French socialist movement and the SFIO The defeat of the
Paris Commune (1871) greatly reduced the power and influence of the socialist movements in France. Its leaders were killed or exiled. France's first socialist party, the
Federation of the Socialist Workers of France (FTSF), was founded in 1879. It was characterised as "possibilist" because it promoted
gradual reforms. Two parties split off from it: in 1882, the
French Workers' Party (POF) of
Jules Guesde and
Paul Lafargue (the son-in-law of
Karl Marx), then in 1890 the
Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party (POSR) of
Jean Allemane. At the same time, the heirs of
Louis Auguste Blanqui, a symbol of the French revolutionary tradition, created the
Central Revolutionary Committee (CRC) led by
Édouard Vaillant. There were also some declared socialist deputies such as
Alexandre Millerand and
Jean Jaurès who did not belong to any party. In 1899, the participation of Millerand in
Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet caused a debate about socialist participation in a "bourgeois government". Three years later, Jaurès, Allemane and the possibilists founded the possibilist
French Socialist Party, which supported participation in government, while Guesde and Vaillant formed the
Socialist Party of France, which opposed such co-operation. In 1905, during the
Globe Congress, the two groups merged in the
French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). Leader of the parliamentary group and director of the party paper , Jaurès was its most influential figure. The party was hemmed in between the
middle-class liberals of the
Radical Party and the revolutionary
syndicalists who dominated the trade unions. Furthermore, the goal to rally all the Socialists in one single party was partially reached: some elects refused to join the SFIO and created the
Republican-Socialist Party, which supported socialist participation in liberal governments. Together with the Radicals, who wished to install
laicism, the SFIO was a component of the Left Block (
Bloc des gauches) without to sit in the government. In 1906, the
General Confederation of Labour trade union claimed its independence from all political parties. The French socialists were strongly anti-war, but following the assassination of Jaurès in 1914 they were unable to resist the wave of militarism which followed the outbreak of World War I. They suffered a severe split over participation in the wartime government of national unity. In 1919 the anti-war socialists were heavily defeated in elections. In 1920, during the
Tours Congress, the majority and left wing of the party broke away and formed the
French Section of the Communist International (SFIC) to join the
Third International founded by
Vladimir Lenin. The right wing, led by
Léon Blum, kept the "old house" and remained in the SFIO. In 1924 and in 1932, the Socialists joined with the Radicals in the Coalition of the Left (
Cartel des Gauches), but refused to join the non-Socialist governments led by the Radicals
Édouard Herriot and
Édouard Daladier. These governments failed because the Socialists and the Radicals could not agree on economic policy, and also because the Communists, following the
policy laid down by the Soviet Union, refused to support governments presiding over capitalist economies. The question of the possibility of a government participation with Radicals caused the split of "
neosocialists" at the beginning of the 1930s. They merged with the
Republican-Socialist Party in the
Socialist Republican Union. In 1934, the Communists changed their line, and the four left-wing parties came together in the
Popular Front, which won the 1936 elections and brought Blum to power as France's first SFIO prime minister. Indeed, for the first time in its history, the SFIO obtained more votes and seats than the Radical Party and it formed the central axis of a left-wing parliamentary majority. Within a year, however, his government collapsed over economic policy and also over the issue of the
Spanish Civil War. The fall of the Popular Front caused a new split from the SFIO, with the departure of the left wing of the party, led by
Marceau Pivert, to the
Workers and Peasants' Socialist Party. The demoralised Left fell apart and was unable to resist the collapse of the
French Third Republic after the military defeat of 1940. After the liberation of France in 1944, the SFIO re-emerged in a coalition with a powerful
French Communist Party (PCF), which became the largest left-wing party, and the
Christian democratic Popular Republican Movement (MRP). This alliance installed the main elements of the French
welfare state and the
French Fourth Republic, but it did not survive the Cold War. In May 1947, the Socialist Prime Minister
Paul Ramadier dismissed the Communist ministers. Blum proposed the construction of a
Third Force with the centre-left and the centre-right, against the Gaullists and the Communists. However, his candidate to lead of the SFIO,
Daniel Mayer, was defeated by
Guy Mollet. Mollet was supported by the left wing of the party. Paradoxically, he spoke a
Marxist language without questioning the alliance with the centre and the centre-right. His leadership was shaken when the party divided in 1954 about the
