The Centrists trace their history to the major centrist and
Christian-democratic political parties in the Fourth and Fifth Republics. The parties maintained a separate existence from the
Gaullist parties in the early years of the Fifth Republic primarily because of de Gaulle's strong opposition to European integration. However the major centrist party, the
Union for French Democracy (UDF), began to lose importance after UDF leader
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was defeated by
François Mitterrand in the
1981 presidential election and as the Gaullist
Rally for the Republic (RPR) become more pro-European during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2002, the RPR suggested a merger with the UDF but then–UDF leader
Francois Bayrou refused. The RPR itself merged with smaller parties in 2002 to become the
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). At the same time, the UDF served as a junior partner for the UMP and supported UMP governments. UMP prime ministers usually appointed several UDF politicians to their governments to cement that support. In 2005, Bayrou became increasingly critical of the UMP government and ended his support of the Gaullist party in 2006. In the 2007 elections that followed, most UDF deputies running for reelection ran with the UMP in order to gain UMP support and ensure their prospects of reelection. The remains of the UDF renamed itself the New Centre and succeeded in electing 22 deputies to the National Assembly. Bayrou opposed the alliance with the UMP and formed a new party, the
Democratic Movement (MoDem). During the
legislative elections in June 2007, 17 NC deputies were elected, in addition to five unaffiliated deputies elected under the "Majorité Présidentielle" banner. Only three MoDem deputies were elected, even though they won 7.6% of the first round vote and the NC-PSLE won about 2.3%. However, fewer than one hundred NC candidates were standing, compared to over 500 for the MoDem. Minister of Defense
Hervé Morin was elected by the first round in
Eure (50.05%), other candidates such as
François Sauvadet,
Charles de Courson were also elected by the first round. In total, six NC-PSLE members were elected by round one. In the second round, 11 additional deputies were elected, giving the party a total of 17 deputies. With other deputies elected under various banners, the party formed a parliamentary group of 22 members, including MoDem candidates
Jean-Christophe Lagarde.
Mayotte MoDem deputy Abdoulatifou Aly joined the group before defecting back to the MoDem. In a 2008 by-election in the
Rhone, the party gained a seat after the UMP incumbent's election was invalidated. In his second cabinet, the Prime Minister
François Fillon appointed three NC members
Hervé Morin as Defense Minister,
André Santini as State Secretary for Public Servants and
Valérie Létard as State Secretary for Social Solidarity. The party held its foundation congress in
Nîmes in 2008, where
Hervé Morin was elected president of the party. In the
municipal and
cantonal elections held in 2008, the party held most if its seats, but lost
Blois and
Amiens to the
PS. It did gain, however, the cities of
Agen and
Châtellerault. It lost the department of the
Somme but gained the
Côte-d'Or, where
François Sauvadet was elected as departmental president. In the
2009 European elections the party joined the presidential majority alliance and three NC members were elected as MEPs. In May–June 2011 the party joined
the Alliance with the
Radical Party, as an alternative to the UMP. ==Ideology==