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
, Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
, Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
, Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, Le Mans
Le Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
, Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
, Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It is located in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region, along the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon...
, Limoges
Limoges
Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
, Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
, Pau (where Bayrou finished first), Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
and Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
(the historical base of the former Radical-Socialist Party
Radical-Socialist Party (France)
The Radical Party , is a liberal and centrist political party in France. The Radicals are currently the fourth-largest party in the National Assembly, with 21 seats...
). Working-class Paris suburbs (called les banlieue
Banlieue
In francophone areas, banlieues are the "outskirts" of a city: the zone around a city that is under the city's rule.Banlieues are translated as "suburbs", as these are also residential areas on the outer edge of a city, but the connotations of the term "banlieue" in France can be different from...
s) also massively voted for Royal. This was more or less expected, in particular with the high level of voter registration by suburban youths, who had been strongly opposed to Sarkozy since the 2005 riots
2005 civil unrest in France
The 2005 civil unrest in France of October and November was a series of riots by mostly Muslim North African youths in Paris and other French cities, involving mainly the burning of cars and public buildings at night starting on 27 October 2005 in Clichy-sous-Bois...
during which he had made controversial remarks. Meanwhile, a large number of university students had participated in the protests against the CPE, proposed by Sarkozy's UMP party, in the spring of 2006; they also strongly backed Royal. She consequently came first in Nanterre
Nanterre
Nanterre is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located west of the center of Paris.Nanterre is the capital of the Hauts-de-Seine department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Nanterre....
, with almost 36% against 23% for Sarkozy. She reached 41.6% in Saint-Denis
Saint-Denis
Saint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Saint-Denis is a sous-préfecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis département, being the seat of the Arrondissement of Saint-Denis....
, against 19.6% for Sarkozy and 15.5% for Bayrou. In Évry, she also passed the 40% line, while Sarkozy received only 23.6%. In Créteil
Créteil
-Health:As of 1 January 2006, 27 pharmacies, about 60 dentists, about 60 general practitioners, 10 pediatricians, and a half-dozen ophthalmologists and dermatologists constitute the general medical staff of the city.Health facilities include:...
, she won a closer race, gaining 35% to Sarkozy's 30% and 18% for Bayrou. In the department of Seine-Saint-Denis
Seine-Saint-Denis
- Culture :A number of hip hop artists come from the Seine-Saint-Denis, including one of the first major hip-hop groups in France, NTM, as well as Lord Kossity, or more recent acts such as Tandem or Sefyu.- Miscellaneous topics :...
, home to many people of immigrant origin, Royal obtained 34.2% to 26.8% for Sarkozy and 16.7% for Bayrou.
In contrast, wealthy arrondissements of Paris
Arrondissements of Paris
The city of Paris is divided into twenty arrondissements municipaux administrative districts, more simply referred to as arrondissements . These are not to be confused with departmental arrondissements, which subdivide the 101 French départements...
voted for Sarkozy. The prosperous 16th arrondissement
XVIe arrondissement
The 16th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France...
gave him 64% of its vote, against 16.4% for Bayrou and only 11.27% for Royal; the seventh arrondissement
VIIe arrondissement
The 7th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. It includes some of Paris's major tourist attractions, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Hôtel des Invalides , and a concentration of such world famous museums as the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée du quai...
voted for 56% in favour of Sarkozy, to 20.35 for Bayrou and 15.35% for Royal; the eighth arrondissement
VIIIe arrondissement
The 8th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the right bank of the River Seine and centred on the Opéra, the 8th is, together with the 1st and 9th arrondissements and 16th arrondissement and 17th arrondissement, one of Paris's main...
voted at more than 58% for Sarkozy to 18.65% for Bayrou and 14% for Royal; the 15th arrondissement
XVe arrondissement
The 15th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the Rive Gauche of the River Seine and sharing the Montparnasse district with the 6th and 14th arrondissements, it is the city's most populous arrondissement...
voted 41.5% for Sarkozy against 24.3% for Royal and 22.9% for Bayrou. The mostly wealthy Paris suburbs of the Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine is designated number 92 of the 101 départements in France. It is part of the Île-de-France region, and covers the western inner suburbs of Paris...
department, home of Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential...
where Sarkozy is mayor, voted 38.3% for him, against 26% for Royal and 21.3% for Bayrou. Sarkozy also won in the Essonne
Essonne
Essonne is a French department in the region of Île-de-France. It is named after the Essonne River.It was formed on 1 January 1968 when Seine-et-Oise was split into smaller departments.- History :...
department (more than 31% against 27% for Royal), in the Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne is a French department, named after the Seine and Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France region.- History:Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments, created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution in application of the law of December 22, 1789...
(33.5% to almost 24% for Royal) as well as in the Yvelines
Yvelines
Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.-History:Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application from 26 February 1965.It gained the...
(37.7% against 23% for Royal and 22% for Bayrou).
Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, the second-largest city of France, went Sarkozy's way overall as he won 34.25% of the vote to 27.1% for Royal and only 14.1% for Bayrou (putting a close third ahead of Le Pen, who obtained 13.4%). However, in working-class neighbourhoods of the north of Marseille, such as Savine (15th arrondissement) and the Busserine (14th arrondissement), Royal received overwhelming support, receiving 60% of the vote in Busserine.
France's third-largest city, Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, also was won by Sarkozy, who received 34.5% of the vote to 27.3% for Royal and 22% for Bayrou. He triumphed as well in the wealthy city of Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence
Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
with 36.8%, against 25.4% for Royal and 19.8% for Bayrou. In Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, a conservative stronghold, Sarkozy obtained more than 41% against 20.4% for Royal and less than 15% for Bayrou. Sarkozy also narrowly beat Royal in the industrial port of Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
(29% against 26.8%), as well as in Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, Nîmes
Nîmes
Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
, Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
, Nancy, and Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
(these last three cities belonging to the Alsace-Lorraine
Alsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
region).
Regional votes
Massif Central
The Massif Central is an elevated region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaux....
, which were traditional bases of the Radical-Socialist Party during the Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
. She also topped the poll in Brittany, except in the department of Morbihan
Morbihan
Morbihan is a department in Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan , the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline.-History:...
, but a fifth of electors in Brittany voted for Bayrou. Nièvre
Nièvre
Nièvre is a department in the centre of France named after the Nièvre River.-History:Nièvre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
and Seine-Saint-Denis
Seine-Saint-Denis
- Culture :A number of hip hop artists come from the Seine-Saint-Denis, including one of the first major hip-hop groups in France, NTM, as well as Lord Kossity, or more recent acts such as Tandem or Sefyu.- Miscellaneous topics :...
were other departments where she came first, as well as the overseas departments of Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
and Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
and the overseas territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Sarkozy came first everywhere else, except for Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Pyrénées-Atlantiques is a department in the southwest of France which takes its name from the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.- History :...
, where Bayrou topped the poll in the department of his birth.
The left regressed, compared 2002, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, which has traditionally favored Socialist and Communist candidates. The Nord department, hit hard during the 1980s by an industrial crisis, gave a plurality to Sarkozy (29.3%), while Royal won 24.8% (and won the city of Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
) and Bayrou received 15.6%. Marie-George Buffet
Marie-George Buffet
Marie-George Buffet is a French politician. She was the head of the French Communist Party from 2001 to 2010. She joined the Party in 1969, and was the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports from June 4, 1997 to May 5, 2002. Ms...
barely received 5% in the constituency of the Communist deputy Alain Bocquet
Alain Bocquet
Alain Bocquet is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Nord department, and is a member of the Gauche démocrate et républicaine.-References:...
.
The Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city is Toulouse.-History:Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.The...
, traditional Radical-Socialist territory, voted (including its capital, Toulouse), for Ségolène Royal, giving her 33%, against less than 27% for Sarkozy and slightly more than 19% for Bayrou. The Corrèze
Corrèze
Corrèze is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.-History:...
, where Jacques Chirac began his political career as the deputy of Ussel
Ussel, Corrèze
Ussel is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France. Its inhabitants are named Ussellois. The town is best known for its charming old streetscapes and for its pastoral and natural landscapes offering a perfect setting for green alternative vacations.-Location:The community of Ussel is...
, also voted slightly in favour of Royal, as did the Creuse
Creuse
Creuse is a department in central France named after the Creuse River.-History:Creuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of La Marche....
, one of the least-populated departments of France.
Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes is a department in the extreme southeast corner of France.- History : was created by Octavian as a Roman military district in 14 BC, and became a full Roman province in the middle of the 1st century with its capital first at Cemenelum and subsequently at Embrun...
, part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA is one of the 27 regions of France.It is made up of:* the former French province of Provence* the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin...
region where the National Front won several cities in the 1990s (Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
of the Var, Marignane
Marignane
Marignane is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France.-Geography:It is a component of the metropolitan Marseille Provence Métropole, and the largest suburb of the city of Marseille...
of the Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
and Orange
Orange, Vaucluse
Orange is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.It has a primarily agricultural economy...
of the Vaucluse
Vaucluse
The Vaucluse is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.- History :Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes...
) voted for Sarkozy at 43.6%, while Royal received only 17.9%, Bayrou 15.0%, and Jean-Marie Le Pen 13.5%. The Vaucluse
Vaucluse
The Vaucluse is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.- History :Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes...
department gave 32.8% of its votes to Sarkozy, 20.9% to Royal, 16.8% to Le Pen and 15.5% to Bayrou.
The Vendée
Vendée
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...
voted 29.7% for Sarkozy, 21.7% for Royal, 20.8% for Bayrou, and 11.3% for Philippe de Villiers
Philippe de Villiers
Viscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers, born on 25 March 1949, is a French politician. He was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. As only the top...
, deputy of the department. Le Pen. meanwhile, managed only 6.5%.
Le Pen's highest departmental tallies occurred in Aisne
Aisne
Aisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River.- History :Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.Most of the old...
(17.3%) and Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne is a department in the northeast of France named after the Marne River.-History:Haute-Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
(17%). Other departments to gave him more than 15% were the Vaucluse
Vaucluse
The Vaucluse is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.- History :Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes...
(16.8%), Haute-Saône
Haute-Saône
Haute-Saône is a French department of the Franche-Comté région, named after the Saône River.- History :The department was created in the early years of the French Revolution through the application of a law dated 22 December 1789, from part of the former province of Franche-Comté...
(16.5%), Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
(16.3%), Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
(16.2% – where far-left candidate Besancenot received 5.35%), Pas-de-Calais (16%), Oise
Oise
Oise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
(15.9%), Corse-du-Sud
Corse-du-Sud
Corse-du-Sud is a French département composed of the southern part of the island of Corsica.- History :The department was formed on 15 September 1975, when the Corse department was divided into Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud...
(15.9%), Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
(15.7%), and Gard
Gard
Gard is a département located in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region.The department is named after the River Gard, although the formerly Occitan name of the River Gard, Gardon, has been replacing the traditional French name in recent decades, even among French speakers.- History...
(15.4%),
Departments where Besancenot obtained more than 5% of the vote include Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
, Aisne (where Le Pen also achieved a strong results), Ariège
Ariège
Ariège is a department in southwestern France named after the Ariège River.- History :Ariège is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the counties of Foix and Couserans....
, Allier (where Sarkozy obtained 28% against nearly 26% for Royal), Calvados
Calvados
The French department of Calvados is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast...
(where Sarkozy finished first with 29% to 25% for Royal), Finistère
Finistère
Finistère is a département of France, in the extreme west of Brittany.-History:The name Finistère derives from the Latin Finis Terræ, meaning end of the earth, and may be compared with Land's End on the opposite side of the English Channel...
, Cher, Côtes d'Armor, Creuse, Indre
Indre
Indre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Nord, Meuse, Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, Pas-de-Calais (6.2%), Sarthe
Sarthe
Sarthe is a French department, named after the Sarthe River.- History :The department was created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790, pursuant to the law of December 22, 1789, starting from a part of the province of Maine which was divided into two departments, Sarthe to the east and...
, Nièvre, Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme.Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005...
, Somme, Territoire-de-Belfort, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne is a French department named after the Vienne River. It is one of three departments that together constitute the French region of Limousin.The chief and largest city is Limoges...
and the overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (6.5%, along with 5.1% for José Bové; only 6.7% for Le Pen).
The overseas department
Overseas departments and territories of France
The French Overseas Departments and Territories consist broadly of French-administered territories outside of the European continent. These territories have varying legal status and different levels of autonomy, although all have representation in the Parliament of France , and consequently the...
of Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
has been strongly opposed to Sarkozy; Aimé Césaire
Aimé Césaire
Aimé Fernand David Césaire was a French poet, author and politician from Martinique. He was "one of the founders of the négritude movement in Francophone literature".-Student, educator, and poet:...
