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✶ Five republics · Fifth since 1958

Sixty-eight years
of the Fifth Republic.

Since the Revolution, France has had five republics, two empires and two monarchies. The current constitution, written for Charles de Gaulle in 1958, has outlasted all but the Third Republic. Here is how its Presidents, Assemblies and referendums were decided.

First Republic
Second Republic
Third Republic
Fourth Republic
Fifth Republic
17921848187019462026

Presidents of the Fifth Republic

Eight Presidents,
three cohabitations.

19581974199020062026

Hatched: cohabitation, when the Prime Minister came from the opposing camp.

  1. 1959–1969 Charles de Gaulle UNR / UDR Elected by an electoral college in 1958, then by universal suffrage in 1965. Resigned after losing the 1969 referendum.
  2. 1969–1974 Georges Pompidou UDR Died in office.
  3. 1974–1981 Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Independent Republicans / UDF
  4. 1981–1995 François Mitterrand Socialist Party Two seven-year terms; two cohabitations.
  5. 1995–2007 Jacques Chirac RPR / UMP The first five-year term began in 2002.
  6. 2007–2012 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP
  7. 2012–2017 François Hollande Socialist Party Did not seek re-election.
  8. 2017–today Emmanuel Macron La République en marche / Renaissance Term ends May 2027.

Presidential elections by universal suffrage

Eleven run-offs,
never a first-round win.

  1. 2022

    Round 1

    • Emmanuel Macron 27.8%
    • Marine Le Pen 23.2%
    • Jean-Luc Mélenchon 22.0%
    • Éric Zemmour 7.1%
    • Valérie Pécresse 4.8%
    • + 7 more candidates

    Run-off · turnout 72.0%

    Emmanuel Macron 58.5% · Marine Le Pen 41.5%

  2. 2017

    Round 1

    • Emmanuel Macron 24.0%
    • Marine Le Pen 21.3%
    • François Fillon 20.0%
    • Jean-Luc Mélenchon 19.6%
    • Benoît Hamon 6.4%
    • + 6 more candidates

    Run-off · turnout 74.6%

    Emmanuel Macron 66.1% · Marine Le Pen 33.9%

  3. 2012

    Round 1

    • François Hollande 28.6%
    • Nicolas Sarkozy 27.2%
    • Marine Le Pen 17.9%
    • Jean-Luc Mélenchon 11.1%
    • François Bayrou 9.1%
    • + 5 more candidates

    Run-off · turnout 80.4%

    François Hollande 51.6% · Nicolas Sarkozy 48.4%

  4. 2007

    Round 1

    • Nicolas Sarkozy 31.2%
    • Ségolène Royal 25.9%
    • François Bayrou 18.6%
    • Jean-Marie Le Pen 10.4%
    • Olivier Besancenot 4.1%
    • + 7 more candidates

    Run-off · turnout 84.0%

    Nicolas Sarkozy 53.1% · Ségolène Royal 46.9%

  5. 2002

    Round 1

    • Jacques Chirac 19.9%
    • Jean-Marie Le Pen 16.9%
    • Lionel Jospin 16.2%
    • François Bayrou 6.8%
    • Arlette Laguiller 5.7%
    • + 11 more candidates

    Run-off · turnout 79.7%

    Jacques Chirac 82.2% · Jean-Marie Le Pen 17.8%

  6. 1995

    Round 1

    • Lionel Jospin 23.3%
    • Jacques Chirac 20.8%
    • Édouard Balladur 18.6%
    • Jean-Marie Le Pen 15.0%
    • Robert Hue 8.6%
    • + 4 more candidates

    Run-off · turnout 79.7%

    Jacques Chirac 52.6% · Lionel Jospin 47.4%

  7. 1988

    Round 1

    • François Mitterrand 34.1%
    • Jacques Chirac 19.9%
    • Raymond Barre 16.5%
    • Jean-Marie Le Pen 14.4%
    • André Lajoinie 6.8%
    • + 4 more candidates

    Run-off · turnout 84.1%

    François Mitterrand 54.0% · Jacques Chirac 46.0%

  8. 1981

    Round 1

    • Valéry Giscard d'Estaing 28.3%
    • François Mitterrand 25.8%
    • Jacques Chirac 18.0%
    • Georges Marchais 15.3%
    • Brice Lalonde 3.9%
    • + 5 more candidates

