2015 French regional elections
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 2015 French regional elections
| country = France
| type = parliamentary
| previous_election = 2010 French regional elections
| previous_year = 2010
| next_election = 2021 French regional elections
| next_year = 2021
| seats_for_election = All 17 regional presidencies
All 1,757 regional councillors
All 153 territorial councillors
| election_date = 6 and 13 December 2015
| 1blank = Regions won
| 2blank = Change
| 3blank = First round
| 4blank = Second round
| image1 = {{CSS image crop|Image =Nicolas Sarkozy February 2015.jpg|bSize = 120|cWidth = 120|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}
| leader1 = Nicolas Sarkozy
| party1 = The Republicans (France)
| 1data1 = 7 + 1 (UDI)
| 2data1 = {{increase}} 5
| 3data1 = 5,785,073
26.65%
{{increase}} 0.63
| 4data1 = 10,127,196
40.24%
{{increase}} 4.87
| image2 = {{CSS image crop|Image =Jean-Christophe Cambadélis 2007 (cropped).jpg|bSize = 120|cWidth = 120|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}
| leader2 = Jean-Christophe Cambadélis
| party2 = Socialist Party (France)
| 1data2 = 5 + 1 (GUSR) + 1 (GR)
| 2data2 = {{decrease}} 15
| 3data2 = 5,019,723
23.12%
{{decrease}} 6.02
| 4data2 = 7,263,567
28.86%
{{decrease}} 20.66
| image3 = {{CSS image crop|Image =Le Pen, Marine-9586 (cropped).jpg|bSize = 120|cWidth = 120|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}
| leader3 = Marine Le Pen
| party3 = National Front (France)
| 1data3 = 0
| 2data3 = {{steady}}
| 3data3 = 6,018,672
27.73%
{{increase}} 16.31
| 4data3 = 6,820,147
27.10%
{{increase}} 17.93
| map_image = French regional elections 2015 2nd Round.svg
| map_size =
| map_alt =
| map =
| map_caption = Second round results by region.
{{legend|#0066cc|The Republicans and Union of Democrats and Independents}}
{{legend|#ff8080|Socialist Party}}
{{legend|#ffcc33|Regionalists}}
{{legend|#ffc0c0|Miscellaneous left}}
}}
Regional elections were held in France on 6 and 13 December 2015. At stake were the regional councils in metropolitan and overseas France including the Corsican Assembly and inaugural seats in the Assembly of French Guiana and Assembly of Martinique, all for a six-year term. The Departmental Council of Mayotte, which also exercises the powers of a region, was the only region not participating in this election, having already been renewed on 2 April 2015. There were 18 regional presidencies at stake, with 13 in mainland France and Corsica, as well as 5 overseas. Though they do not have legislative autonomy, these territorial collectivities manage sizable budgets. Moreover, regional elections are often taken as a mid-term opinion poll.
These elections were the first to be held for the redrawn regions: the 27 regions of France were amalgamated into 18, this went into effect on 1 January 2016.[http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2014/12/17/la-carte-a-13-regions-definitivement-adoptee_4542278_823448.html La carte à 13 régions définitivement adoptée], Le Monde, 17 December 2014, accessed 2 January 2015{{cite web|url=http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000030109622&categorieLien=id|title=LOI n° 2015–29 du 16 janvier 2015 relative à la délimitation des régions, aux élections régionales et départementales et modifiant le calendrier électoral – Legifrance|access-date=13 December 2015}}
The election saw a huge swing away from the centre-left Socialist Party, as well as a small swing to the centre-right Republicans. However, there was a double-digit swing to the right-wing National Rally in both the first round and the second round. Despite this, National Rally did not win any regional presidencies.
Voting system
The regional elections are held in direct universal suffrage using proportional representation lists. The election is held over two rounds, with majority bonus. The lists must be gender balanced by alternatively have a male candidate and a female candidate from the top to the bottom of the list. Only lists with as many candidates as available seatsalso compulsory in French municipal elections in every departement of the region may compete. Before 2004, lists could be presented only at the departement level, allowing smaller parties (e.g. Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition, Alsace d'abord, Lutte Ouvrière, Revolutionary Communist League) to be represented as such in the regional councils and thus forcing major parties to enter into negotiations to rule some regions.