, mayor of Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France is the capital of France's Caribbean overseas department of Martinique. It is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean. Exports include sugar, rum, tinned fruit, and cacao.-Geography:...
and leader of the Négritude
Négritude
Négritude is a literary and ideological movement, developed by francophone black intellectuals, writers, and politiciansin France in the 1930s by a group that included the future Senegalese President Léopold Sédar Senghor, Martinican poet Aimé Césaire, and the Guianan Léon Damas.The Négritude...
movement, refused to see him during his visit there in December 2005 (due to the UMP vote of the 2005 law on colonialism
French law on colonialism
The February 23, 2005, French law on colonialism was an act passed by the Union for a Popular Movement conservative majority, which imposed on high-school teachers to teach the "positive values" of colonialism to their students...
). In the first round, it heavily supported Royal (48.5%, against 33.8% for Sarkozy and only 8.6% for Bayrou; the next highest total was received by Besancenot, with 2.5%). Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
also strongly supported Royal (46.2%, to 25% for Sarkozy and 13% for Bayrou). Meanwhile, Sarkozy won in New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
(with 49.7% of the vote) and in Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
(with 42.6%, against 38.3% for Royal), as well as in French Guiana
French Guiana
French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
and the overseas territories of French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
and Wallis and Futuna
Wallis and Futuna
Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands , is a Polynesian French island territory in the South Pacific between Tuvalu to the northwest, Rotuma of Fiji to the west, the main part of Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast,...
.
Demographic breakdown of the first-round vote
Source: IPSOSIPSOS
IPSOS, meaning "themselves", is the magical formula of the Aeon of Ma'at as transmitted by Nema in her inspired magical work, Liber Pennae Praenumbra...
, see Sociologie du vote du 1er tour, L'Humanité
L'Humanité
L'Humanité , formerly the daily newspaper linked to the French Communist Party , was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the French Section of the Workers' International...
, 5 May 2007.
30% of men voted for Sarkozy, 24% of them for Royal. 32% of women voted Sarkozy, 27% Royal. 29% of 18–24 years-old voted Royal, against 26% for Sarkozy. Sarkozy also made a higher score for 35–44 years-old and 60–69 years-old, but a lesser score in the 45–59 years-old category.
36% of farmers voted Sarkozy against 8% for Royal. Workers voted at similar levels for both Sarkozy and Royal (21% for each), while public servants voted at 34% for Royal (18% for Sarkozy). 19% of unemployed people voted for Sarkozy, 32% of them for Royal. Students also voted in majority for Royal (32% against 21%), while pensioned elders voted at 41% for Sarkozy (23% for Royal).
Second round
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...
on Sunday, 6 May 2007 at 8 pm local time (2007-05-06 18:00 UTC). Turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
in the second round of the election was 84.0%, higher than in the first round. Nicolas Sarkozy got 53.06% of the votes and Ségolène Royal got 46.94%.
The left-right division was reinforced, according to many observers, by the election of Nicolas Sarkozy. 91% of the electors self-identifying as members of the centre-left voted for Royal, and 92% of those who self-identified as centre-right voted for Sarkozy. The center thus appears to be submitted to the left-right polarization. The vast majority of the far-left also voted for Royal, while their far-right counterparts strongly supported Sarkozy. Although Jacques Chirac was successful among young electors in 1995
French presidential election, 1995
Presidential elections took place in France on 23 April and 7 May 1995, to elect the fifth president of the Fifth Republic.The incumbent Socialist president, François Mitterrand, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had cancer, and his party had lost the previous legislative election in a...
, mostly due to his discourse on the "social rupture" (fracture sociale), Sarkozy's electorate is more traditionally right-wing and focused on older people. The only age group that gave him a majority was the over-50, who account for 52% of his voters, compared to only 37% of Royal's. Sarkozy obtained only 40% among those 18–24 years old, while Chirac had obtained 55% in the same category in 1995.
In social categories, Sarkozy won majorities among pensioned and inactive elders (58%), CEOs, negotiants and craftworkers (82% ), categories which are traditionally conservative. Sarkozy lost votes, compared to Chirac, among workers (59% for Royal) and employees (58% for Royal).
The general electoral geography did not significantly change from the first Chirac election. However, Sarkozy received a lesser score in Corrèze
Corrèze
Corrèze is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.-History:...
, Chirac's home department, and bettered Chirac's score in the North-East, where Le Pen had obtained some of his better scores in 2002. Overall, the increase in votes for Sarkozy between the two rounds occurred mostly in departments where the National Front's presence is strong.
Spoilt votes represented 4.2% of the electors (as much as in 2002 and 1995).
Electoral issues
The election campaign raised a number of issues:- Jobs and unemployment – France has long had an unemployment rate officially close to 10%, down to below 9% in 2007. Employment, and employment conditions, are a perennial concern for the French (see Economy of FranceEconomy of FranceFrance is the world's fifth largest economy by nominal figures and the ninth largest economy by PPP figures. It is the second largest economy in Europe in nominal figures and third largest economy in Europe in PPP figures...
and Poverty in FrancePoverty in FrancePoverty in France has fallen by 60% over thirty years. Although it affected 15% of the population in 1970, in 2001 only 6.1% were below the poverty line ....
). - European disunity – The presidential election followed the EU ConstitutionTreaty establishing a Constitution for EuropeThe Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe , , was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European Union...
rejection voteFrench referendum on the European ConstitutionThe French referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was held on 29 May 2005 to decide whether France should ratify the proposed Constitution of the European Union...
in 2005, which threw into question the future direction of the European Union. - International politics – A majority in France approved of President Jacques ChiracJacques ChiracJacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
's opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq2003 invasion of IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
by the United States. Sarkozy is considered as pro-Washington, while Royal, although seen as probably also in line with Washington, is thought to be more moderate. Left-wing intellectual Régis DebrayRégis DebrayJules Régis Debray is a French intellectual, journalist, government official and professor. He is known for his theorization of mediology, a critical theory of the long-term transmission of cultural meaning in human society; and for having fought in 1967 with Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara in...
's metaphor was that Sarkozy was like a direct flight to Washington, D.C., while Royal was a flight to Washington with a stop-off in OsloOsloOslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, referring to her European inclinations. Chirac's public opposition to the Iraq War should however be relativised, as he toned down his criticisms after a while. Furthermore, he has involved French troops in AfghanistanWar in Afghanistan (2001–present)The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
and agreed, immediately after the 11 September 2001 attacks, on increased cooperation between Western intelligence services, materialised by the creation of Alliance BaseAlliance BaseAlliance Base was the cover name for a secret Western Counterterrorist Intelligence Center that existed between 2002 and 2009 in Paris. The existence of CTICs were first revealed by Dana Priest in a November 17, 2005 Washington Post article, while she referred to the Alliance Base in a July 2,...
in the centre of Paris, a joint international Counterterrorist Intelligence CentreCounterterrorist Intelligence CenterA Counterterrorist Intelligence Center is, according to a Washington Post November 18, 2005 front page article by Dana Priest, a counterterrorist operations center run jointly by the CIA and foreign intelligence services as part of the US "War on Terror" .- Description of CTIC :According to Dana...
. - Law and order – During the 2002 campaign, law and orderLaw and order (politics)In politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...
came to the forefront, especially with respect to unruly youths from poor suburbsSocial situation in the French suburbsOutside of Paris are large blocks of government-built public housing, known as banlieues. The banlieues house hundreds of thousands of individuals of North African descent...
. In late 2005, in some of these suburbs significant unrest2005 civil unrest in FranceThe 2005 civil unrest in France of October and November was a series of riots by mostly Muslim North African youths in Paris and other French cities, involving mainly the burning of cars and public buildings at night starting on 27 October 2005 in Clichy-sous-Bois...
erupted. Again, law and order was a forefront issue, mainstream candidates tackled the problem of reining in unruly youngsters. Sarkozy proposed measures for harsher criminal procedure for youngsters, while Royal proposed to send unruly youths to centres under military discipline. Sarkozy's attitude has been widely criticised on the left, and also by the UMP minister Azouz BegagAzouz BegagAzouz Begag, is a French writer, politician and researcher in economics and sociology at the CNRS. He was the delegate minister for equal opportunities of France in the government of French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin till 5 April 2007...
, who defected his party to support Bayrou following Sarkozy's management of the autumn 2005 crisis. - Immigration – The issue of immigration in FranceDemographics of FranceThis article is about the demographic features of the population of France, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects....
has split France. The number of deportationDeportationDeportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
s more than doubled since 2002, with Sarkozy as Minister of the Interior from 2002–2004 and 2005–2007. Sarkozy declared in April 2006 that immigrants who did not "like France" should "leave it." Opponents have labelled Sarkozy's attitude as repressive, in particular towards illegal immigrantsIllegal immigrationIllegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
, materialised by numerous police raids against illegal aliensAlien (law)In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.-Categorization:Types of "alien" persons are:*An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country...
, strongly opposed by the left. The main problem concerns illegal immigrants (sans-papiers, "without documents") who cannot obtain work permitWork permitWork permit is a generic term for a legal authorization which allows a person to take employment.It is most often used in reference to instances where a person is given permission to work in a country where one does not hold citizenship, but is also used in reference to minors, who in some...
s without proper immigration documents and are therefore mostly found in the informal economyInformal economyThe informal sector or informal economy as defined by governments, scholars, banks, etc. is the part of an economy that is not taxed, monitored by any form of government, or included in any gross national product , unlike the formal economy....
– construction, restaurants, etc. Although the right of foreigners to voteRight of foreigners to voteSuffrage, the right to vote in a particular country, generally derives from citizenship. In most countries, the right to vote is reserved to those who possess the citizenship of the country in question. Some countries, however, have extended suffrage rights to non-citizens...
was a classic claim of the left-wing, it has not been an important issue of the campaign. On the other hand, Sarkozy has declared himself in favour of affirmative actionAffirmative actionAffirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
which has been widely contested both on the left and on the right, on grounds that it would favour communautarisme – separation of communities – along ethnic lines, and that it means taking into account ethnic alleged memberships in statistics, which is legally prohibited and not done by the INSEEINSEEINSEE is the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies. It collects and publishes information on the French economy and society, carrying out the periodic national census. Located in Paris, it is the French branch of Eurostat, European Statistical System...
. Left-wingers argued in favour of social actions not based on ethnic factors, but on geographical situation and equality of territory; however, the traditional UniversalismMoral universalismMoral universalism is the meta-ethical position that some system of ethics, or a universal ethic, applies universally, that is, for "all similarly situated individuals", regardless of culture, race, sex, religion, nationality, sexuality, or any other distinguishing feature...
of the French Republicans has also been criticised on the left-wing by some intellectuals supporting a middle-ground between Republican universalism and multiculturalismMulticulturalismMulticulturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
. - The Far Right – The National Front, long dismissed as a fringe party, stunned many when its leader, Jean-Marie Le PenJean-Marie Le PenJean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
, reached the second round of the 2002 electionsFrench presidential election, 2002The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002, and a runoff election between the top two candidates on 5 May 2002. This presidential contest attracted a greater than usual amount of international attention because of Le Pen's unexpected appearance in...
. Le Pen's points of focus – law and order and immigration – are now openly taken up by politicians such as Nicolas SarkozyNicolas SarkozyNicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
. Ironically, Le Pen on 12 April criticised Sarkozy for being Hungarian and asked if he should run for the president of Hungary. Le Pen is 79 years old, the same age which Charles de GaulleCharles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
was when he stepped down from the presidency in 1969. His approval rating in opinion polls markedly increased after France's riots in 20052005 civil unrest in FranceThe 2005 civil unrest in France of October and November was a series of riots by mostly Muslim North African youths in Paris and other French cities, involving mainly the burning of cars and public buildings at night starting on 27 October 2005 in Clichy-sous-Bois...
. As a counterweight, the Left and the cultural elite and athletes (like Lilian ThuramLilian ThuramLilian Thuram is a retired professional football defender and is the most capped player in the history of the France national team, and one of the twenty most capped players of all time.He played at the top flight in France, Italy and Spain for over 15 seasons, including ten in the Serie A with both...
) have risen to oppose Sarkozy's response to the riots. - Anti-neoliberalism and Disarray of left-wing parties – During the 2002 presidential elections, a number of left-wing candidates ran for office, which, according to commentators, was one reason for the defeat of Socialist candidate Lionel JospinLionel JospinLionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
. Jospin blamed in particular Jean-Pierre ChevènementJean-Pierre ChevènementJean-Pierre Chevènement is a French politician. He was Minister of Defense from 1988 to 1991 and Minister of the Interior from 1997 to 2000. He was a presidential candidate in 2002 and since 2008 has been a member of the Senate....