European Defence Community. Half of the SFIO parliamentary group voted "no", against the instructions of the party leaders. This led to the failure of the project. But later, Mollet got involved the SFIO in the build of a centre-left coalition, the
Republican Front, which won a plurality in the
1956 elections. Consequently, he was prime minister at the head of a minority government. But the party was in decline, as were the Radicals, and the left never came close to forming a united front. Indeed, this led Mollet to assert, "the Communist Party is not on the left, but in the East". The repressive policy of Mollet in the
Algerian War and his support for
Charles de Gaulle's come-back in 1958 (the party lead called to vote "yes" in referendum on
Fifth Republic's constitution) caused a split and the foundation of the dissident
Unified Socialist Party (PSU). The SFIO returned to opposition in 1959. Discredited by its fluctuating policy during the Fourth Republic, it reached its lowest ebb in the 1960s. Both because of its opposition to the principle of presidential election by
universal suffrage and because De Gaulle's re-election appeared inevitable, the SFIO did not nominate a candidate for the
1965 presidential election. Consequently, it supported the candidacy of
François Mitterrand, a former minister of the Fourth Republic who had been a conservative, then a leftist independent. He was resolutely
anti-Gaullist. Supported by all the left-wing parties, he obtained a good result and faced De Gaulle in an unexpected second ballot, becoming the leader of the non-Communist left. In order to exist between the Communist Party, leading the left, and the
Gaullist Party, leading the country, the SFIO, Radicals, and left-wing republican groups created the
Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left under Mitterrand's leadership. But unable to benefit from the
May 1968 events, it imploded after its disastrous defeat at the
June 1968 legislative elections. One year later, the SFIO candidate
Gaston Defferre was eliminated in the first round of the
1969 presidential election, with only 5% of votes.
Foundation of the PS and the Union of the Left (1969–1981) In 1969, during the
Alfortville Congress, the SFIO was replaced by the Socialist Party ( or PS). It was joined by pro-
Pierre Mendès-France clubs (
Union of Clubs for the Renewal of the Left led by
Alain Savary) and left-wing republican groups (
Union of Socialist Groups and Clubs of
Jean Poperen). During the Issy-les-Moulineaux Congress, Alain Savary was elected First Secretary with the support of his predecessor Guy Mollet. He proposed an "ideological dialogue" with the Communists. The new party inherited the old daily
Le Populaire from the SFIO, but it ceased publication soon after on 28 February 1970. Two years later, during the
Epinay Congress, pro-François Mitterrand clubs (
Convention of Republican Institutions), joined the party. Mitterrand defeated the Savary-Mollet duo by proposing an electoral programme with the Communists and took the lead. A new emblem, the
fist and rose, was adopted to signal change in 1971. In 1972, the
Common Programme was signed with the PCF and
Radical Party of the Left. During the
Socialist International conference, he explained the alliance of left-wing parties is a yearning of French left-wing voters. In this, the goal of his strategy was "to regain 3 million of the 5 million of PCF voters". The left, and notably the Socialist Party, experienced an electoral recovery at the
1973 legislative election. Mitterrand, the candidate of the left-wing alliance, came close to winning the
1974 presidential election. Indeed, he obtained 49.2% of votes in the second round. At the end of 1974, some PSU members, including leader
Michel Rocard, re-joined the PS. They represented the "left-wing Christian" and non-Marxist group. The most conservative members of the PS, they advocated an alignment of French socialism along the lines of European
social democracy, that is, a clear acceptance of the
market economy. While the "Union of the Left" triumphed at the 1977 municipal election, the electoral rise of the PS worried the Communist Party. The two parties failed to update the
Common Programme and the PCF leader
Georges Marchais denounced a "turn towards the Right" of the PS. In spite of positive polls, the "Union of the Left" lost the
1978 legislative election. For the first time since
1936, the Socialists scored better in the polls than the Communists, becoming the main left-wing party, but their defeat caused an internal crisis. Mitterrand's leadership was challenged by Rocard, who wanted to abandon the
Common Programme which he considered archaic and unrealistic. Mitterrand felt that the left could not win without the alliance between the Socialists and the Communists. In 1979, Mitterrand won the
Metz Congress, then, despite Rocard's popularity, was chosen as PS candidate for the
1981 presidential election. Three major tendencies or factions emerged within the PS by the end of the Seventies. One was represented by the Mitterrandists who wanted reform but not a complete break with capitalism. A second faction was led by
Michel Rocard and his supporters, who sought social democracy with a strong measure of autogestion, while a third faction formed around
Jean-Pierre Chevènement and the CERES group which stood for revolutionary socialism.
