French legislative election, 2002

Infobox Election
election_name = French legislative election, 2002
country = France
type = parliamentary
ongoing = no
previous_election = French legislative election, 1997
previous_year = 1997
next_election = French legislative election, 2007
next_year = 2007
seats_for_election = All 577 seats to the French National Assembly
election_date = June 9 and June 16, 2002

leader1 = Jacques Barrot
party1 = Union for a Popular Movement
leaders_seat1 = Haute-Loire-1st
last_election1 = –
seats1 = 399
seat_change1 = –
popular_vote1 = 8,408,023 (1st round)
10,026,669 (2nd round)
percentage1 = 33.30% (1st round)
47.26% (2nd round)

leader2 = François Hollande
party2 = Socialist Party (France)
leaders_seat2 = Corrèze-1st
last_election2 = 255 seats
seats2 = 140
seat_change2 = -115
popular_vote2 = 6,086,599 (1st round)
7,482,169 (2nd round)
percentage2 = 24.11% (1st round)
35.26% (2nd round)

leader3 = François Bayrou
party3 = Union for French Democracy
leaders_seat3 = Pyrénées-Atlantiques-2nd
last_election3 = 112 seats
seats3 = 29
seat_change3 = -83
popular_vote3 = 1,226,462 (1st round)
832,785 (2nd round)
percentage3 = 4.86% (1st round)
3.92% (2nd round)

title = PM
before_election = Lionel Jospin
before_party = Socialist Party (France)
after_election = Jean-Pierre Raffarin
after_party = Union for a Popular Movement The French legislative elections took place on June 9 and June 16, 2002 to elect the 12th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, in a context of political crisis.

The Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin announced his political retirement after his elimination at the first round of the 2002 French presidential election. President Jacques Chirac was easily reelected, all the Republican parties having called to block far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. Chirac's conservative supporters created the Union for the Presidential Majority ("Union pour la majorité présidentielle" or UMP) to prepare for the legislative elections.

The first round of the presidential election was a shock for the two main coalitions. The candidates of the parliamentary right obtained 32% of votes, and the candidates of the "Plural Left" only 27%. In the first polls, for the legislative elections, they were equal.

The UMP campaigned against "cohabitation", which is blamed for causing confusion profitable to the far-right and far-left. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, a relatively low-profile politician who said he would listen to "France at the bottom", was chosen as the party's candidate for Prime Minister.

Without a real leader, and staggered by surprising April 21's results, the left was in difficulty. The Socialist chairman François Hollande tried to revive the "Plural Left" under the name of "United Left"; but the effort was undermined by the fact that it didn't have a real programme. Furthemore, the left-wing parties could not motivate their voters against an unrecognized and apparently uncontroversial politician like Jean-Pierre Raffarin. In addition part of the left-wing electorate did not want a new "cohabitation". Finally, the polls indicated a growing advantage for the Presidential Majority.

The right won the elections and the UMP obtained a large parliamentary majority of 394 seats. For the third time under the Fifth Republic, a party acquired an absolute majority (the "blue surge"). Five months later, it became the Union for a Popular Movement.

On the left, the Socialist Party achieved a better result than at the winning 1997 elections, but its allies were crushed. The far-left returned towards its usual level. In far-right, the National Front lost the half of its May 5 voters.

Results

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12th Assembly by Parliamentary Group