's candidacy, as well as Christiane TaubiraChristiane TaubiraChristiane Taubira or Christiane Taubira-Delannon is a French politician. President of her party Walwari, she has served as a deputy at the French National Assembly since 1993, and was re-elected in 1997. Non-affiliated in 1993, she then voted for the investiture of the conservative Edouard...
's one. However, others commentators have criticised Jospin's attitude and the policies of the PS, which account, according to them, for the low score of Jospin. Inheritor of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), the PS is historically social-democrat, while the French Communist PartyFrench Communist PartyThe 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...
(PCF) is a governmental party, which participated in Jospin's Gauche plurielleGauche plurielleThe Gauche Plurielle was a left-wing coalition in France, composed of the Socialist Party , the French Communist Party , the Greens, the Left Radical Party , and the Citizens' Movement...
(Plural Lefts) government (with ministers such as Jean-Claude GayssotJean-Claude GayssotJean-Claude Gayssot is a French politician. A member of the French Communist Party , he was Minister of Transportation in Lionel Jospin 's government, from 1997 to 2002. He gave his name to the 1990 Gayssot Act repressing Holocaust denial and speech in favor of racial discrimination...
, etc.). In this sense, the PCF does not consider itself a far-left party, to the contrary of the Revolutionary Communist LeagueRevolutionary Communist LeagueThe Revolutionary Communist League can refer to one of several different parties:*Japan Revolutionary Communist League*Revolutionary Communist League *Revolutionary Communist League...
(LCR) or Workers' StruggleWorkers' StruggleLutte Ouvrière is the usual name under which the Union Communiste , a French Trotskyist political party, is known, after the name of its weekly paper. Arlette Laguiller has been its spokeswoman since 1973 and has run in each presidential election, but Robert Barcia was its founder and central...
(LO). But the PCF does consider itself part of the "anti-liberal" coalition, which opposed the Treaty establishing a Constitution for EuropeTreaty establishing a Constitution for EuropeThe Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe , , was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European Union...
(TCE). Inside the French Socialist Party (PS, Parti socialiste) itself, Laurent FabiusLaurent FabiusLaurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
headed the minority who opposed the treaty. However, the victory of the "No" during the May 2005 referendum on the TCE hasn't been exploited yet by the left parties or organisations which supported it. The main topic of the non-PS left-wings was to try to choose a single candidate for the "anti-liberal" Left, which opposes neo-liberalism. This eventually failed, and the far-left was represented by four competing candidates, Marie-George Buffet, Olivier Besancenot, José Bové and Arlette Laguiller. " - High-level political scandals and disrepute – A number of scandals have tainted various French politicians, including president Jacques ChiracJacques ChiracJacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
(see Corruption scandals in the Paris regionCorruption scandals in the Paris regionIn the 1980s and 1990s there were, in the Paris region , multiple instances of alleged and proved political corruption cases, as well as cases of abuse of public money and resources...
), with some, such as former prime minister Alain JuppéAlain JuppéAlain Marie Juppé is a French politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac and the Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs from 2010 to 2011...
, being convicted. The recent ClearstreamClearstreamClearstream Banking S.A. is the clearing and settlement division of Deutsche Börse, based in Luxembourg and Frankfurt. Clearstream was created in January 2000 through the merger of Cedel International and Deutsche Börse Clearing...
affair was exposed as a case of forgery and denunciations involving major politicians from the ruling UMP coalition. - Feminism – France's first woman president had the opportunity to be elected in 2007 – Ségolène RoyalSégolène RoyalMarie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
, a Socialist, ran following her selection on 16 November 2006 as the candidate for the Socialist PartySocialist 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...
. - Environment – The environmental party, the Greens, are low in the polls, but Nicolas HulotNicolas HulotNicolas Hulot is the founder and president of the Fondation Nicolas-Hulot, an environmental group first created in 1990....
, a presenter of an environmentally-themed television show, is very popular and had considered running. Many parties, from the left to the right, were interested in his support. - Labour – Both Royal and Sarkozy called for "labourWorkforceThe workforce is the labour pool in employment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, country, state, etc. The term generally excludes the employers or management, and implies those involved in...
" to be respected as a value, although the meaning of this is somewhat open to very different interpretations. - Housing and homelessness. Following political actions by the Enfants de Don Quichotte NGO, who set up tents for homeless people by the Canal Saint-MartinCanal Saint-MartinCanal Saint-Martin is a 4.5 km long canal in Paris. It connects the Canal de l'Ourcq to the river Seine.-Geography:The entrance of the canal is a double lock near Place de Stalingrad. Then, towards the river Seine, the canal is bordered by the quai de Valmy on one side and the quai de Jemmapes on...
in Paris and elsewhere, in December 2006, the problem of homelessness was at the centre of the campaign for a period of time. The death of veteran campaigner Abbé PierreAbbé PierreLAbbé Pierre, was a French Catholic priest, member of the Resistance during World War II, and deputy of the Popular Republican Movement . He founded in 1949 the Emmaus movement, which has the goal of helping poor and homeless people and refugees...
a short time afterward increased the focus on the issue. - Religion and communautarisme. Sarkozy has opposed both the left-wing and Chirac on the issue of religionsReligion in FranceFrance is a country where freedom of religion and freedom of thought are guaranteed by virtue of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Republic is based on the principle of laïcité enforced by the 1880s Jules Ferry laws and the 1905 French law on the Separation of the...
, adopting a stance critical of state secularism and of the 1905 law on Separation of the State and the Church. His creation of the French Council of the Muslim FaithFrench Council of the Muslim FaithThe French Council of the Muslim Faith , is a national elected body, to serve as an official interlocutor with the French state in the regulation of Muslim religious activities. It is a non-profit group created on 28 May 2003, consisting of 25 CRCMs...
(CFCM) was strongly criticised as giving an official voice to the more radical sectors of organised Islam. - Bayrou's candidacy. François BayrouFrançois BayrouFrançois Bayrou is a French centrist politician, president of Union for French Democracy since 1998 and was a candidate in the 2002 and 2007 French presidential elections. In the first round, he received 18.6% of the vote, finishing in 3rd place and therefore was eliminated from the race....
, leader of the Union for French DemocracyUnion for French DemocracyThe Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. 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 right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
(UDF) centre-right party, decided to present himself as a centrist candidate. He opposed in particular the Union for a Popular MovementUnion for a Popular MovementThe 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...
(UMP) party led by Sarkozy. Critics have pointed-out that Bayrou and his party voted along with the UMP parliamentary majority on nearly all cases. Bayrou's trend is generally considered to be the inheritor of the Christian-Democrat MRPPopular Republican MovementThe Popular Republican Movement was a French Christian democratic party of the Fourth Republic...
.
Officially proposed policies
- Europe
- Ségolène RoyalSégolène RoyalMarie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
(Socialist PartySocialist 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...
) proposed a referendum on a new European treaty for 2009. She declared she would request guarantees on the social policies followed by the European Union, in particular by reaching an agreement with German chancellor Angela MerkelAngela MerkelAngela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
on the controversial role of the European Central BankEuropean Central BankThe European Central Bank is the institution of the European Union that administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt,...
– contrary to the U.S Federal ReserveFederal Reserve SystemThe Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907...
, the ECB has an exclusive role to counter inflation. Royal stated she would negotiate with European partners in order to include economic growthEconomic growthIn economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...
and employment as aims within the ECB's policies.) - Nicolas SarkozyNicolas SarkozyNicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
(Union for a Popular MovementUnion for a Popular MovementThe 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...
) proposed a simplified European treaty which would be ratified by the French Parliament instead of being submitted to a referendum. He also declared himself against the rule of unanimityUnanimityUnanimity is agreement by all people in a given situation. When unanimous, everybody is of the same mind and acting together as one. Though unlike uniformity, it does not constitute absolute agreement. Many groups consider unanimous decisions a sign of agreement, solidarity, and unity...
in European decisions and opposed the accession of Turkey to the European UnionAccession of Turkey to the European UnionTurkey's application to accede to the European Union was made on 14 April 1987. Turkey has been an associate member of the European Union and its predecessors since 1963...
. Furthermore, he said he would argue in favour of revaluing the euro, increasing the European defence budget and creating a European Foreign Affairs Minister.
- Ségolène Royal
- International policies
- Royal proposed a new EU-led peace proposal in the Middle East. She also declared herself in favour of a nuclear deterrent powerForce de frappeThe Force de Frappe is the designation of what used to be a triad of air-, sea- and land-based nuclear weapons intended for dissuasion, and consequential deterrence...
, increased European cooperation on military matters, relaunching the Euromediterranean PartnershipEuromediterranean PartnershipThe Euro-Mediterranean Partnership started in 1995 with the Barcelona Euro-Mediterranean Conference. The European Union stated the intention of this "partnership" is "to strengthen its relations with the countries in the Mashriq and Maghreb regions"...
(Barcelona Process) and promoting generic drugGeneric drugA generic drug is a drug defined as "a drug product that is comparable to brand/reference listed drug product in dosage form, strength, route of administration, quality and performance characteristics, and intended use." It has also been defined as a term referring to any drug marketed under its...
s in developing countries. - Sarkozy pledged to maintain the defence budget at its current level; develop new weapons; create a national security councilNational Security CouncilA National Security Council is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security...
, which would respond to the President of the Republic; launch a reflection on nuclear deterrence; limit French military presence in Africa; maintain a firm policy concerning the Iranian nuclear programme, enacted in the frame of the UN.
- Royal proposed a new EU-led peace proposal in the Middle East. She also declared herself in favour of a nuclear deterrent power
- Economic and social policies
- Royal promised a minimum wageMinimum wageA minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
(known as the salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance, or SMIC) of 1,500 euros, with 90 percent of salary for year after losing job. She declared herself for the repeal of the CNEContrat nouvelle embaucheContrat nouvelle embauche is a French employment contract, proposed by prime minister Dominique de Villepin and that came into force by ordinance on August 2, 2005 Contrat nouvelle embauche (abbreviated to CNE, New Employment Contract aka New Recruitment Contract or sometimes New-job contract in...
employment contract. She declared herself for the reimbursement of public aid to companies who offshoredOffshoringOffshoring describes the relocation by a company of a business process from one country to another—typically an operational process, such as manufacturing, or supporting processes, such as accounting. Even state governments employ offshoring...
themselves, and would not support with public money firms that implement downsizingLayoffLayoff , also called redundancy in the UK, is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or a group of employees for business reasons, such as when certain positions are no longer necessary or when a business slow-down occurs...
plans. - Sarkozy proposed to the contrary to adapt the 35-hour workweek35-hour workweekThe 35-hour working week is a measure adopted first in France, in February 2000, under Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's Plural Left government; it was pushed by Minister of Labour Martine Aubry. The previous legal duration of the working week was 39 hours, which had been established by François...
previously established by PS minister Martine AubryMartine AubryMartine Aubry is a French politician. She has been the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party since November 2008 and Mayor of Lille since March 2001...
during Lionel JospinLionel JospinLionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
's government by promoting overtime work.
- Royal promised a minimum wage
- Energy and environment
- Royal stated she would cut dependency on nuclear powerNuclear power in FranceNuclear power is the primary source of electric power in France. In 2004, 425.8 TWh out of the country's total production of 540.6 TWh of electricity was from nuclear power , the highest percentage in the world....
and would aim to have renewable energyRenewable energyRenewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
provide at least 20 percent of France's electricity before 2020. She also said she would create a public pole of energy around EDFÉlectricité de FranceÉlectricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...
and GDFGaz de FranceGaz de France was a French company which produced, transported and sold natural gas around the world, especially in France, its main market. The company was also particularly active in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other European countries. Through its part-owned Belgian subsidiary SPE...
(this is directly count to the GDF-Suez merger and announced in 2006 by the government of Dominique de VillepinDominique de VillepinDominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin is a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007....
, which involved privatisation). - Sarkozy said he would develop nuclear technologies and increase the tax on pollutionEcotaxEcotax refers to taxes intended to promote ecologically sustainable activities via economic incentives. Such a policy can complement or avert the need for regulatory approaches. Often, an ecotax policy proposal may attempt to maintain overall tax revenue by proportionately reducing other taxes...
. He also said he would promote international lawInternational lawPublic international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
on environmentNatural environmentThe natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
.
- Royal stated she would cut dependency on nuclear power
- Unemployment
- Royal promised that no youth will stay unemployed for more than six months without receiving a publicly-supported job or training. She also said she would create zero-interest loanLoanA loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....
s to youth.
- Royal promised that no youth will stay unemployed for more than six months without receiving a publicly-supported job or training. She also said she would create zero-interest loan
- Health
- Royal said she would emphasise occupational safety and healthOccupational safety and healthOccupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goal of all occupational safety and health programs is to foster a safe work environment...
