1998 French regional elections#Presidents of the Regional Council

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 1998 French regional elections

| country = France

| type = parliamentary

| previous_election = 1992 French regional elections

| previous_year = 1992

| next_election = 2004 French regional elections

| next_year = 2004

| seats_for_election = 26 Regional Presidencies

| election_date = 15 March 1998

| 1blank = Regions

| 2blank = Change

| 3blank = Votes

| 4blank = Percentage

| image1 = {{CSS image crop|Image =Philippe Séguin 1997 (cropped).jpg|bSize = 125|cWidth = 125|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}

| leader1 = Philippe Seguin

| party1 = Rally for the Republic

| 1data1 = 15

| 2data1 = {{decrease}}6

| 3data1 = 7,804,931

| 4data1 = 35.63%

| image2 = {{CSS image crop|Image =François Hollande - 2017 (27869823159) (cropped 2).jpg|bSize = 120|cWidth = 120|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}

| leader2 = François Hollande

| party2 = Socialist Party (France)

| 1data2 = 10

| 2data2 = {{increase}}6

| 3data2 = 8,005,830

| 4data2 = 36.55%

| image3 = {{CSS image crop|Image =Jean-marie le pen cropped.jpg|bSize = 120|cWidth = 120|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}

| leader3 = Jean-Marie Le Pen

| party3 = National Front (France)

| 1data3 = 0

| 2data3 = {{steady}}

| 3data3 = 3,271,525

| 4data3 = 14.94%

| map_image = French regional elections 1998.svg

| map_size =

| map_alt =

| map =

| map_caption = Presidents elected by region

{{legend-col

|{{legend|#0066CC|Rally for the Republic}}

|{{legend|#00FFFF|Union for French Democracy}}

|{{legend|#FF8080|Socialist Party}}

|{{legend|#FFCC33|Martinican Independence Movement}}

|{{legend|#FF0000|Communist Party of Réunion}}

|{{legend|#FFC0C0|Miscellaneous left}}

}}

}}

Regional elections were held in France on 15 March 1998. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 regions, which, though they don't have legislative autonomy, manage sizeable budgets.

The parliamentary right, led by the conservative Gaullist Rally for the Republic and the centre-right Union for French Democracy won the presidency of 15 of the 26 regions, the rest were won by the French Socialist Party and its allies (Communists, Greens, Radicals). The far-right National Front obtained good results, increasing its number of seats. The far-left and Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition also won seats on various regional councils.

These election were the last ones conducted using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of five percent of valid votes being applied regionally,{{Cite web |title=Chapitre II : Mode de scrutin (Article L338) - Légifrance |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/id/LEGIARTI000006353941/1985-07-11/ |access-date=2023-08-30 |website=www.legifrance.gouv.fr}} later replaced by a two-round mixed-member majoritarian system for the 2004 elections.{{Cite web |title=Chapitre II : Mode de scrutin (Articles L338 à L338-1) - Légifrance |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/id/LEGIARTI000006353944/2003-04-12/ |access-date=2023-08-30 |website=www.legifrance.gouv.fr}}