Foundation and early years In the
1974 presidential election, defying expectations,
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, leader of the
Independent Republicans, was elected
President of France by overcoming
Jacques Chaban-Delmas of the
Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), the largest centre-right party, in the first round and defeating
François Mitterrand in the run-off. Two years later, Prime Minister
Jacques Chirac (UDR) resigned and launched the
Rally for the Republic (RPR), in order to restore the
Gaullist domination over the centre-right. The RPR would represent the right wing of the presidential majority and would criticise with virulence the policies put forward by President Giscard and Prime Minister
Raymond Barre. In the run-up of the
1978 legislative election, during a speech in
Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, Giscard noted that the political leanings of the French people were divided among four groups: the
Communist Party (PCF), the
Socialist Party (PS), the neo-Gaullist RPR and his own camp, which lacked a cohesive representation. Therefore, he sought to formally organise the centrist side of the presidential majority through the UDF. It consisted of the conservative-liberal
Republican Party (PR) – the evolution of Giscard's Independent Republicans –, the Christian-democratic
Centre of Social Democrats (CDS), the liberal
Radical Party (Rad), the
Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the
Perspectives and Realities Clubs (CPR). Contrary to the RPR, the UDF advocated less
market interventionism by the state,
decentralisation and support of local authorities, and a strong commitment towards the building of a
federal Europe. According to historian
René Rémond, the UDF descended from the
Orleanist tradition of the right, whereas the RPR was a reincarnation of the
Bonapartist tradition, which promoted national independence by virtue of a strong state. After the centre-right won the
1978 legislative election and the subsequent focus of both the RPR and the UDF toward the
1981 presidential election, their relations deteriorated. Especially, RPR leader Chirac criticised the market-oriented and
pro-European policies of Giscard and Barre. In the run-up of the
1979 European Parliament election, Chirac published the
Call of Cochin where the UDF was accused of being "the party of foreigners". Since the UDF list, led by
Simone Veil, obtained 27.1% of the vote compared with RPR's 16.3%, the quarrels between the two parties and the rivalry between Giscard and Chirac contributed to the defeat of the incumbent president who ran for a second term.
1980s After the election of Mitterrand as president, the two centre-right parties reconciled. Gradually, the RPR abandoned Gaullist doctrine and joined the market-oriented and pro-European positions of the UDF. Although they presented a common list at the
1984 European Parliament election, their leaders Chirac and Barre still competed for the leadership of the French centre-right. Focused on winning the
1986 legislative election, Chirac, unlike Barre, accepted the principle of "
cohabitation" with President Mitterrand. Furthermore, some UDF politicians (notably from the PR) covertly supported Chirac. Consequently, he served as Prime Minister from 1986 to 1988 and the UDF played a supporting role in his government. Barre was a candidate in the
1988 presidential election, yet, despite his popularity, he was not supported by all UDF leaders. Giscard himself refused to choose clearly and publicly between his two former Prime Ministers. Eliminated in the first round, Barre called on his supporters to vote for Chirac in the second round, but despite this, Chirac was defeated by Mitterrand. After the re-election of Mitterrand, some UDF members participated as ministers in the centre-left governments led by Prime Minister
Michel Rocard. Also in 1988 Giscard retook the leadership of the UDF. However, his authority and that of the other centre-right leaders (Chirac, Barre etc.) were contested by a new generation of politicians called the "renovation men", who accused the old guard leadership of bearing responsibility for the successive electoral defeats. However, Giscard would give the party a more consistent centre-right approach, that would culminate in the entire UDF joining the
European People's Party (EPP), The most likely reason for many of the UDF's elected officials favouring close ties with the UMP was that most of the UDF's elected positions were obtained through cooperative alliances with the UMP. However, the party's base overwhelmingly favored independence. At the congress of Lyon, in January 2006, 91% of the members voted to retain the independence of the UDF from the UMP and transform it into an independent centrist party. This outcome meant that the orientation of the evolving UDF would be that of a
social-liberal party aiming for a balance between
social-democratic and
conservative policies.
Democratic Movement In May 2006 Bayrou and other ten UDF deputies, a minority within the parliamentary party, voted for the motion of no-confidence brought forward by the Socialist-led opposition calling for the resignation of Prime Minister
Dominique de Villepin's government, embroiled in the
Clearstream affair. This motion had no chance of being passed, given that the UMP had an absolute majority in the National Assembly. Following this event, France's television authority started to classify Bayrou and the other UDF deputies who had voted for the motion as being in the opposition for time allocation purposes; however, after Bayrou protested, they were classified as neither majority nor opposition. In April 2007 Bayrou announced that he would be submitting a plan to a vote by UDF members to create a new
Democratic Movement (MoDem), which was finally launched in May. However, most of the UDF's deputies protested and formed the
New Centre (NC) – later The Centrists –, in order to support newly-elected President
Nicolas Sarkozy of the UMP. In the subsequent
2007 legislative election held in June, the MoDem won 7.6% of the vote and three seats, while the NC stopped at 2.4%, but, thanks to its alliance with the UMP, obtained 22 seats. In November 2007 the UDF effectively ceased to exist and was fully integrated within the MoDem, headed by Bayrou. ==Ideology, positions, platform==