; sanction physicians who refuse CMU patientsCouverture maladie universelleThe Couverture maladie universelle is a French social welfare programme concerning public health. It was voted through by Lionel Jospin's gauche plurielle government , at the initiative of the minister Martine Aubry...
; re-establish free medicine for illegal aliens; create a plan of research on rare diseases; grant a weekly free medical consultation for those 16–25 years old; free birth controlBirth controlBirth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
for women under 25.
- Royal said she would emphasise occupational safety and health
- Housing
- Royal declared herself for a construction project of 120,000 council homesCouncil houseA council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...
a year to cut the "housing crisis" as well as a private rent capRent controlRent control refers to laws or ordinances that set price controls on the renting of residential housing. It functions as a price ceiling.Rent control exists in approximately 40 countries around the world...
and life-long guarantee of housing (in the continuation of the debate on the droit au logement, right to housing, on the model of Scotland's 2003 Homelessness Act). She said she would simplify procedures for evictingEvictionHow you doing???? Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, eviction may also be known as unlawful detainer, summary possession, summary dispossess, forcible detainer, ejectment, and repossession, among other terms...
people who were deliberately not paying their rent; and would facilitate the purchase of council housing by people who have rented it for 15 years. - Sarkozy promised to provide assistance for those who want to buy their council homes and to eradicate homelessnessHomelessnessHomelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
within two years
- Royal declared herself for a construction project of 120,000 council homes
- Immigration
- Royal declared herself in favour of granting residency papersPermanent residencyPermanent residency refers to a person's visa status: the person is allowed to reside indefinitely within a country of which he or she is not a citizen. A person with such status is known as a permanent resident....
(i.e. of regularisation of the status of illegal aliens) if they have a work permitWork permitWork permit is a generic term for a legal authorization which allows a person to take employment.It is most often used in reference to instances where a person is given permission to work in a country where one does not hold citizenship, but is also used in reference to minors, who in some...
and reside in France for a sufficient time. - Sarkozy promised to cut immigration flux and favour "chosen immigration" (i.e. "qualified immigration").
- Royal declared herself in favour of granting residency papers
- Taxes
- Royal said she would not increase general taxation, would lighten burden on employment-creative firms and "consolidate" the 35-hour week, a goal which would pass by decreasing its negative effects. She said she would modulate tax on companies depending on if they use it for re-investment or to redistribute the profits to the shareholders. She also declared she would simplify the procedures to create new firms and better social protection for employers.
- Sarkozy promised to cut taxes by four percent, increase the exemption for inheritance taxInheritance taxAn inheritance tax or estate tax is a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate of a person who has died...
to 95% and grant a "right to work for more than 35 hours.".
- Law and order
- Royal said she would force young offenders to military-like education. She promised to double the budget of the Minister of JusticeMinister of Justice (France)The Ministry of Justice is controlled by the French Minister of Justice , a top-level cabinet position in the French government. The current Minister of Justice is Michel Mercier...
, strengthen security on public transport, promote a law against domestic violenceDomestic violenceDomestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
, reinforce judicial aid processes and create an independent organ of surveillance of the state of prisons. - Sarkozy declared himself in favour of minimum terms for reoffendersRecidivismRecidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior...
and tougher sentences on juvenile offendersJuvenile delinquencyJuvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behavior by minors who fall under a statutory age limit. Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of crime, most if not...
.
- Royal said she would force young offenders to military-like education. She promised to double the budget of the Minister of Justice
- Culture and Media
- Royal promised to support the tertiary sector of culture. She also pledged to take measures against concentration of media ownershipConcentration of media ownershipConcentration of media ownership refers to a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media...
and tax private TV companies (TF1TF1TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
, M6Métropole 6M6, also known as Metropole television, is the most profitable private national French TV channel and the third most watched television network in the French-speaking world...
, etc.) to support public companies (France TélévisionsFrance TélévisionsFrance Télévisions is the French public national television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the bringing together of the public television channels France 2 and France 3 , later joined by the legally independent channels France 5 , France Ô , and France 4 France Télévisions ...
, ArteArteArte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
, etc.). - Sarkozy promised free entry to national museums; to increase the budget of the Minister of CultureMinister of Culture (France)The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture"...
; to remove blocks to private patronage of the arts; to force public TV to increase the amount of cultural shows; to support authors' rightsAuthors' rightsAuthors’ rights are a part of copyright law. The term is a direct translation of the French term droit d’auteur , and is generally used in relation to the copyright laws of civil law countries and in European Union law...
(droit d'auteur) and other copyrightCopyrightCopyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
protections (DADVSIDADVSIDADVSI is the abbreviation of the French Loi sur le Droit d’Auteur et les Droits Voisins dans la Société de l’Information...
); and to support free softwareFree softwareFree software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
.
- Royal promised to support the tertiary sector of culture. She also pledged to take measures against concentration of media ownership
- Research
- Royal said she would increase the research budget by 10% and increase the budget for universities to the extent that, within five years, it would reach the average of OECD countries.
- Sarkozy said he would increase by 40% the budget dedicated to research by 2012.
- Budget
- Royal said a 2.5% expected economic growthEconomic growthIn economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...
would finance her promises. - Sarkozy gave assurances he would cut the costs of the French Civil ServiceFrench Civil ServiceThe French Civil Service is the set of civil servants working for the French government.Not all employees of the state and public institutions or corporations are civil servants; however, the media often incorrectly equate "government employee" or "employee of a public corporation" with...
, which account for 45% of the budget.
- Royal said a 2.5% expected economic growth
- Institutional reforms
- Royal said she would grant the right of foreigners to voteRight of foreigners to voteSuffrage, the right to vote in a particular country, generally derives from citizenship. In most countries, the right to vote is reserved to those who possess the citizenship of the country in question. Some countries, however, have extended suffrage rights to non-citizens...
in local elections. She would repeal the veto of the Senate in constitutional matters. She declared herself in favour of the addition of a laïcitéLaïcitéFrench secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...
charter (secular charter) to the Constitution. - Sarkozy said he would establish minimum service in the public administration (thus restricting right of strike); cut unneeded government bodies; increase the productivity of the public administration; insure state expenses by taxes only; a two-term limitTerm limitA term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...
for the president; organise the responsibility of the President before the Parliament; limit the number of ministers to 15; non-replacement of one civil servant out of two which retires and increase of wages and training in the public administration.
- Royal said she would grant the right of foreigners to vote
- LGBT Issues
- Royal proposed introducing a bill to legalize same-sex marriageSame-sex marriageSame-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
and gay adoption. - Sarkozy voiced opposition to both gay marriage and adoption, although he favours civil unions for same-sex couples. He maintained, however, close ties to MP Christine BoutinChristine BoutinChristine Boutin is a French politician and a major Christian democratic figure in France. She served as a member of the French National Assembly representing Yvelines, from 1986 until 2007, when she was appointed Minister of Housing and Urban Development by President Nicolas Sarkozy...
, known for her anti-gay views.
- Royal proposed introducing a bill to legalize same-sex marriage
Schedule for the election
- 22 February 2007: The decree convoking the election was published in the Journal officiel de la République françaiseJournal Officiel de la République FrançaiseThe Journal Officiel de la République Française is the official gazette of the French Republic. It publishes the major legal official information from the national Government of France.-Publications:...
. - 16 March 2007 – 18:00 (16:00 UTC): Deadline for candidates to have obtained the 500 sponsors from elected officials in at least 30 different departments or overseas territories which are required to run for president.
- 19 March 2007 – 17:30 (15:30 UTC): Official candidate list was announced by the Constitutional CouncilConstitutional Council of FranceThe Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958, and its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld.Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed...
: 12 candidates. - 9 April 2007: Official campaign started.
- 20 April 2007: Official campaign ended.
- 21 April 2007: First round of voting started in Saint Pierre and Miquelon at 8 am local time (10:00 UTC) and subsequently took place in GuadeloupeGuadeloupeGuadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
, Martinique, French GuianaFrench GuianaFrench Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
, French PolynesiaFrench PolynesiaFrench Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
, and in voting offices in embassies and consulates in the Americas. - 22 April 2007: First round of voting took place in Wallis and FutunaWallis and FutunaWallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands , is a Polynesian French island territory in the South Pacific between Tuvalu to the northwest, Rotuma of Fiji to the west, the main part of Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast,...
, New CaledoniaNew CaledoniaNew Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, Réunion, MayotteMayotteMayotte is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre , a smaller island, Petite-Terre , and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and...
, Metropolitan FranceMetropolitan FranceMetropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...
, and in voting offices in embassies and consulates in Oceania, Asia, Africa and Europe – the last polling stations closed in the large cities of Metropolitan France at 8 pm local time (18:00 UTC) and publication of the first exit polls were allowed immediately after they closed. - 25 April 2007: Official results of the first round announced.
- 27 April 2007: Official candidate list for second round announced.
- 2 May 2007 – 21:00 (19:00 UTC): Nationally televised debateFrench presidential debatesFrench presidential debates traditionally occur between the two rounds of the presidential elections, and are broadcast on TV.- 1974 :The role of TV in French presidential election became prominent after Charles de Gaulle's decision to propose a referendum on the establishment of the election of...
between the two candidates. - 5 May 2007: Second round of voting started in Saint Pierre and Miquelon at 8 am local time (10:00 UTC) and subsequently took place in GuadeloupeGuadeloupeGuadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
, Martinique, French GuianaFrench GuianaFrench Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
, French PolynesiaFrench PolynesiaFrench Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
, and in voting offices in embassies and consulates in the Americas. - 6 May 2007: Second round of voting took place in Wallis and FutunaWallis and FutunaWallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands , is a Polynesian French island territory in the South Pacific between Tuvalu to the northwest, Rotuma of Fiji to the west, the main part of Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast,...
, New CaledoniaNew CaledoniaNew Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, Réunion, MayotteMayotteMayotte is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre , a smaller island, Petite-Terre , and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and...
, Metropolitan FranceMetropolitan FranceMetropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...
, and in voting offices in embassies and consulates in Oceania, Asia, Africa and Europe – the last polling stations closed in the large cities of Metropolitan France at 8 pm local time (18:00 UTC) and publication of the first exit polls were allowed immediately after they closed. - 10 May 2007: Official results of the second round announced.
- 16 May 2007 – Midnight (22:00 UTC): Expiration of the term of president Jacques ChiracJacques ChiracJacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
.
Requirements
- Reference: Constitutional Council, FAQ
The requirements for being successfully nominated as a candidate
Nomination rules
Nomination rules in elections regulate the conditions under which a candidate or political party is entitled to stand for election. The criteria to stand as a candidate depends on the individual legal system, however they may include the age of a candidate, citizenship, endorsement by a political...
are defined by the organic law of 6 November 1962.
All candidates must be of French nationality and at least 23 years old (the same requirement as for the candidates to the National Assembly).
Candidates must obtain signatures from 500 elected officials (mayors, members of Parliament, elected representatives) supporting their candidacy. These signatures from elected officials (informally known in French as parrainages, but legally known as "presentations") must be from at least 30 different departments or overseas territories, and no more than 10 percent can be from any individual department. A presentation from an elected official does not imply the official supports the policies of the candidate, but rather that this official considers the candidate to be a serious candidate.
Candidates must also submit a statement with details of their personal assets.
The Constitutional Council
Constitutional Council of France
The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958, and its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld.Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed...
published the official candidate list on 20 March 2007. The candidates are listed in a randomised order. This order will be used for the official campaign: thus, posters for Olivier Besancenot will always be on the #1 board, those for Marie-George Buffet on the #2 board, etc., regardless of where in France the boards are located.
There were a total of 12 candidates for the 2007 election.
Leading candidates
Four candidates consistently registered over 10% in the opinion polls and were regarded as having a reasonable chance of reaching the second round.- Nicolas SarkozyNicolas SarkozyNicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
was nominated by the Union for a Popular MovementUnion for a Popular MovementThe 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...
on 14 January 2007. He is the leader of the UMP and was Interior MinisterMinister of the Interior (France)The Minister of the Interior in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following:* The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes...
until stepping down to focus on his campaign on 26 March 2007. - Ségolène RoyalSégolène RoyalMarie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
was selected by the Socialist Party on 17 November 2006 to be the party's candidate for the election. She won 60.6% of the votes in a ballot of party members to choose their candidate, against 20.8% for Dominique Strauss-KahnDominique Strauss-KahnDominique 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...
and 18.5% for Laurent FabiusLaurent FabiusLaurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
. She is the first woman to represent a major French party in a presidential contest. - François BayrouFrançois BayrouFrançois Bayrou is a French centrist politician, president of Union for French Democracy since 1998 and was a candidate in the 2002 and 2007 French presidential elections. In the first round, he received 18.6% of the vote, finishing in 3rd place and therefore was eliminated from the race....
was nominated by the centristCentrismIn politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
Union for French DemocracyUnion for French DemocracyThe Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. 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 right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
(UDF) on 2 December 2006. - Jean-Marie Le PenJean-Marie Le PenJean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
ran for the National Front, a far-right party which promotes policies of strong law enforcement, economic protectionismProtectionismProtectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
and strong measures to control immigration. As during previous presidential campaigns, Le Pen raised the question of whether he would be able to obtain the necessary 500 signatures on a number of occasions, which he claims is the result of pressure placed on elected officials by the major parties to support their own candidate (he has often claimed, during past elections, that "political elites" have sabotaged his campaigns); however, on 14 March 2007 his party said that he had obtained the necessary signatures.