Mitterrand's presidency and the exercise of power (1981–1995) In 1981, Mitterrand
defeated the incumbent conservative,
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, to become the first socialist of the
Fifth Republic to be elected
President of France by universal suffrage. He dissolved the
National Assembly and, for the first time in their history, the French Socialists won an absolute majority of the seats. This landslide victory for the Socialists took place to the detriment of the right-wing parliamentary parties (
Rally for the Republic and
Union for French Democracy), as well as the Communist Party. Mitterrand attempted to carry out socialist-inspired reforms (the
110 Propositions), furthering the
dirigiste economic planning trends of the preceding conservative governments. The prime minister
Pierre Mauroy nationalised the banks, the insurance industry and the defence industries, in accordance with the 1972
Common Program. Workers' wages were increased and working hours reduced to 39, and many other sweeping reforms carried out, but the economic crisis continued. Reforms included the
abolition of death penalty, creation of a
solidarity tax on wealth (ISF), introduction of
proportional representation in legislative elections (which was applied only at the
1986 election),
decentralization of the state (1982–83 laws), repeal of price liberalization for books (
Lang Law of 1981), etc. As early as 1982, Mitterrand faced a clear choice between maintaining France's membership in the
European Monetary System, and thus the country's commitment to
European integration, and pursuing his socialist reforms. He chose the former, starting the Socialist Party's acceptance of the private market economy. In 1984, Mitterrand and his second prime minister,
Laurent Fabius, clearly abandoned any further socialist measures. The "Union of the Left" died and the Communist ministers resigned. Although there were two periods of mild economic reflation (first from 1984 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1990), monetary and fiscal restraint was the essential policy orientation of the Mitterrand presidency from 1983 onwards. The PS lost its majority in the French National Assembly in 1986, forcing Mitterrand to "cohabit" with the conservative government of
Jacques Chirac. Nevertheless, Mitterrand was re-elected president in 1988 with a moderate programme entitled "United France". He proposed neither nationalisations nor
privatisations. He chose as prime minister the most popular and moderate of the Socialist politicians, Michel Rocard. His cabinet included four centre-right ministers but it was supported by only a plurality in the National Assembly elected in
June 1988. During his second term, Mitterrand focused on foreign policy and European integration. He convened a referendum for the ratification of the
Maastricht Treaty. He left domestic policy to his prime ministers: Michel Rocard,
Édith Cresson and
Pierre Bérégovoy. The party was hit by scandals about its financing and weakened by the struggle between the heirs of "
Mitterrandism". In 1990, during the
Rennes Congress, the "
Mitterrandist group" split between the supporters of
Laurent Fabius and the friends of
Lionel Jospin. Furthermore, a part of the left wing of the party, led by
Jean-Pierre Chevènement split off due to his opposition to the
Gulf War and the Maastricht Treaty. This section created the
Citizen and Republican Movement (MDC). Finally, many on the left were disappointed by the results of the Socialist governments. At the
1993 legislative election, the PS did poorly, returning to the levels of the SFIO in the 1960s. The Socialist group of the National Assembly numbered 53 deputies against 260 during the previous term. Rocard became First Secretary of the party, and was considered the "natural candidate" for the next presidential election. He called for a political "big bang", an agreement with the centre and the centre-right, but his efforts were in vain. One year later, his party obtained only 14% of votes at the
1994 European Parliament election. He was overthrown by a motley coalition led by
Henri Emmanuelli, a "Mitterrandist" left-winger. One year before the
1995 presidential election, the PS was affected by a leadership crisis. Rocard lost the most part of his followers after his 1994 electoral crash, Fabius was weakened by the