Following the 1999 and 2003 electoral reforms, with a first implementation in 2004, a two-round runoff voting system is used to elect the regional presidents.{{Cite web|url=https://uk.ambafrance.org/French-regional-elections-results|title=French regional elections results|website=France in the United Kingdom - La France au Royaume-Uni|language=en|access-date=2017-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919234041/https://uk.ambafrance.org/French-regional-elections-results|archive-date=2017-09-19|url-status=dead}} If no party gets at least 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round is held, which any party who got at least 10% in the first round may enter. Lists that obtain at least 5% of the vote in the first round may merge in the second round with a 'qualified list', which includes candidates from each merged list.
At the decisive round (first round if a list won 50%, the second round if not), the leading list receives a premium of 25% of the seats while the remaining seats are distributed among all lists who received at least 5% of votes. Thus, the majority bonus allows a leading list to have an absolute majority of seats in the Regional Council from one-third of votes in the second round. The seats are distributed among the lists at the regional level but within each list, seats are allocated by departement branch in proportion to the number of votes in each department.
Opinion polls
{{Main|Opinion polling for the French regional elections, 2015}}
National results
{{More citations needed|date=January 2016}}
France uses a two-round runoff system to elect the regional presidencies, and as such not all seats contested will see a candidate elected in the first round.
=First round=
The first round election was held on 6 December 2015.
class=wikitable style=text-align:right
! colspan=2|List !! Votes !! Votes % | ||
{{Full party name with color|Union of the Left (France)}} | 5,019,723 | 23.12 |
{{Full party name with color|Europe Ecology – The Greens}} | 1,440,226 | 6.63 |
{{Full party name with color|Left Front (France)}} | 541,409 | 2.49 |
{{Full party name with color|Miscellaneous left}} | 401,517 | 1.85 |
{{Full party name with color|French Communist Party}} | 337,390 | 1.55 |
{{Full party name with color|Socialist Party (France)}} | 62,070 | 0.29 |
{{Full party name with color|Radical Party of the Left}} | 4,227 | 0.02 |
colspan=2 style="background-color:#ffd1dc"|Total left-wing
|style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ffd1dc"|{{formatnum:7806562}} |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ffd1dc"|35.96 | ||
colspan=7| | ||
bgcolor="#0066CC"|
| align=left|Union of the Right | 5,785,073 | 26.65 |
{{Full party name with color|France Arise}} | 827,262 | 3.81 |
{{Full party name with color|Miscellaneous right}} | 142,836 | 0.66 |
{{Full party name with color|Democratic Movement (France)}} | 85,450 | 0.39 |
{{Full party name with color|The Republicans (France)}} | 42,346 | 0.20 |
{{Full party name with color|Union of Democrats and Independents}} | 1,818 | 0.01 |
colspan=2 style="background-color:#ADC1FD"|Total right-wing
|style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ADC1FD"|{{formatnum:6884785}} |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ADC1FD"|31.72 | ||
colspan=7| | ||
{{Full party name with color|National Front (France)}} | 6,018,672 | 27.73 |
bgcolor="#404040"|
| align=left|Miscellaneous far-right | 34,061 | 0.16 |
colspan=2 style="background-color:#C0C0C0"|Total far-right
|style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#C0C0C0"|{{formatnum:6052733}} |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#C0C0C0"|27.89 | ||
colspan=7| | ||
bgcolor="#BB0000"|
| align=left|Miscellaneous far-left | 334,140 | 1.54 |
bgcolor="#ffcc33"|
| align=left|Regionalists | 273,431 | 1.26 |
| align=left|Popular Republican Union | 189,046 | 0.87 |
bgcolor="#77FF77"|
| align=left|Miscellaneous ecologists | 127,451 | 0.59 |
bgcolor="#C8C8C8"|
| align=left|Miscellaneous other | 39,883 | 0.18 |
colspan=4| | ||
colspan=2 align=left |Total | 22,609,602 | 100 |
colspan=2 align=left |Registered voters/turnout | 45,298,641 | 49.91 |
=Second round=
Runoff elections were held on 13 December 2015 in regions where no candidate was able to win outright in the first round.