Other candidates
These were the eight other candidates who obtained the required 500 signatures from elected officials to endorse their candidacy.- Olivier BesancenotOlivier BesancenotOlivier Besancenot is a French far left political figure and trade unionist, and the founding main spokesperson of the New Anticapitalist Party from 2009 to 2011....
: Revolutionary Communist LeagueRevolutionary Communist League (France)See Revolutionary Communist League for the other Ligue communiste révolutionnaire.The Revolutionary Communist League was a French democratic revolutionary socialist political party. It was the French section of the Fourth International... - José BovéJosé BovéJoseph Bové is a French farmer and syndicalist, member of the alter-globalization movement, and spokesman for Via Campesina. He was one of the twelve official candidates in the 2007 French presidential election...
: Leftist environmentalist who ran on an alter-globalisation platform - Marie-George BuffetMarie-George BuffetMarie-George Buffet is a French politician. She was the head of the French Communist Party from 2001 to 2010. She joined the Party in 1969, and was the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports from June 4, 1997 to May 5, 2002. Ms...
: Communist PartyFrench Communist PartyThe 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... - Arlette LaguillerArlette LaguillerArlette Yvonne Laguiller is a French Trotskyist politician. Since 1973, she has been the spokeswoman and the best known leader and perennial candidate of the Lutte Ouvrière political party...
: Workers' StruggleWorkers' StruggleLutte Ouvrière is the usual name under which the Union Communiste , a French Trotskyist political party, is known, after the name of its weekly paper. Arlette Laguiller has been its spokeswoman since 1973 and has run in each presidential election, but Robert Barcia was its founder and central... - Frédéric NihousFrédéric NihousFrédéric Nihous is a French politician from the Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions party. He was a candidate for the 2007 French presidential election, but was eliminated in the first round of balloting...
: Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition Party - Gérard SchivardiGérard SchivardiGérard Schivardi is a French politician. He contended in the French presidential election of 2007 under the colours of the Workers' Party of Trotskyist legacy. He came last in the first round of balloting on 22 April, obtaining 0.34% of the popular vote .-Biography:Schivardi was born in 1950 in...
: styled himself as "the mayors' candidate", supported by the Workers' PartyWorkers' Party (France)The Workers' Party was a French socialist party. It was formed by the Trotskyist Internationalist Communist Party led by Pierre Boussel, better known under his pseudonym Pierre Lambert, together with a number of other socialists with whom they worked in the Force Ouvrière union... - Philippe de VilliersPhilippe de VilliersViscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers, born on 25 March 1949, is a French politician. He was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. As only the top...
: president of the Movement for FranceMovement for FranceThe Movement for France , abbreviated to MPF, is a French conservative and eurosceptic political party, founded on 20 November 1994, with a marked regional stronghold in the Vendée. It is led by Philippe de Villiers, once communications minister under Jacques Chirac.The party is considered...
party ran on a traditionalist Catholic and euroscepticEuroScepticEuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...
platform, and with a firm anti-Islamic message. - Dominique VoynetDominique VoynetDominique Voynet was a French senator for the département of Seine-Saint-Denis, the mayor of Montreuil and a member of The Greens.-Life:...
: Green PartyThe Greens (France)The Greens were a Green political party to the centre-left of the political spectrum in France. They had officially been in existence since 1984, but their spiritual roots could be traced as far back as René Dumont’s candidacy for the presidency in 1974...
.
Confirmed non-candidates
- President Jacques ChiracJacques ChiracJacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
announced on 11 March 2007 that he would not be standing for another term as president. It had been rumoured that President Chirac was considering running for a third term, following statements he made at the beginning of 2007, including his New Year's Address on 31 December 2006, and subsequent speeches which contained robust comments on international policy and detailed national policy proposals with a suggested five year timetable. In March, Chirac announced his support for Sarkozy. There is no provision in the Constitution of 1958Constitution of FranceThe current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, and replaced that of the Fourth Republic dating from 1946. Charles de Gaulle was the main driving force in introducing the new constitution and inaugurating the Fifth...
specifying a limited number of terms, though a third term would have been unprecedented under the Fifth RepublicFrench Fifth RepublicThe 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...
. - Christine BoutinChristine BoutinChristine Boutin is a French politician and a major Christian democratic figure in France. She served as a member of the French National Assembly representing Yvelines, from 1986 until 2007, when she was appointed Minister of Housing and Urban Development by President Nicolas Sarkozy...
announced that she would not be a candidate for the election and pledged her support for Nicolas SarkozyNicolas SarkozyNicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
(source: France 2France 2France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
news, 2 December 2006). - Rachid Kaci, member of the UMP and President of the group Free Right (la Droite Libre), announced his withdrawal as candidate and also pledged to support Nicolas Sarkozy on 21 December 2006 during a UMP public Forum.
- MRC chairman Jean-Pierre ChevènementJean-Pierre ChevènementJean-Pierre Chevènement is a French politician. He was Minister of Defense from 1988 to 1991 and Minister of the Interior from 1997 to 2000. He was a presidential candidate in 2002 and since 2008 has been a member of the Senate....
announced on 10 December 2006 that he would not be running, and that his movement would back Ségolène Royal in return for an electoral agreement in the 2007 general election. - Candidate for the Radical PartyLeft Radical PartyThe Radical Party of the Left is a minor social-liberal, and in opposition to its common understanding of its name, a moderate centre-left political party in France advocating radicalism, secularism to its french extend known as laïcité, progressivism, pro-Europeanism, individual freedom and...
, Christiane TaubiraChristiane TaubiraChristiane Taubira or Christiane Taubira-Delannon is a French politician. President of her party Walwari, she has served as a deputy at the French National Assembly since 1993, and was re-elected in 1997. Non-affiliated in 1993, she then voted for the investiture of the conservative Edouard...
in the 2002 election, confirmed that she would not be running following an electoral agreement between her party and the Socialist Party. The Left Radicals in return will support Ségolène Royal. - Nicolas HulotNicolas HulotNicolas Hulot is the founder and president of the Fondation Nicolas-Hulot, an environmental group first created in 1990....
, television presenter and environmental activist, was widely considered to be a possible candidate following the positive media and public reaction to his recent book and Environmental Charter. On 3 January 2007 Le FigaroLe FigaroLe Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
newspaper reported that supporters of Hulot had begun gathering signatures to mount a campaign and a website, was created to generate support. On 22 January he announced that he will not be a candidate. - Corinne LepageCorinne LepageCorinne Dominique Marguerite Lepage, also known as Corinne Lepage is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament elected in the 2009 European election for the North-West constituency....
, environmentalist politician and activist, withdrew her candidacy in favour of Bayrou on 10 March 2007. - Roland Castro, architect and "utopian left" activist, withdrew his candidacy on 12 March 2007.
- Édouard FilliasÉdouard FilliasÉdouard Fillias is a French classical-liberal activist of Spanish origin.Born in Paris, Île-de-France, France, Fillias was president of Liberal Alternative and that party's 2007 French Presidential candidate. On 13 March 2007 he withdrew and announced his support for François Bayrou...
: Alternative Libérale, a new French libertarian party, withdrew his candidacy on 13 March 2007 in favour of Bayrou. - Antoine WaechterAntoine WaechterAntoine Waechter is a French politician, leader of the Independent Ecological Movement, born on February 11, 1949 in Mulhouse -Early Activism:...
: Independent Ecological MovementIndependent Ecological MovementThe Independent Ecological Movement is a political party in France founded by Antoine Waechter, former presidential candidate of The Greens in 1994. The MEI hoped to replaced the Greens as the major green party, but due to the Green's electoral deals with larger parties, it failed to do so...
, withdrew his candidacy on 14 March 2007
Did not get enough endorsements
- Yves-Marie AdelineYves-Marie AdelineYves-Marie Adeline Soret de Boisbrunet better known as Yves-Marie Adeline, is a French Catholic writer...
- Yves Aubry
- Soheib BencheikhSoheib BencheikhSoheib Bencheikh is an Islamic religious leader and author and would-be French politician.Bencheikh graduated in Islamic theology at Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt, and at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium. He holds a doctorate in Religious Sciences from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes...
- Jacques CheminadeJacques CheminadeJacques Cheminade, born August 20, 1941 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a French political activist. He is associated with the LaRouche movement, an international network of groups led by the American political activist, Lyndon LaRouche. He was a candidate for the French presidential election, 1995...
- Nicolas Dupont-AignanNicolas Dupont-AignanNicolas Dupont-Aignan is a French gaullist and souverainist politician. He has been a MP of the Essonne's 8th constituency since 1997 and a mayor of Yerres, Essonne since 1995....
: former member of Union for a Popular MovementUnion for a Popular MovementThe 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...
, announced on RTL radio on 10 January 2007 that he had obtained approximately 310 promises for signatures to validate his candidacy and intended to stand on a 'sovereignist' platform, against further European integration through the EU. - France Gamerre: Génération ÉcologieGénération ÉcologieEcology Generation is, together with the Greens , the Independent Ecological Movement and Citizenship, Action, Participation for the 21st Century , one of the four "green" parties in France...
- Nicolas Miguet : right-wing businessman, press publisher and tax protester, he was accused of running a scam in order to obtain the 500 endorsements. He was arrested and freed on bail. Announced that he would support François Bayrou.
Legal issues and freedom of speech
- Prominent political commentator Alain DuhamelAlain DuhamelAlain Duhamel is a prominent French journalist and political commentator.In 1963, Duhamel started working at Le Monde. He started giving talks on Europe 1 from 1974...
was suspended in 2006 after a video was published on DailyMotionDailymotionDailymotion is a video sharing service website, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement, Paris, France. According to Comscore, Dailymotion is the second largest video site in the world after YouTube....
, where he stated his personal intentions of voting for François Bayrou.
- Candidate Gérard Schivardi was banned from calling himself le candidat des maires ("the candidate of the mayors"). The 2 April 2007 judicial injunction was requested by the Association of French Mayors, who feared that the candidate might be perceived as officially endorsed by the country's mayors. As a result, he was unable to use the 25 million electoral flyers already printed, which he claims will cost his campaign €300,000. Thus he styled himself as "the candidates of mayors" or "candidate of some mayors" ("de maires" rather than "des maires" – see United Nations Security Council Resolution 242#Semantic dispute for an analogy of this difference between de and des).
- Using the three colours of the national flag (blue, white, and red) on electoral advertisements or partisan documentation is prohibited by electoral regulations. Ségolène Royal contended that the book Ensemble ("together") published by Nicolas Sarkozy, whose cover is blue, white and red, is effectively an electoral partisan documentation and should be covered by this prohibition.
- François Bayrou proposed the idea of organising a "debate over the Internet" between the four leading candidates, in order to circumvent the obligation of TV and radio channels to provide equal times to all twelve candidates. However, Nicolas Sarkozy was opposed to such a debate, believing it would be illegal.
- French law prohibits publishing the results of opinion polls related to the election during the day of the election and the preceding day, so as to prevent undue influencing of the vote. No estimate can be given before Sunday 8 pm, when the last voting office closes and official counts begin to be released. However, media from neighbouring countries, which are not bound by these regulations, have long broadcasted estimates (Télévision Suisse RomandeTélévision Suisse RomandeTélévision Suisse Romande is a TV network with 2 channels: TSR 1 and TSR 2. They are the main French language channels in Switzerland, part of SRG SSR idée suisse...
in particular). In 2007, the issue took a particular importance because of the generalisation of blogs and Internet pages. Journalist Jean-Marc MorandiniJean-Marc MorandiniJean-Marc Morandini is a French journalist.In 1985, aged 20, Morandini became the youngest TV speaker of France. He worked for channel La Cinq, before creating and animating the programme Tout est possible on TF1 for 4 years...
stirred turmoil when he announced his intention of publishing results on his blog as soon as 18:00. Another problem was that the results from the voting offices in the Americas (consulates and French overseas possessions) were counted on Saturday night, and some began circulating rumours as to these results.
