2011 French Senate election

Results

|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! style="text-align:left;" colspan=3 | Political groups ! colspan=2 | 2004 ! colspan=2 | 2008 ! colspan=2 | 2011 |- | UMP | 155 | 7 | 151 | 4 | 132

Swing to the left

Prior to the 2011 election, the French Senate had been under the majority control of right or centre-right parties since the start of the Fifth Republic. Following left-wing gains in the senatorial elections of 2004 and 2008, the 2011 elections saw the Senate coming under the control of left-wing parties such as the Socialist Party, who gained around 24 new seats.

Senate Presidency

After the election, the incumbent President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, stated his intention to run for re-election; he believed that he could win despite the left-wing majority, with the aid of alliances with independents, centrists, and some leftists.

Jean-Pierre Bel, President of the Socialist Group, was elected as President of the Senate on 1 October 2011, replacing Larcher. He received 179 votes against 134 votes for Larcher; a centrist, Valerie Letard, received 29 votes.

Interpretations and potential consequences

The election was seen in many circles as a referendum on the incumbent French president Nicolas Sarkozy, whose popularity had been in decline over the preceding months. François Hollande, a Socialist politician considered to be a leading contender for the 2012 Socialist presidential nomination, pointed out that the defeat meant the Sarkozy's incumbent Union for a Popular Movement party had lost seats in every election since he took office in 2007. UMP politicians described the election results as "a serious warning for [their] party".

Socialist control of the French Senate would prevent Sarkozy from passing a balanced budget constitutional amendment, which requires three-fifths of the vote from the combined French Parliament. It would also enable the Socialists to launch commissions of inquiry into, for instance, possible political corruption allegations.

The German news magazine Der Spiegel, looking at September 2011 polls and forward to the May 2012 presidential election, observed that "the Socialist Party – still licking its wounds after a sex scandal brought down their great hope Dominique Strauss-Kahn – would win ... if it were held today." It also opined that Sarkozy's "foreign policy actionism" in Libya – including a 15 September visit to Tripoli with David Cameron – and "proposals for a quick resolution to the Middle East conflict at the United Nations" just prior to the election were not "able to perceptively increase his popularity".

References

References

1. The official candidates for the Senate Presidency
2. Louet, Sophie. (25 September 2011). "French left seizes Senate majority, hurts Sarkozy". Reuters.
3. "Renforcée par les régionales, la gauche vise plus que jamais le Sénat".
4. "Le chef de file des sénateurs PS entrevoit un Sénat à gauche en 2011". Le Monde.
5. (20 March 2008). "Après les cantonales, la gauche lorgne le Sénat". 20 Minutes.
6. (25 September 2011). "French left marks historic Senate vote victory". The Boston Globe.
7. Samuel, Henry. (26 September 2011). "French Senate's swerve to the Left: What it means". The Daily Telegraph.
8. Fabio Benedetti-Valentini, [https://archive.today/20120729121855/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-02/french-senate-elects-jean-pierre-bel-first-socialist-president.html "French Senate Elects Jean-Pierre Bel First Socialist President"], Bloomberg, 2 October 2011.
9. (January 2012). "Sarkozy plots strategy after French Senate loss". Boston Globe.
10. Smith, David, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/15/cameron-sarkozy-libya-leader-tripoli "Cameron and Sarkozy meet Libya's new leaders in Tripoli"], ''The Guardian'', 15 September 2011 11.12 EDT. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
11. [http://www.euronews.net/2011/09/21/sarkozy-proposes-palestinian-compromise-at-un/ "Sarkozy proposes Palestinian compromise at UN"], ''euronews.net'', 21 September 2011 19:54 CET. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
12. Allen, Kristen, [http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,788608,00.html "The World from Berlin: 'Sarkozy Has Lost the Heart of France'"], ''Der Spiegel'', 27 September 2011. The quote in the headline came from a "[c]enter-left daily ''[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]''" comment on the election. Retrieved 28 September 2011.