After the first round, the Socialist Party withdrew its lists in the regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Hauts-de-France, where they finished in third place, in an attempt to block the Front National from winning seats in the second round due to split opposition from the centre-left and centre-right blocs.{{cite web | last1=Siraud | first1=Mathilde | title=Face au FN, le PS choisit le "barrage républicain" contre l'avis de ses candidats | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/le-scan/decryptages/2015/12/06/25003-20151206ARTFIG00171-face-au-fn-les-strategies-a-geometrie-variable-des-candidats-ps.php | website=Le Figaro | date=6 December 2015 | access-date=7 December 2015 | language=fr}} However, despite instructions from the party, the Socialist candidate chose to maintain his list in the region of Le Grand-Est, which similarly had them in third and the FN with a sizable lead after the first round.{{cite web | title=Régionales/Grand-Est: Masseret (PS) maintient sa liste | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2015/12/07/97001-20151207FILWWW00149-regionalesgrand-est-masseret-ps-maintient-sa-liste.php | website=Le Figaro | date=7 December 2015 | access-date=7 December 2015 | language=fr}}
The result was a disappointment for the Front National, which was unable to win any of the regional presidencies in the face of concerted tactical voting. However, in both the north and the south, they managed to increase their share of the vote from the first round.{{cite news|title=France's far-right National Front loses a round, but they will be back|url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21683995-tactical-manoeuvring-mainstream-left-and-right-blocks-marine-le-pen-winning-regional|access-date=14 December 2015|newspaper=The Economist|date=13 December 2015}} Of the 12 regions in mainland France, 7 were won by the Republicans and 5 were retained by the Socialists.{{Cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/elections-regionales-2015/article/2015/12/13/les-resultats-des-elections-region-par-region_4831146_4640869.html|title = Elections régionales : Les résultats, région par région|newspaper = Le Monde.fr|date = 13 December 2015}}
class=wikitable style=text-align:right
! colspan=2|List ! Votes ! Votes % ! Seats ! Seats % | ||||
colspan=2 style="background-color:#ADC1FD"|Union of the Right
|style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ADC1FD"|{{formatnum:10127196 }} |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ADC1FD"|40.63 |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ADC1FD"|818 |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ADC1FD"|42.83 | ||||
colspan=5| | ||||
{{Full party name with color|Union of the Left (France)}} | 7,263,567 | 29.14 | 520 | 27.23 |
{{Full party name with color|Miscellaneous left}} | 622,382 | 2.50 | 144 | 7.54 |
{{Full party name with color|Socialist Party (France)}} | 18,288 | 0.07 | 13 | 0.68 |
colspan=2 style="background-color:#ffd1dc"|Total left-wing
|style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ffd1dc"|{{formatnum:7904237}} |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ffd1dc"|31.71 |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ffd1dc"|677 |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ffd1dc"|35.45 | ||||
colspan=5| | ||||
colspan=2 style="background-color:#C0C0C0"|National Front
|style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#C0C0C0"|{{formatnum:6820147}} |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#C0C0C0"|27.36 |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#C0C0C0"|358 |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#C0C0C0"|18.74 | ||||
colspan=5| | ||||
colspan=2 style="background-color:#ffcc33"|Regionalists
|style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ffcc33"|{{formatnum:72829}} |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ffcc33"|0.29 |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ffcc33"|57 |style="text-align: right" style="background-color:#ffcc33"|2.98 | ||||
colspan=5| | ||||
colspan=2 align=left |Total | 24,924,409 | 100 | 1914 | 100 |
colspan=2 align=left |Registered voters/turnout | 44,832,737 | 58.44 |
=By region=
The following table shows regional presidents before and after the elections, with merged regions shown alongside the region taking effect in 2016. The candidates on the left were the incumbents, whereas the candidates on the right were those elected (or re-elected) to the new regions. In the case of Corsica and Martinique, multiple presidencies were at stake.