Abstention and spoilt votes
AbstentionAbstention
Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrasted with "blank vote", in which a voter casts a ballot willfully made invalid by...
was exceptionally low, as well as protest vote
Protest vote
A protest vote is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate the caster's unhappiness with the choice of candidates or refusal of the current political system...
s. Blank vote (going to vote, but deliberately cancelling one's ballot, by any means possible – tearing it in two, writing Tintin
Tintin (character)
Tintin is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the series of classic Belgian comic books written and illustrated by Hergé. Tintin is the protagonist of the series, a reporter and adventurer who travels around the world with his dog Snowy....
on it, or anything absurd as such) is not included in official counts – i.e. it is considered a spoilt vote
Spoilt vote
'Bold text'In voting, a ballot is considered to be spoilt, spoiled, void, null, informal or stray if it is regarded by the election authorities to be invalid and thus not included in the tally during vote counting. This may be done accidentally or deliberately...
, counted as equivalent to abstention. A very small party, the Parti Blanc (White Party, for "white vote", i.e. blank vote) has called for the official count of white votes by the state (as in None of the above
None of the above
None of the Above or against all is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in a voting system...
systems). It organised a march in Paris on Wednesday 18 March 2007 in which only thirty people participated.
Electronic voting
Electronic voting
Electronic voting is a term encompassing several different types of voting, embracing both electronic means of casting a vote and electronic means of counting votes....
has been introduced in some areas. Voting machines have been authorised in 2004. They have been introduced in only 82 of 36,000 voting districts, and have been criticised by a number of people, both on the left and on the right. A petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
against them has also been made (see Wikinews:Electronic voting disputed in France).
French personalities
Approximately 200 French intellectuals expressed support for Ségolène Royal. These included the philosopher Étienne BalibarÉtienne Balibar
Étienne Balibar is a French Marxist philosopher. After the death of his teacher Louis Althusser, Balibar quickly became the leading exponent of French Marxist philosophy.- Life and work :...
(a student of Louis Althusser
Louis Althusser
Louis Pierre Althusser was a French Marxist philosopher. He was born in Algeria and studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy....
), the editor François Maspero
François Maspero
François Maspero ) is a French author and journalist, best known as a publisher of leftist books in the 1970s. He has also worked as a translator, translating the works of Joseph Conrad and John Reed, author of Ten Days that Shook the World, among others...
, the historian Pierre Rosanvallon
Pierre Rosanvallon
Pierre Rosanvallon is a French intellectual and historian, named professor at the Collège de France in 2001. He holds there the chair in the modern and contemporary history of the political. His works are dedicated to the history of democracy, French political history, the role of the state and...
, the psychanalyst Fethi Benslama, the philosopher Jacques Bouveresse
Jacques Bouveresse
Jacques Bouveresse is a philosopher who has written on subjects including Ludwig Wittgenstein, Robert Musil, Karl Kraus, philosophy of science, epistemology, philosophy of mathematics and analytical philosophy...
, the sociologist Robert Castel
Robert Castel
Robert Castel is a French sociologist, currently a researcher at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales.-Work:...
, the philosopher Catherine Colliot-Thélène, the writer Chloé Delaume
Chloé Delaume
Chloé Delaume is a French award-winning novelist, performer, musician, and occasional singer.-Biography:Born Nathalie Dalain in Paris, 1973, Chloé Delaume spent her childhood in Beirut. In 1983 a tragic episode both changed the course of her life and marked her body of work: at ten years old, she...
, the historian Michel Dreyfus, the anthropologist Françoise Héritier
Françoise Héritier
Françoise Héritier is a French anthropologist and successor to Claude Lévi-Strauss at the Collège de France . Her work deals mainly with the theory of alliances and on the prohibition of incest...
, the sculptor Françoise Jolivet, the film-maker Roy Lekus, the sociologist Eric Macé, the philosopher Pierre Macherey
Pierre Macherey
Pierre Macherey is a French Marxist literary critic at Université Lille Nord de France. A former student of Louis Althusser and collaborator on the influential volume Reading "Capital", Macherey is a central figure in the development of French post-structuralism and Marxism...
, the philosopher Jean-Claude Monod the artist Ariane Mnouchkine
Ariane Mnouchkine
Ariane Mnouchkine is a world-renowned French stage director. She founded the Parisian avant-garde stage ensemble Théâtre du Soleil in 1964. She has written and directed 1789 and Molière , and in 1989, she directed La Nuit Miraculeuse...
, the economist Yann Moulier Boutang (involved with Multitudes
Multitudes
Multitudes is a French philosophical, political and artistic monthly journal founded in 2000 by Yann Moulier-Boutang. It is thematically situated in the theoretical framework of the seminal work Empire by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt...
), the historian Gérard Noiriel, the historian Pascal Ory
Pascal Ory
Pascal Ory is a French historian. A student of René Rémond, he specialises in cultural and political history and has written on Fascism ever since his masters dissertation on the Greenshirts of Henri Dorgères. He is one of those who in the 1970s contributed to the better definition of cultural...
, the historian Michelle Perrot, the economist Thomas Piketty
Thomas Piketty
Thomas Piketty is a French economist who specializes in the study of economic inequality.-Youth and education:Piketty was born on May 7, 1971, in Clichy, Paris, to parents who had taken part in the May 1968 riots...
, the historian Benjamin Stora
Benjamin Stora
Benjamin Stora is a French historian, expert on North Africa, who is widely considered one of the world's leading authorities on Algerian history. He was born in a Jewish family in Constantine, then in French Algeria, which left the country following its War of Independence in 1962. Stora holds...
, the anthropologist Emmanuel Terray, the lawyer Michel Tubiana (former president of the Human Rights League
Human Rights League
Several organisations are named Human Rights League in English:* Registered with the International Federation of Human Rights, abbreviated from its name in French as FIDH, established in 1922 and having its headquarters in Paris...
), and the sociologist Loïc Wacquant
Loïc Wacquant
Loïc Wacquant is a sociologist, specializing in urban sociology, urban poverty, racial inequality, the body, social theory and ethnography....
(a student of Pierre Bourdieu
Pierre Bourdieu
Pierre Bourdieu was a French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher.Starting from the role of economic capital for social positioning, Bourdieu pioneered investigative frameworks and terminologies such as cultural, social, and symbolic capital, and the concepts of habitus, field or location,...
).
Régis Debray
Régis Debray
Jules Régis Debray is a French intellectual, journalist, government official and professor. He is known for his theorization of mediology, a critical theory of the long-term transmission of cultural meaning in human society; and for having fought in 1967 with Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara in...
called to vote first for a far-left candidate, then Royal in the second round.
On the other hand, the so-called Nouveaux Philosophes were split on their support. André Glucksmann
André Glucksmann
André Glucksmann is a French philosopher and writer, and member of the French new philosophers.-Early years:André Glucksmann was born in 1937, in Boulogne-Billancourt, the son of Ashkenazi Jewish parents from Romania and Czechoslovakia. He studied in Lyon, and later enrolled at École normale...
called to vote Sarkozy, while Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Lévy is a French public intellectual, philosopher and journalist. Often referred to today, in France, simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the "Nouveaux Philosophes" movement in 1976.-Early life:...
voted for Ségolène Royal. Max Gallo
Max Gallo
Max Gallo is a French writer, historian and politician.The son of Italian immigrants, Max Gallo's early career was in journalism. At the time he was a Communist . In 1974, he joined the Socialist Party. On April 26, 2007, the French Academy recorded his candidacy for its Seat 24, formerly held by...
, who had supported the left-wing Republican Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement is a French politician. He was Minister of Defense from 1988 to 1991 and Minister of the Interior from 1997 to 2000. He was a presidential candidate in 2002 and since 2008 has been a member of the Senate....
in 2002, joined Sarkozy five years later. Pascal Bruckner
Pascal Bruckner
Pascal Bruckner is a French writer.-Biography:After studies at the university Paris I and Paris VII Diderot, and then at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Bruckner became maître de conférences at the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, and collaborator at the Nouvel Observateur.Bruckner...
and Alain Finkielkraut
Alain Finkielkraut
Alain Finkielkraut is a French essayist, and son of a Jewish-Polish manufacturer of fine leather goods who had been deported to Auschwitz and survived. He currently teaches at the École polytechnique as professor of the "history of ideas and modernity" in the department of humanities and social...
have also proved close to Sarkozy, although they did not declare support for him, but Sarkozy did support Finkielkraut after controversial statements made in Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
newspaper following the 2005 civil unrest. According to the journalist Jacques Julliard, the support of some French intellectuals for the 2003 invasion of Iraq is the root of their rallying to Sarkozy, following the creation of the review titled Le Meilleur des mondes (Brave New World). Pascal Bruckner
Pascal Bruckner
Pascal Bruckner is a French writer.-Biography:After studies at the university Paris I and Paris VII Diderot, and then at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Bruckner became maître de conférences at the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, and collaborator at the Nouvel Observateur.Bruckner...
, historian Stéphane Courtois
Stéphane Courtois
Stéphane Courtois is a French historian, an internationally known expert on communist studies, particularly the history of communism and communist genocides, and author of several books...
, Thérèse Delpech
Thérèse Delpech
Thérèse Delpech has been director of strategic studies at the French Atomic Energy Commission since 1997. She is also a researcher with CERI at Sciences Po, commissioner with the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, and international adviser to the International...
, André Glucksmann
André Glucksmann
André Glucksmann is a French philosopher and writer, and member of the French new philosophers.-Early years:André Glucksmann was born in 1937, in Boulogne-Billancourt, the son of Ashkenazi Jewish parents from Romania and Czechoslovakia. He studied in Lyon, and later enrolled at École normale...
, Romain Goupil, Pierre-André Taguieff
Pierre-André Taguieff
Pierre-André Taguieff is a philosopher and director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in an Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris laboratory, the CEVIPOF...
, Olivier Rollin, and Pierre Rigoulot
Pierre Rigoulot
Pierre Rigoulot is a French historian. The author of L’Antiaméricanisme, he contributed to Stéphane Courtois' The Black Book of Communism and helped Kang Chol-Hwan write The Aquariums of Pyongyang. In 2006, he prefaced France Intox published by Editions Underbahn.-External links:*...
are frequent contributors to this review.
Tennis player Yannick Noah
Yannick Noah
Yannick Noah is a former professional tennis player from France. He is best remembered for being the last French man to win the French Open in 1983, and as a highly-successful captain of France's Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams...
called to vote for Royal, while Sarkozy obtained the support of singers Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday is a French singer and actor. An icon in the French-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he was considered by some to have been the French Elvis Presley. He was married for 15 years to one of the most popular French female singers: Sylvie Vartan...
, Mireille Mathieu
Mireille Mathieu
Mireille Mathieu is a French chanteuse, and pop singer. Hailed in the French press as the successor to Édith Piaf, she has achieved great commercial success, recording over 1200 songs in nine different languages, with more than 120 million records sold worldwide.-Childhood to early...
and Faudel
Faudel
Faudel , born Faudel Belloua on June 6, 1978 in Mantes-la-Jolie, is a French singer of Algerian descent.-Early years:...
, of rapper Doc Gyneco
Doc Gynéco
Doc Gynéco is a popular French hip hop artist of Guadeloupean origin. His music is typically characterized as a ragga/rap style, that has found its fan base in France. Born in Clichy-la-Garenne, France on July 7, 1974, Beausir's mother was Caribbean and his father white...
, and former politician and current actor Bernard Tapie
Bernard Tapie
Bernard Tapie is a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Ministre de la Ville in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy, a businessman specializing in recovery for bankrupted companies, among which Adidas is the most famous ; and owner of sports teams...
. He also had the support of actors Jean Reno
Jean Reno
Jean Reno is a French actor. Working in French, English, Spanish and Italian, he has appeared not only in numerous successful Hollywood productions such as The Pink Panther, Godzilla, The Da Vinci Code, Mission: Impossible, Ronin and Couples Retreat, but also in European productions such as the...
and Christian Clavier
Christian Clavier
Christian Clavier is a French actor. He is the brother of French film director Stéphane Clavier.-Biography:After his high class studies at the Neuilly Lycée Pasteur—though asserted here and there, he never studied at Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris —he started his acting career with the...
, both residing in Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential...
where Sarkozy was the mayor between 1983 and 2002 and of Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor...
. But also of industrialist Martin Bouygues
Martin Bouygues
Martin Bouygues, born 1952,is chairman and chief executive officer of the French company Bouygues; founded by his father Francis in 1952. In 2006 he was listed at the worlds 214th richest person, and a billionaire....