infected blood scandal, the presidentiability of Emannuelli was questioned. The hope of some party members transferred to
Jacques Delors, president of the
European Commission and a favourite according to the polls, but he declined due to the radicalisation of the party which prevented his
centrist strategy. Finally,
Lionel Jospin, who had announced his political retirement after the loss of his parliamentary seat in 1993, came back and proposed to "take stock" of Mitterrand's inheritance. For the first time, the party members were called to nominate their candidate for presidency. Benefiting from a good image in the polls, a strong loyalty to the party (as former First Secretary) and governmental experience (as former Education Minister, and the teachers were numerous and influential in the PS), he defeated Emmanuelli in the internal ballot. Then, he was defeated by
Jacques Chirac in the run-off election but, given the PS crisis, his result was judged good and he returned as First Secretary.
Jospin and the Plural Left (1995–2002) In the legislature, the PS reconstructed a coalition with other left-wing parties: the
French Communist Party, the
Greens, the
Radical Party of the Left, and the MDC. This "
Plural Left" won the
1997 legislative election and Jospin became prime minister of the third "
cohabitation". His policy was broadly progressive. The
Aubry laws reduced the working time to 35 hours a week, while
Universal medical insurance was instituted. However, the policy of privatisation was pursued. His coalition dissolved when the MDC leader
Jean-Pierre Chevènement resigned from the Cabinet. The Green and Communist allies were weakened by their governmental participation. The
2002 presidential election was focused on the theme of insecurity. Jospin, again the Socialists' candidate, was eliminated in the first round due to there being too many left-wing candidates who split the vote. He announced his retirement from politics, and the PS called on its supporters to vote for Chirac in order to defeat the
far-right National Front leader
Jean-Marie Le Pen, who had surprisingly advanced to the run-off. Two months later, the "Plural Left" lost the
2002 legislative election.
After the 2002 shock François Hollande, who became First Secretary in 1997, was re-elected in 2003 during the
Dijon Congress with the support of the main Socialist personalities, against the left wing of the party. In the
2004 regional elections, the Socialists had a major comeback. In coalition with the former "Plural Left", they gained power in 20 of the 22 metropolitan regions (all except
Alsace and
Corsica) and in the four overseas regions. The party benefited from increasing frustration with right-wing parties. However, the Socialist Party has experienced considerable difficulty in formulating an alternative to right-wing policy. On 1 December 2004, 59% of Socialist Party members approved the proposed
European Constitution. However, several well-known members of the Party, including
Laurent Fabius, and left-wingers
Henri Emmanuelli and
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, asked the public for a "no" vote in the 29 May 2005
French referendum on the European Constitution, where the proposed Constitution was rejected. Fabius was ejected from the executive office of the party. The split over the European Constitution, as well as party leaders' competing ambitions to win the presidential nomination in 2007, led the party into considerable disarray. In November 2005, during the
Le Mans Congress, three main groups were present. The majority supported a moderate text and obtained 55%. Fabius's allies ("To Rally the Left") advocated more radical policies and gained 20%. Finally, another faction ("New Socialist Party") claimed it was necessary to renovate the party by proposing left-wing policies and a profound reform of French institutions. It obtained 25% of the vote. Virtually all factions agreed on a common agenda, broadly based on the moderate and pro-European majority's position with some left-wing amendments. In anticipation of a Presidential primary and a special low membership rate, the party's membership grew from 127,000 to 217,000 between 2005 and 2006.