class="wikitable collapsible" style="text-align: left;line-height:14px;" width=110% |
colspan=2 | Region || President Before || colspan=2| Party || colspan=2 | Region || President After || colspan=2| Party |
---|
colspan=2 | Alsace
| bgcolor={{party color|The Republicans (France)}}| | LR | rowspan=3 colspan=2 | Grand Est | rowspan=3 | Philippe Richert | rowspan=3 bgcolor={{party color|The Republicans (France)}}| | rowspan=3 | LR |
colspan=2 | Champagne-Ardenne
| bgcolor={{party color|Miscellaneous left}}| | DVG |
colspan=2 | Lorraine
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS |
colspan=2 | Aquitaine
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS | rowspan=3 colspan=2 | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | rowspan=3 | Alain Rousset | rowspan=3 bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | rowspan=3 | PS |
colspan=2 | Limousin
| Gérard Vandenbroucke | bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS |
colspan=2 | Poitou-Charentes
| Jean-François Macaire | bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS |
colspan=2 | Auvergne
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS | rowspan=2 colspan=2 | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | rowspan=2 | Laurent Wauquiez | rowspan=2 bgcolor={{party color|The Republicans (France)}}| | rowspan=2 | LR |
colspan=2 | Rhône-Alpes
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS |
colspan=2 | Burgundy
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS | rowspan=2 colspan=2 | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | rowspan=2 | Marie-Guite Dufay | rowspan=2 bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | rowspan=2 | PS |
colspan=2 | Franche-Comté
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS |
colspan=2 | Brittany
| Pierrick Massiot | bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS | colspan=2 | Brittany | bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS |
colspan=2 | Centre-Val de Loire
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS | colspan=2 | Centre-Val de Loire | bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS |
rowspan=2 | Corsica
| Assembly | bgcolor={{party color|French Communist Party}}| | PCF | rowspan=2 | Corsica | Assembly | bgcolor={{party color|Corsica Libera}}| | CL |
Executive Council
| bgcolor={{party color|Miscellaneous left}}| | DVG | Executive Council | bgcolor={{party color|Femu a Corsica}}| | FC |
rowspan=2 | French Guiana
| bgcolor={{party color|Miscellaneous centre}}| | GR | rowspan=2 | French Guiana | rowspan=2 | Assembly | rowspan=2 | Rodolphe Alexandre | rowspan=2 bgcolor={{party color|Miscellaneous centre}}| | rowspan=2 | GR |
General Council
| bgcolor={{party color|Decolonization and Social Emancipation Movement}}| | MDES |
colspan=2 | Guadeloupe
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS | colspan=2 | Guadeloupe | bgcolor={{party color|United Guadeloupe, Socialism and Realities}}| | GUSR |
colspan=2 | Île-de-France
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS | colspan=2 | Île-de-France | bgcolor={{party color|The Republicans (France)}}| | LR |
colspan=2 | Languedoc-Roussilon
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS | rowspan=2 colspan=2 | Occitania (administrative region) | rowspan=2 | Carole Delga | rowspan=2 bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | rowspan=2 | PS |
colspan=2 | Midi-Pyrénées
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS |
colspan=2 | Réunion
| bgcolor={{party color|The Republicans (France)}}| | LR | colspan=2 | Réunion | bgcolor={{party color|The Republicans (France)}}| | LR |
rowspan=2 | Martinique
| Regional Council | bgcolor={{party color|Martinican Progressive Party}}| | PPM | rowspan=2 | Martinique | Assembly | bgcolor={{party color|Martinican Democratic Rally}}| | RDM |
General Council
| bgcolor={{party color|Build the Martinique Country}}| | BPM | Executive Council | bgcolor={{party color|Martinican Independence Movement}}| | MIM |
colspan=2 | Nord-Pas-de-Calais
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS | rowspan=2 colspan=2 | Hauts-de-France | rowspan=2 | Xavier Bertrand | rowspan=2 bgcolor={{party color|The Republicans (France)}}| | rowspan=2 | LR |
colspan=2 | Picardy
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS |
colspan=2 | Lower Normandy
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS | rowspan=2 colspan=2 | Normandy | rowspan=2 | Hervé Morin | rowspan=2 bgcolor={{party color|Union of Democrats and Independents}}| | rowspan=2 | UDI |
colspan=2 | Upper Normandy
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS |
colspan=2 | Pays de la Loire
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS | colspan=2 | Pays de la Loire | bgcolor={{party color|The Republicans (France)}}| | LR |
colspan=2 | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
| bgcolor={{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}| | PS | colspan=2 | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | bgcolor={{party color|The Republicans (France)}}| | LR |
The following table shows each major party's performance by region. The bolded candidates received the most votes, and were thus elected president of their respective regions.