, whose children attended the same school as Sarkozy's offspring. The humourist Dieudonné
Dieudonné M'bala M'bala
Dieudonné M'bala M'bala , generally known simply as Dieudonné, is a French comedian, actor and political activist....
and the writer Alain Soral
Alain Soral
Alain Soral is a French essayist, and film maker, as well as being the author of several polemical essays. He is the brother of the actress Agnès Soral. Soral lives in the French Basque Country. Since June 2004, he has been a boxing coach...
supported Jean-Marie Le Pen. Actress Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...
supported José Bové.
The song Elle est facho (She's a fascist) on the Rouge sang
Rouge sang
Rouge Sang is a studio album by French singer Renaud released in 2006. It gained particular media attention for the song Elle est facho which portrays a female Front National voter. The song brought about a controversy because of its last verse à la facho.....
album by singer Renaud
Renaud
Renaud, born Renaud Séchan, is a French singer, songwriter and actor.Renaud may also refer to:* Renaud , a male French given name* Renaud , a 1783 opera by Antonio Sacchini* Renaud, Quebec, part of Laval, Quebec...
released in 2006 gained particular media attention for lyrics in the lqst verse the translated as "she's a fascist and votes Sarko"
International support
Abroad, Silvio BerlusconiSilvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
, the former prime minister of Italy
Prime minister of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic...
, gave his support to Sarkozy immediately following the first round, while Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...
, the then Italian premier and leader of the centre-left Union
The Union (political coalition)
The Union was an centre-left coalition of political parties in Italy. It was led by Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy from April 2006 to April 2008, and former President of the European Commission.-Parties:...
coalition, called for an alliance between Bayrou and Royal.
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012...
has shown his support for Royal.
European commissioner
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
and Vice-President
Vice-President of the European Commission
A Vice President of the European Commission is a post in the European Commission usually occupied by more than one member of the Commission. Since the 2009 Lisbon Treaty entered into force, one of these is ex-officio the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,...
Margot Wallström
Margot Wallström
Margot Elisabeth Wallström is a Swedish social democratic, currently holding the job as . Prior to this post, she served as European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy...
was criticised after she informally suggested support for Royal on her blog, celebrating the fact that a woman got into the second round. She said: "J'étais si contente de voir qu'une femme participera au deuxième tour de l‘élection présidentielle!" (I was so happy to see that a woman would be participating in the second round of the presidential election!) Commissioners are not meant to be politically biased in elections under their code of conduct. It should be noted that Wallström is a social-democrat, like Royal. José Manuel Barroso, the head of the European Commission, has privately discussed the idea of forming a "strategic partnership" with Mr. Sarkozy.
Many U.S. pundits and western economists expressed support for Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
. Steve Forbes
Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes, Jr. is an American editor, publisher, and businessman. He is the editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes as well as president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes Inc. He was a Republican candidate in the U.S. Presidential primaries in 1996...
devoted several columns in the influential financial publication FORBES Magazine
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
. The London-based magazineThe Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
also expressed support for Sarkozy's economic platform .
In 2011, according to the son of the Libyan leader Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, Sarkozy was provided with financial support from Libya during the presidential election.
International media coverage
The 2007 presidential elections have been heavily covered by international media due to the significance of France's stature as a European Union member as well as being a member of the G8 nations. For example, on 22 April 2007, CNN InternationalCNN International
CNN International is an international English language television network that carries news, current affairs, politics, opinions, and business programming worldwide. CNN is one of the world's largest news organizations. It is owned by Time Warner, and is affiliated with CNN, which is mainly...
carried live coverage of Ségolène Royal
Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
's speech after the day's election. Hala Gorani
Hala Gorani
Hala Basha-Gorani , is an American anchor/correspondent for CNN International based in the network's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. She anchors CNN Internationals 1 p.m. ET International Desk from the CNN Center...
of CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
also conducted a live interview and analysis with some of France's bloggers and political insiders after Ségolène Royal
Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
's speech.
Riots
Place de la Bastille
The Place de la Bastille is a square in Paris, where the Bastille prison stood until the 'Storming of the Bastille' and its subsequent physical destruction between 14 July 1789 and 14 July 1790 during the French Revolution; no vestige of it remains....
. A gathering of opponents to Sarkozy there quickly ended in confrontations between the youth and the riot control forces, who tear gased the whole place.
732 cars were torched according to estimates of the DGPN (direction of the police) and government buildings and property came under attack. Police clashed with protesters who were described by French media as members of the ultra-left and of the autonome movement
Autonomism
Autonomism refers to a set of left-wing political and social movements and theories close to the socialist movement. As an identifiable theoretical system it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerist communism...
or youth from the suburbs. During the fighting dozens of officers were injured and 592 alleged rioters were arrested. 70 people were arrested in the North department and 79 in Paris. Overall the situation remained calm.
Some clashes continued on the night of Monday to Tuesday, with 365 torched cars and 160 alleged rioters detained by the police. Ten people were in court already by Monday. Two of them were given firm prison sentences of six and three months respectively, and two others to 120 hours of TIG
Tig
Tig may refer to:*Tig Notaro, an American stand-up comic*Tig, another name for tag *Alex "Tig" Trager, a character in Sons of AnarchyTIG may refer to:*Tungsten inert gas welding, aka gas tungsten arc welding...
(General Interest Labour, an alternative sentence to prison). Another one has been given a two months firm prison sentence and two others TIG hours. Some of the people judged in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
have denied any involvement in the riots (two of them received 120 hours of TIG and a 200 euros fine).
300 to 400 people demonstrated on the Boulevard Saint-Michel
Boulevard Saint-Michel
The Boulevard Saint-Michel is one of the two major streets in the Latin Quarter of Paris . It is a tree-lined boulevard which runs south from the pont Saint-Michel on the Seine river and the Place Saint-Michel, crosses the boulevard Saint-Germain and continues alongside the Sorbonne and the...
on Wednesday 9 May, in opposition to a demonstration of white supremacists. By 9 pm that night 118 of them had been arrested. A 31 year-old engineer took legal action following his release from custody claiming he had been a victim of police brutality
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
. He claimed that he had not taken part to the demonstrations, but had been arrested nonetheless.
Exit polls second round
| Candidate | Party | France 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier.... |
UMP 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... |
53% |
| Ségolène Royal Ségolène Royal Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party... |
PS 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... |
47% |
| Sources: elections.france2.fr | ||
Before the second round of vote
| Polling Firm | Date | Source | Sarkozy | Royal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BVA | 4 May 2007 (just before midnight) | 55 | 45 | |
| Ipsos | 4 May 2007 (just before midnight) | 55 | 45 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 4 May 2007 | 54.5 | 45.5 | |
| Ipsos | 4 May 2007 | 54 | 46 | |
| CSA | 3 May 2007 | 53 | 47 | |
| Ipsos | 3 May 2007 | 53.5 | 46.5 | |
| Ipsos | 2 May 2007 | 53.5 | 46.5 | |
| BVA | 2 May 2007 | 52 | 48 | |
| Ipsos | 1 May 2007 | 53 | 47 | |
| Ifop | 30 April 2007 | 53 | 47 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 29 April 2007 | 52 | 48 | |
| Ipsos | 29 April 2007 | 52.5 | 47.5 | |
| Ipsos | 28 April 2007 | 52.5 | 47.5 | |
| Ifop | 27 April 2007 | 52.5 | 47.5 | |
| Ipsos | 27 April 2007 | 53 | 47 | |
| Ipsos | 26 April 2007 | 53 | 47 | |
| BVA | 26 April 2007 | 53 | 47 | |
| Ipsos | 25 April 2007 | 53.5 | 46.5 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 24 April 2007 | 51 | 49 | |
| Ipsos | 24 April 2007 | 54 | 46 | |
| LH2 | 23 April 2007 | 54 | 46 | |
| CSA | 22 April 2007 | 53.5 | 46.5 | |
| BVA | 22 April 2007 | 52 | 48 | |
| Ifop | 22 April 2007 | 54 | 46 | |
| Ipsos | 22 April 2007 | 54 | 46 |
Exit polls first round
| Candidate | Party | Ipsos | Sofres | CSA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier.... |
UMP 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... |
30.8 | 30.5 | 30.6 |
| Ségolène Royal Ségolène Royal Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party... |
PS 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... |
25.2 | 25.7 | 25.9 |
| François Bayrou François Bayrou François Bayrou is a French centrist politician, president of Union for French Democracy since 1998 and was a candidate in the 2002 and 2007 French presidential elections. In the first round, he received 18.6% of the vote, finishing in 3rd place and therefore was eliminated from the race.... |
UDF Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. 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 right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's... |
19.0 | 18.5 | 18.5 |
| Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than... |
FN | 10.8 | 11.0 | 10.8 |
| Olivier Besancenot Olivier Besancenot Olivier Besancenot is a French far left political figure and trade unionist, and the founding main spokesperson of the New Anticapitalist Party from 2009 to 2011.... |
LCR Revolutionary Communist League (France) See Revolutionary Communist League for the other Ligue communiste révolutionnaire.The Revolutionary Communist League was a French democratic revolutionary socialist political party. It was the French section of the Fourth International... |
4.1 | 4.3 | 4.5 |
| Philippe de Villiers Philippe de Villiers Viscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers, born on 25 March 1949, is a French politician. He was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. As only the top... |
MPF Movement for France The Movement for France , abbreviated to MPF, is a French conservative and eurosceptic political party, founded on 20 November 1994, with a marked regional stronghold in the Vendée. It is led by Philippe de Villiers, once communications minister under Jacques Chirac.The party is considered... |
2.3 | 2.4 | 2.3 |
| Marie-George Buffet Marie-George Buffet Marie-George Buffet is a French politician. She was the head of the French Communist Party from 2001 to 2010. She joined the Party in 1969, and was the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports from June 4, 1997 to May 5, 2002. Ms... |
PCF 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... |
2.0 | 1.9 | 2.0 |
| Dominique Voynet Dominique Voynet Dominique Voynet was a French senator for the département of Seine-Saint-Denis, the mayor of Montreuil and a member of The Greens.-Life:... |
The Greens The Greens (France) The Greens were a Green political party to the centre-left of the political spectrum in France. They had officially been in existence since 1984, but their spiritual roots could be traced as far back as René Dumont’s candidacy for the presidency in 1974... |
1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Arlette Laguiller Arlette Laguiller Arlette Yvonne Laguiller is a French Trotskyist politician. Since 1973, she has been the spokeswoman and the best known leader and perennial candidate of the Lutte Ouvrière political party... |
LO | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| José Bové José Bové Joseph Bové is a French farmer and syndicalist, member of the alter-globalization movement, and spokesman for Via Campesina. He was one of the twelve official candidates in the 2007 French presidential election... |
Ind Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... |