2007 presidential election and its aftermath ,
Bertrand Delanoë and
Ségolène Royal sitting in the front row at a meeting held on 6 February 2007 by the PS at the Carpentier Hall in Paris Many potential candidates appeared for the
2007 presidential election:
François Hollande,
Laurent Fabius (from the left wing of the party),
Dominique Strauss-Kahn (who claimed to represent "social democracy"),
Jack Lang,
Martine Aubry and
Ségolène Royal, who was favoured according to the polls. Some Socialist leaders asked Jospin to return. He declared he was "available" then finally refused. On 16 November 2006, the members of the Socialist Party chose Ségolène Royal to be their candidate with a majority of 60%. Her challengers, Strauss-Kahn and Fabius, obtained 21% and 19% respectively. After obtaining 25.87% of the vote in the first round of France's presidential elections, Royal qualified for the second round of voting but lost with 46.94% to
Nicolas Sarkozy on 6 May 2007. Immediately after her defeat several party bosses (notably Strauss-Kahn), held Ségolène Royal personally responsible for the unsuccessful campaign. At the same time, some personalities of the right wing of the party (such as
Bernard Kouchner) accepted to join the government nominated by Nicolas Sarkozy. In the 10 and 17 June
2007 National Assembly elections, the Socialist Party won 186 out of 577 seats, and about 10 affiliated, gain of 40 seats. After the winning March 2008 municipal election, the campaign with a view to the
Reims Congress started. Some candidates proposed to succeed
François Hollande, who had announced he will not compete for another term as First Secretary: • Ségolène Royal who wished to forge an alliance with the centrist party
MoDem; • the Mayor of Paris
Bertrand Delanoë, supported by
Lionel Jospin and his friends, who wished to keep the status quo of the 2007 campaign and come back to the
Plural Left; •
Martine Aubry, supported by the followers of
Laurent Fabius and
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who had the same electoral strategy as the Mayor of Paris but advocated reconciliation between the campaigners of the "yes" and the "no" to the European constitution; and • the young left-winger
Benoît Hamon. In the pre-vote, the text of Royal arrived the first with 29%, followed by Delanoë (25%), Aubry (25%) and Hamon (19%). A part of the left wing split and founded the
Left Party. During the
Reims Congress, which happened in a very tense climate, the leaders of the factions failed to form a majority. Consequently, the PS members had to elect directly the next First Secretary. Disappointed by his result in the pre-vote, Delanoë renounced and called to vote for Aubry. On 22 November 2008, it was announced that Aubry had defeated Royal by the narrow margin of 42 votes, and Royal asked for a recount. After checking,
Martine Aubry was elected by a margin of 102 votes and 50.03% of votes. Denouncing frauds, Royal's team threatened to lodge a complaint before to renounce. After that, the public image of the party was deteriorated. In the
2009 European Parliament election, the PS did not succeed to benefit from the unpopularity of President Sarkozy. It obtained only 16.5% of the vote and only just got ahead of
Europe Ecology (16.3%). However, the PS strengthened its network of local elects in winning comfortably the 2010 departmental and regional elections. In September 2011, for the first time a Socialist,
Jean-Pierre Bel, was elected Chairman of the
Senate of France.
2012 presidential election Candidates for the presidency of France contested an open primary on 9 October 2011 to select the Socialist Party candidate for the
2012 presidential election. The nominations for the candidacy were opened on 28 June. Though he had not officially declared his candidacy,
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a prominent member of the Socialist Party and the managing director of the
International Monetary Fund was the polls' clear favorite to defeat the incumbent conservative president, Nicolas Sarkozy. But he faced a
sex assault complaint in New York and was
de facto eliminated from the primary. Eventually, former party leader
François Hollande won the primary and ran as the official Socialist Party candidate for President of France. He narrowly defeated incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, becoming president-elect of France on Sunday 6 May 2012. The idea for holding an open primary to choose the Socialist Party presidential candidate had first been suggested in 2008, by the independent left-leaning think tank
Terra Nova.
