2017 French Senate election

Senatorial elections have been held on 24 September 2017 to renew 170 of 348 seats in the Senate of the French Fifth Republic.

2017 French Senate election

24 September 2017

170 of 348 seats of the Senate
175 seats needed for a majority
 
Leader Bruno Retailleau Didier Guillaume François Zocchetto
Leader's seat Vendée Drôme Mayenne
Last election 144 seats 111 seats 43 seats
Seats before 139 86 42
Seats after 146 78 49
Seat change 7 8 7
Group LR SOC UC

 
Leader François Patriat Gilbert Barbier Éliane Assassi
Leader's seat Côte-d'Or Jura Seine-Saint-Denis
Last election Did not exist 13 seats 18 seats
Seats before 29 16 18
Seats after 21 21 15
Seat change 8 5 3
Group LREM RDSE CRC

 
Leader Claude Malhuret
Leader's seat Allier
Last election Did not exist
Seats before Did not exist
Seats after 11
Seat change 11
Group RTLI

President of the Senate before election

Gérard Larcher
LR

Elected President of the Senate

Gérard Larcher
LR

Organization

Senators concerned

Since 2011, the French Senate has been renewed, using two series, every three years. The senatorial elections on 24 September 2017 concern 170 outgoing senators within series 1 across 44 constituencies in addition to half the seats of senators representing French residents overseas. Specifically, the renewal includes seats representing 38 metropolitan departments numbered between 37 (Indre-et-Loire) and 66 (Pyrénées-Orientales), the departments of Île-de-France, four overseas departments (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, and Mayotte), two overseas collectivities (Saint Pierre and Miquelon and New Caledonia), and 6 of 12 sieges of senators representing French residents overseas. Of these seats, 136 are elected proportionally and 34 by majority. The vacant series 2 seat in Savoie will be filled separately with a by-election also held on 24 September.[1]

Electoral system

Two methods are used to elect senators. The two-round majority vote is used in constituencies which elect 1 or 2 senators, affecting 18 constituencies and 34 seats in the 2017 elections. The candidate and their alternate must be of a different sex. In order to be elected in the first round, a candidate must secure an absolute majority of votes and a number of votes equal to at least a quarter of electors. If not, a second round is organized, in which case a relative majority will be enough for a candidate to be elected. In case of a tie, the oldest of the candidates is elected. Proportional representation is used in constituencies electing 3 or more senators; in the case of the 2017 elections, this affects 26 constituencies and 130 seats, in addition to the 6 seats for senators representing French residents overseas. Each list must be composed alternately of candidates of each sex.[1]

Senators are elected through indirect universal suffrage by an electoral college composed of deputies, senators, regional councillors elected within a department, councillors of the Corsican Assembly designated under conditions set out within the electoral code, councillors of the Guianese Assembly, councillors of the Martinican Assembly, and departmental councillors. Delegates of municipal councils, however, make up the large majority of the electoral college, representing 95% of the 162,000 electors. The number of delegates of the municipal councils depends on the municipal population authenticated on 1 January 2014 by the census. Delegates must be French nationals and be registered on the electoral list of the municipality in question.[1]

Candidates

The minimum age for candidates in the senatorial elections is 24 years. After the 2014 renewal, the average age of senators was 61 years. Since the law on the accumulation of mandates of 14 February 2014, parliamentary mandates have been considered incompatible with local executive functions (president or vice-president of regional or departmental councils, mayor or deputies to mayors, and similar offices). This rule applies to all senators elected, re-elected, or in office as of 2 October 2017.[1]

Results

Constituencies by election method
  Majoritarian
  Proportional
  Not concerned

Composition before renewal

Composition of the Senate as of 23 September 2017[2]
Group Renewable % series 1 Total seats % of total President
LR 53 31.4% 139 38.1% Bruno Retailleau
SOC 46 27.2% 86 53.5% Didier Guillaume
UC 19 11.2% 42 45.2% François Zocchetto
REM 19 11.2% 29 65.5% François Patriat
CRC 16 9.5% 18 88.9% Éliane Assassi
RDSE 7 4.1% 16 43.8% Gilbert Barbier
RASNAG 9 5.3% 14 64.3% Philippe Adnot (delegate)
Vacant (1 Savoie series 2 by-election) 3

Composition after renewal

Composition of the Senate as of 3 October 2017[3]
Parliamentary group Members Associated Attached Total President
LR The Republicans 129 6 11 146 Bruno Retailleau
SOC Socialist and Republican 78 0 0 78 Didier Guillaume
UC Centrist Union 42 6 1 49 Hervé Marseille
REM La République En Marche 19 1 1 21 François Patriat
RDSE European Democratic and Social Rally 19 0 2 21 Jean-Claude Requier
CRCE Communist, Republican, Citizen and Ecologist 12 0 3 15 Éliane Assassi
RTLI Republic and Territories / The Independents 10 1 0 11 Claude Malhuret
RASNAG Administrative meeting of senators not appearing on the list of any group 5 5 Philippe Adnot (delegate)

Election of president

Gérard Larcher was re-elected president of the Senate on 2 October 2017, challenged only by Didier Guillaume and Éliane Assassi.

Candidate Group Votes %
Gérard Larcher LR 223 70.35
Didier Guillaume SOC 79 24.92
Éliane Assassi CRCE 15 4.73
Electors 348 100.00
Abstentions 5 1.44
Votes 343 98.56
Blank votes 24 7.00
Null votes 2 0.57
Expressed votes 317 92.42

See also

References

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