class="wikitable collapsible sortable" style="text-align:right;"
! Region ! style="background-color:#0055A4"| Union of the Right ! style="background-color:#ff3366"| Union of the Left ! style="background-color:#31017a"| National Front ! style="background-color:#ffbb11"| Regionalists | ||||
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | style="background-color:#adc1fd" data-sort-value="40.61"| Laurent Wauquiez 1,201,528 (40.61%) | data-sort-value="36.84"| Jean-Jack Queyranne 1,089,791 (36.84%) | data-sort-value="22.55"| Christophe Boudot 667,084 (22.55%) | |
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | data-sort-value="32.89"| François Sauvadet 382,177 (32.89%) | style="background-color:#ffd1dc" data-sort-value="34.68"| Marie-Guite Dufay 402,941 (34.68%) | data-sort-value="32.44"| Sophie Montel 376,902 (32.44%) | |
Brittany | data-sort-value="29.72"| Marc Le Fur 387.836 (29.72%) | style="background-color:#ffd1dc" data-sort-value="51.41"| Jean-Yves Le Drian 670,754 (51.41%) | data-sort-value="18.87"| Gilles Pennelle 246,177 (18.87%) | |
Centre-Val de Loire | data-sort-value="34.58"| Philippe Vigier 355,475 (34.58%) | style="background-color:#ffd1dc" data-sort-value="35.43"| François Bonneau 364,211 (35.43%) | data-sort-value="30.0"| Philippe Loiseau 308,422 (30.0%) | |
Corsica | data-sort-value="27.07"| José Rossi 40,480 (27.07%) | data-sort-value="28.09"| Paul Giacobbi 42,607 (28.09%) | data-sort-value="9.09"| Christophe Canioni 13,599 (9.09%) | style="background-color:#ffe289" data-sort-value="35.34"|Gilles Simeoni 52,839 (35.34%) |
French Guiana | style="background-color:#ffd1dc" data-sort-value="54.55"| Rodolphe Alexandre 21,163 (54.55%) | data-sort-value="45.45"| Alain Tien-Liong 17,361 (45.45%) | ||
Grand Est | style="background-color:#adc1fd" data-sort-value="48.4" | Philippe Richert 1,060,029 (48.4%) | data-sort-value="15.51" | Jean-Pierre Masseret 339,749 (15.51%) | data-sort-value="36.08"| Florian Philippot 790,141 (36.08%) | |
Guadeloupe | data-sort-value="42.48"| Victorin Lurel 72,721 (42.48) | style="background-color:#DA7B8B" data-sort-value="57.42"| Ary ChalusWhilst not strictly a regionalist platform, Ary Chalus' list included a combination of local parties, socialists and conservative dissidents opposed to the list of the Socialist Party and its allies. 98,464 (57.42%) | ||
Hauts-de-France | style="background-color:#adc1fd" data-sort-value="57.7"| Xavier Bertrand 1,389,316 (57.7%) | Withdrew | data-sort-value="42.23"| Marine Le Pen 1,015,649 (42.23%) | |
Île-de-France | style="background-color:#adc1fd" data-sort-value="43.8"| Valérie Pécresse 1,629,249 (43.8%) | data-sort-value="42.18"| Claude Bartolone 1,569,093 (42.18%) | data-sort-value="14.02"| Wallerand de Saint-Just 521,383 (14.02%) | |
Martinique | data-sort-value="45.86"| Serge Letchimy 70,776 (45.86%) | style="background-color:#ffe289" data-sort-value="54.14"|Alfred Marie-Jeanne 83,541 (54.14%) | ||
Normandy | style="background-color:#adc1fd" data-sort-value="36.43"| Hervé Morin 495,591 (36.43%) | data-sort-value="36.08"| Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol 490,840 (36.08%) | data-sort-value="27.5" | Nicolas Bay 374,089 (27.5%) | |
Nouvelle-Aquitaine | data-sort-value="34.06"| Virginie Calmels 798,142 (34.06%) | style="background-color:#ffd1dc" data-sort-value="44.27" | Alain Rousset 1,037,330 (44.27%) | data-sort-value="21.67"| Jacques Colombier 507,660 (21.67%) | |
Occitanie | data-sort-value="21.32"| Dominique Reynié 520,011 (21.32%) | style="background-color:#ffd1dc" data-sort-value="48.81"| Carole Delga 1,092,969 (48.81%) | data-sort-value="33.87"| Louis Aliot 826,023 (33.87%) | |
Pays de la Loire | style="background-color:#adc1fd" data-sort-value="42.7"| Bruno Retailleau 620,245 (42.7%) | data-sort-value="37.56"| Christophe Clergeau 545,637 (37.56%) | data-sort-value="19.74"| Pascal Gannat 286,723 (19.74%) | |
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | style="background-color:#adc1fd" data-sort-value="54.78"| Christian Estrosi 1,073,485 (54.78%) | Withdrew | data-sort-value="45.22"| Marion Maréchal 886,147 (45.22%) | |
Réunion | style="background-color:#adc1fd" data-sort-value="52.69"| Didier Robert 173,592 (52.69%) | data-sort-value="47.31"| Huguette Bello 155,896 (47.31%) |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160114172737/http://elections.interieur.gouv.fr/regionales-2015/ Full results]
{{French elections}}