1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 |
| Frédéric Nihous Frédéric Nihous Frédéric Nihous is a French politician from the Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions party. He was a candidate for the 2007 French presidential election, but was eliminated in the first round of balloting... |
CPNT | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| Gérard Schivardi Gérard Schivardi Gérard Schivardi is a French politician. He contended in the French presidential election of 2007 under the colours of the Workers' Party of Trotskyist legacy. He came last in the first round of balloting on 22 April, obtaining 0.34% of the popular vote .-Biography:Schivardi was born in 1950 in... |
PT Workers' Party (France) The Workers' Party was a French socialist party. It was formed by the Trotskyist Internationalist Communist Party led by Pierre Boussel, better known under his pseudonym Pierre Lambert, together with a number of other socialists with whom they worked in the Force Ouvrière union... |
0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Sources: elections.france2.fr, tns-sofres.com, csa-fr.com | ||||
Before first round of vote
| Polling Firm | Date | Source | Sarkozy | Royal | Bayrou | Le Pen | Others | Second round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ipsos | 21 April 2007 | 30 | 23.5 | 17 | 13.5 | 16 | Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 52.5 Sarkozy 47.5 | |
| CSA | 20 April 2007 | 26.5 | 25.5 | 16 | 16.5 | 15.5 | Sarkozy 50 Royal 50 | |
| Ifop | 20 April 2007 | 28 | 22.5 | 20 | 13 | 16.5 | Sarkozy 51 Royal 49, Bayrou 55 Sarkozy 45, Bayrou 58 Royal 42 | |
| Ipsos | 20 April 2007 | 30 | 23 | 18 | 13 | 16 | Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 19 April 2007 | 28 | 24 | 19.5 | 14 | 14.5 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46 | |
| BVA | 19 April 2007 | 29 | 25 | 15 | 13 | 18 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| Ipsos | 19 April 2007 | 30 | 23.5 | 18.5 | 13 | 15 | Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48 | |
| Ifop | 18 April 2007 | 28 | 22.5 | 19 | 12.5 | 18 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 18 April 2007 | 28.5 | 25 | 19 | 14 | 13.5 | Sarkozy 51 Royal 49 | |
| Ipsos | 18 April 2007 | 29.5 | 24.5 | 18.5 | 13.5 | 14 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47 | |
| CSA | 17 April 2007 | 27 | 25 | 19 | 15.5 | 13.5 | Sarkozy 50 Royal 50 | |
| Ipsos | 17 April 2007 | 28.5 | 25 | 18.5 | 14 | 14 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46 | |
| Louis-Harris | 16 April 2007 | 27 | 23 | 19 | 14 | 17 | Sarkozy 51 Royal 49 | |
| CSA | 15 April 2007 | 26 | 23 | 21 | 15 | 15 | Sarkozy 51 Royal 49 | |
| Ipsos | 15 April 2007 | 29.5 | 25 | 17.5 | 13.5 | 14.5 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 53.5 Sarkozy 46.5 | |
| Ifop | 15 April 2007 | 28.5 | 24 | 18 | 13 | 16.5 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 14 April 2007 | 30 | 26 | 17 | 12 | 15 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| Ipsos | 14 April 2007 | 29.5 | 24.5 | 17.5 | 14 | 14.5 | Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47 | |
| Ipsos | 13 April 2007 | 30 | 24 | 18.5 | 13.5 | 14 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47 | |
| CSA | 12 April 2007 | 27 | 25 | 19 | 15 | 14 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| Ipsos | 12 April 2007 | 29.5 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 13.5 | Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 53.5 Sarkozy 46.5 | |
| BVA | 12 April 2007 | 28 | 24 | 18 | 14 | 16 | Sarkozy 55 Royal 45 | |
| Ipsos | 11 April 2007 | 30 | 23.5 | 19 | 13.5 | 14 | Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 53.5 Sarkozy 46.5 | |
| Ipsos | 10 April 2007 | 30.5 | 23 | 19.5 | 13 | 14 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 53.5 Sarkozy 46.5 | |
| Louis-Harris | 9 April 2007 | 28 | 24 | 18 | 15 | 15 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| Ifop | 8 April 2007 | 29.5 | 22 | 19 | 14 | 15.5 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46 | |
| Ipsos | 8 April 2007 | 30.5 | 22.5 | 19.5 | 13 | 14.5 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47 | |
| Ipsos | 7 April 2007 | 31.5 | 23.5 | 19 | 12.5 | 13.5 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48 | |
| CSA | 6 April 2007 | 26 | 23.5 | 21 | 16 | 13.5 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| Ipsos | 6 April 2007 | 31 | 24 | 18.5 | 13 | 13.5 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51.5 Sarkozy 48.5 | |
| BVA | 5 April 2007 | 29.5 | 24 | 18 | 12 | 16.5 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46 | |
| Ipsos | 5 April 2007 | 31.5 | 24.5 | 18.5 | 13 | 12.5 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51 Sarkozy 49 | |
| Ifop | 4 April 2007 | 27.5 | 23 | 20 | 14 | 15.5 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| Ipsos | 4 April 2007 | 31.5 | 25 | 18.5 | 13 | 12 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51 Sarkozy 49 | |
| Ipsos | 3 April 2007 | 31.5 | 24 | 19 | 13.5 | 12 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51 Sarkozy 49 | |
| Louis-Harris | 2 April 2007 | 29 | 26 | 18 | 13 | 14 | Sarkozy 51 Royal 49 | |
| Ipsos | 1 April 2007 | 31 | 24.5 | 19 | 13 | 12.5 | Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48 | |
| Ipsos | 31 March 2007 | 32 | 24 | 18.5 | 12 | 13.5 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51.5 Sarkozy 48.5 | |
| Ifop | 31 March 2007 | 28 | 23 | 21 | 13.5 | 14.5 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 30 March 2007 | 30 | 27 | 18 | 12 | 13 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| CSA | 30 March 2007 | 26 | 24.5 | 19.5 | 15 | 15 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| Ipsos | 30 March 2007 | 31.5 | 25 | 17.5 | 12 | 14 | Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 51 Sarkozy 49 | |
| Ipsos | 29 March 2007 | 31 | 24.5 | 18 | 12.5 | 14 | Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 51.5 Sarkozy 48.5 | |
| BVA | 27 March 2007 | 28 | 27 | 20 | 12 | 13 | Sarkozy 51 Royal 49 | |
| Ipsos | 27 March 2007 | 30.5 | 25 | 18.5 | 13 | 13 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48 | |
| Louis-Harris | 24 March 2007 | 27 | 27 | 20 | 12 | 14 | Sarkozy 51 Royal 49, Bayrou 60 Sarkozy 40 | |
| Ipsos | 24 March 2007 | 30 | 25.5 | 19 | 13.5 | 12 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47 | |
| Ifop | 23 March 2007 | 26 | 25 | 22 | 14.5 | 12.5 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 23 March 2007 | 28 | 26.5 | 21.5 | 11 | 13 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| CSA | 22 March 2007 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 13 | 14 | Sarkozy 50 Royal 50 | |
| BVA | 20 March 2007 | 31 | 24 | 17 | 13 | 15 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46 | |
| Ifop | 19 March 2007 | 28 | 24 | 21 | 14 | 13 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46 | |
| Louis-Harris | 17 March 2007 | 29 | 26 | 22 | 12.5 | 10.5 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48, Bayrou 57 Sarkozy 43 | |
| Ipsos | 17 March 2007 | 29.5 | 25 | 21 | 12.5 | 12 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| Ifop | 17 March 2007 | 26 | 24 | 22.5 | 14 | 13.5 | Sarkozy 51.5 Royal 48.5 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 15 March 2007 | 31 | 24 | 22 | 12 | 11 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46, Bayrou 60 Royal 40 | |
| CSA | 14 March 2007 | 27 | 26 | 21 | 14 | 12 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| Ipsos | 14 March 2007 | 28.5 | 24 | 23 | 13.5 | 13 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| BVA | 13 March 2007 | 29 | 23 | 21 | 13 | 14 | Sarkozy 51 Royal 49, Bayrou 55 Sarkozy 45 | |
| Louis-Harris | 10 March 2007 | 28 | 26 | 22 | 13.5 | 10.5 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48, Bayrou 55 Sarkozy 45 | |
| Ipsos | 10 March 2007 | 31 | 25.5 | 21.5 | 12.5 | 9.5 | Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5 | |
| Ifop | 9 March 2007 | 28 | 23 | 23 | 13 | 13 | ||
| TNS-Sofres | 8 March 2007 | 27 | 25.5 | 23 | 12 | 12 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| CSA | 7 March 2007 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 14 | 11 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| Ipsos | 7 March 2007 | 32.5 | 27 | 19 | 12.5 | 9 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| BVA | 6 March 2007 | 29 | 24 | 21 | 13 | 13 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 55 Sarkozy 45 | |
| Louis-Harris | 3 March 2007 | 28 | 27 | 20 | 14 | 11 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 1 March 2007 | 31 | 25.5 | 18.5 | 12 | 13 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46 | |
| Ipsos | 28 February 2007 | 32 | 25 | 18 | 12.5 | 10 | Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5 | |
| CSA | 28 February 2007 | 29 | 29 | 17 | 14 | 11 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| BVA | 27 February 2007 | 31 | 25 | 17 | 14 | 13 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46, Bayrou 55 Royal 45 | |
| Louis-Harris | 24 February 2007 | 30 | 27 | 17 | 13 | 13 | Sarkozy 50 Royal 50 | |
| Ifop | 23 February 2007 | 28 | 28 | 17 | 11.5 | 15.5 | Sarkozy 50.5 Royal 49.5 | |
| BVA | 20 February 2007 | 33 | 26 | 15 | 10 | 16 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46, Bayrou 52 Royal 48 | |
| CSA | 20 February 2007 | 28 | 29 | 17 | 14 | 13 | Sarkozy 51 Royal 49 | |
| Louis-Harris | 17 February 2007 | 33 | 25.5 | 14 | 13 | 15 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46 | |
| Ipsos | 17 February 2007 | 33 | 23 | 16 | 13 | 15 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46 | |
| Ifop | 15 February 2007 | 32 | 25.5 | 16 | 11 | 15.5 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 15 February 2007 | 33 | 26 | 12 | 13 | 16 | Sarkozy 55 Royal 45 | |
| CSA | 12 February 2007 | 33 | 26 | 12 | 14 | 15 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46 | |
| BVA | 12 February 2007 | 35 | 29 | 14 | 10 | 12 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| Ipsos | 12 February 2007 | 34 | 27 | 14 | 13 | 12 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46 | |
| Ifop | 12 February 2007 | 33.5 | 26 | 14 | 10 | 16.5 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46 | |
| Louis-Harris | 10 February 2007 | 31 | 27 | 13 | 12 | 17 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| Louis-Harris | 3 February 2007 | 33 | 27 | 13 | 9 | 18 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| Ipsos | 3 February 2007 | 34 | 27 | 13 | 11 | 15 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 1 February 2007 | 32 | 26 | 13 | 12.5 | 18.5 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| CSA | 31 January 2007 | 31 | 27 | 12 | 16 | 14 | Sarkozy 53 Royal 47 | |
| Ipsos | 27 January 2007 | 35 | 26 | 11 | 11 | 17 | Sarkozy 54 Royal 46 | |
| Louis-Harris | 27 January 2007 | 31 | 29 | 14 | 10 | 15.5 | Sarkozy 51 Royal 49 | |
| BVA | 23 January 2007 | 33 | 27 | 13 | 10 | 17 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| Ipsos | 20 January 2007 | 32 | 29 | 11 | 13 | 15 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| Ifop | 20 January 2007 | 32.5 | 28 | 12.5 | 11 | 16 | Sarkozy 51 Royal 49 | |
| CSA | 17 January 2007 | 30 | 29 | 9 | 15 | 17 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| Ifop | 15 January 2007 | 33 | 28 | 12 | 10 | 17 | Sarkozy 52 Royal 48 | |
| Ipsos | 7 January 2007 | 33 | 32 | 10 | 12 | 13 | Sarkozy 50 Royal 50 | |
| Ifop | 5 January 2007 | 25 | 27 | 10 | 12 | 25.5 | Royal 50.5 Sarkozy 49.5 | |
| CSA | 3 January 2007 | 32 | 34 | 6 | 15 | 13 | Royal 52 Sarkozy 48 | |
| Ifop | 15 December 2006 | 29 | 31 | 8 | 11 | 21 | Sarkozy 50 Royal 50 | |
| BVA | 12 December 2006 | 32 | 35 | 8 | 9 | 16 | Royal 51 Sarkozy 49 | |
| Ipsos | 9 December 2006 | 34 | 32 | 9 | 11.5 | 13.5 | Sarkozy 50 Royal 50 | |
| Ipsos | 2 December 2006 | 35 | 31 | 8 | 12.5 | 14.5 | Sarkozy 51 Royal 49 | |
| Ifop | 1 December 2006 | 30 | 31 | 9 | 12 | 18 | Sarkozy 50 Royal 50 | |
| CSA | 22 November 2006 | 29 | 32 | 6 | 17 | 16 | Royal 53 Sarkozy 47 | |
| Ifop | 18 November 2006 | 29 | 29 | 11 | 11 | 20 | Royal 51 Sarkozy 49 | |
| Ipsos | 11 November 2006 | 34 | 30 | 8 | 10 | 18 | Sarkozy 50 Royal 50 | |
| TNS-Sofres | 9 November 2006 | 34 | 34 | 7 | 13 | 12 | ||
| CSA | 8 November 2006 | 30 | 29 | 7 | 15 | 19 | Royal 51 Sarkozy 49 | |
| CSA | 18 October 2006 | 31 | 32 | 7 | 15 | 15 | Royal 52 Sarkozy 48 |
See also
- Elections in FranceElections in FranceFrance is a representative democracy. Public officials in the legislative and executive branches are either elected by the citizens or appointed by elected officials...
- French legislative election, 2007French legislative election, 2007The French legislative elections took place on 10 June and 17 June 2007 to elect the 13th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, a few weeks after the French presidential election run-off on 6 May. 7,639 candidates stood for 577 seats, including France's overseas possessions...
- Two-round systemTwo-round systemThe two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
External links
- French Elections 2007 from Britain's Daily Telegraph
- Royal, Sarkozy and Bayrou: The policies, BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
- Explanation of the French presidential election on the site of the French Embassy to the United Kingdom
- Polarisation and crisis – the French elections and the radical Left
- AngusReid (French election polls in English)
- BBC News: Q&A: French presidential vote Sarkozy speech after being elected 2007 Presidential Vote Results by Commune