2017 presidential election The Socialist Party decided to hold a presidential primary in 2017, against the backdrop of the unprecedented unpopularity of incumbent
François Hollande, with a 4 percent approval rating, who announced on 1 December 2016 that he would not seek re-election, making him the first president of the
Fifth Republic not to seek a second term. It was also set against the fragmentation of the left between three major candidates, with polls indicating that the party's candidate would come in fifth, behind the
National Front's
Marine Le Pen,
François Fillon of the centre-right
Republicans,
Emmanuel Macron, former economy minister under Hollande who founded his centrist political movement,
En Marche!, and left-wing ex-Socialist
Jean-Luc Mélenchon under the banner of
La France insoumise. The primary was won by Socialist rebel
Benoît Hamon, who defeated ex-prime minister
Manuel Valls in the second round of the primary on 29 January 2017. Hamon finished fifth in the subsequent Presidential election, with 6.36% of the vote. In the 2017 legislative election that followed the election of President
Emmanuel Macron, the Socialist party dropped from 280 to 30 seats in the
National Assembly, leaving it in 4th place in terms of seats, and with 7.44% of the 1st round vote. The Parliamentary left group that it dominated (with 30 out of 45 seats after the election, down from 280 out of 331 seats before) finished as the 3rd largest group in the National Assembly. Following the election, Cambadélis resigned from the post of first secretary and
Rachid Temal was appointed as acting secretary. The Socialist group was ultimately refounded as the
New Left (NG). On 1 July 2017, Hamon left the Socialist Party and founded the
1st July Movement (later renamed Génération.s). The Socialist Party abstained from the confidence vote on the
Second Philippe government. The party later elected 78 senators in the
2017 election. On 7–8 April 2018, the
Aubervilliers Congress elected
Olivier Faure as new first secretary of the party; Faure announced the party would be in opposition to Macron and Philippe. Because of financial problems, the party was forced to sell its historical seat in
Rue de Solférino and moved into a smaller one in
Rue Molière, on
Ivry-sur-Seine. Following the
Benalla affair, the Socialist Party entered a
motion of no confidence against the government, together with the
French Communist Party and
La France Insoumise. The motions obtained 63 ayes and failed to reach the quorum of 289 votes required in the
National Assembly. In 2018, the New Left group changed its name into
Socialists and affiliated group. On 12 October 2018, MEP
Emmanuel Maurel left the party together with other elected officials and founded the
Alternative for a republican, ecologist and socialist program (APRÉS). For the
2019 European election, the Socialist Party formed a joint list with the
Radical Party of the Left,
Place Publique and
New Deal, with
Raphaël Glucksmann at its head. The list scored 6.19% of votes and elected three MEPs.
2022 presidential election In the first round of voting in the
2022 French presidential election, the candidate
Anne Hidalgo obtained the worst presidential election result in the party's history, with 1.75% of the total vote.
2022 legislative elections In advance of the
2022 French legislative election, the party entered into a left-wing alliance, the
New Ecologic and Social People's Union (NUPES), joining
Europe Ecology – The Greens, the
French Communist Party,
La France Insoumise and other minor left-wing parties. Some Socialists like
Sylvie Tolmont, disillusioned with the alliance, stood in the election as
dissident candidates. The Socialist Party was able to win 27 seats, becoming the second left-wing force in the
National Assembly, after La France Insoumise.
2024 legislative elections In advance of the
2024 French legislative election, the party entered into a left-wing alliance, the
New Popular Front. In the
2024 parliamentary election, the Socialist Party more than doubled its seats in the
National Assembly as part of the left-wing
NFP alliance. In December 2024, NFP, together with far-right
National Rally ousted Prime Minister
Michel Barnier in a motion of censure. In January 2025, PS decided not to support motion of censure against
Francois Bayrou, initiated by
La France Insoumise, in exchange for concessions in new budget. Votes of PS deputies weren't needed to escape the motion of censure. Concessions included: Renegotiation of
2023 pension reform, abandonment of the 4000 job cuts in education, 500 job cuts in
France Travail and overseas budget cuts, one billion euro increase in healthcare spending and the "maintenance" of the new "differential contribution on high incomes". LFI leader
Jean-Luc Mélenchon reacted by commenting: "The NFP is reduced by one party". == Organization ==