    Run-off · turnout 85.9%

    François Mitterrand 51.8% · Valéry Giscard d'Estaing 48.2%

  9. 1974

    Round 1

    • François Mitterrand 43.2%
    • Valéry Giscard d'Estaing 32.6%
    • Jacques Chaban-Delmas 15.1%
    • Jean Royer 3.2%
    • Arlette Laguiller 2.3%
    • + 7 more candidates

    Run-off · turnout 87.3%

    Valéry Giscard d'Estaing 50.8% · François Mitterrand 49.2%

  10. 1969

    Round 1

    • Georges Pompidou 44.5%
    • Alain Poher 23.3%
    • Jacques Duclos 21.3%
    • Gaston Defferre 5.0%
    • Michel Rocard 3.6%
    • + 2 more candidates

    Run-off · turnout 68.9%

    Georges Pompidou 58.2% · Alain Poher 41.8%

  11. 1965

    Round 1

    • Charles de Gaulle 44.6%
    • François Mitterrand 31.7%
    • Jean Lecanuet 15.6%
    • Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour 5.2%
    • Pierre Marcilhacy 1.7%
    • + 1 more candidates

    Run-off · turnout 84.3%

    Charles de Gaulle 55.2% · François Mitterrand 44.8%

Shares of votes cast for candidates. Figures as proclaimed by the Constitutional Council, via each election's Wikipedia article. The 1958 President was chosen by an electoral college of local notables.

The National Assembly, 1958–2024

Seats by
political family.

  • Radical left
  • Left
  • Greens
  • Centre
  • Right
  • Far right
  • Other
  1. 1958 466
  2. 1962 465
  3. 1967 487
  4. 1968 487
  5. 1973 490
  6. 1978 491
  7. 1981 491
  8. 1986 577
  9. 1988 575
  10. 1993 577
  11. 1997 577
  12. 2002 577
  13. 2007 577
  14. 2012 577
  15. 2017 577
  16. 2022 577
  17. 2024 577

Seats won after both rounds, grouped by our reading of each party's family. Alliances that ran as one in 2022 (NUPES) and 2024 (New Popular Front) count as "Left". Before 1986 the totals cover metropolitan France only. 1986 used proportional representation. Source: each election's Wikipedia results table.

Referendums

Ten questions,
two noes.

  1. 28 September 1958 · 1958 law Constitution of the Fifth Republic Yes · 82.6% yes
  2. 8 January 1961 · Art. 11 Self-determination for Algeria Yes · 75.0% yes
  3. 8 April 1962 · Art. 11 Évian Accords (Algerian independence) Yes · 90.8% yes
  4. 28 October 1962 · Art. 11 Electing the President by universal suffrage Yes · 62.3% yes
  5. 27 April 1969 · Art. 11 Senate reform and regionalisation No · 47.6% yes
  6. 23 April 1972 · Art. 11 Enlarging the European Communities Yes · 68.3% yes
  7. 6 November 1988 · Art. 11 Self-determination for New Caledonia (Matignon Accords) Yes · 80.0% yes
  8. 20 September 1992 · Art. 11 Maastricht Treaty Yes · 51.0% yes
  9. 24 September 2000 · Art. 89 Presidential term cut from seven to five years Yes · 73.2% yes
  10. 29 May 2005 · Art. 11 Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe No · 45.3% yes

Share of votes cast in favour. De Gaulle resigned the day after losing in 1969. No national referendum has been held since 2005 · table after the Conseil constitutionnel ↗

Rules that changed

How the game
was rewritten.

  1. 1944Women get the voteAn ordinance of 21 April 1944 gives women the right to vote and stand; they first vote in the municipal elections of April 1945.
  2. 1958A new constitutionApproved by referendum on 28 September 1958. The President is chosen by an electoral college of about 80,000 notables; deputies return to two-round single-member seats.
  3. 1962The President is elected by the peopleDe Gaulle uses Article 11 to put direct election of the President to a referendum; it passes with 62% and the Assembly's censure of the government is answered with a dissolution.
  4. 1974Voting at 18; opposition can go to the Constitutional CouncilThe voting age falls from 21 to 18, and 60 deputies or 60 senators may now refer a law to the Constitutional Council.
  5. 1976500 sponsorsThe number of elected officials' signatures a presidential candidate needs rises from 100 to 500, from at least 30 départements. All sponsors' names have been published since 2016.
  6. 1986One election by proportional representationThe 1986 legislative election uses département-wide party lists; the RN's forerunner wins 35 seats. Two-round single-member seats return for 1988.
  7. 1988Public money for partiesThe first party-finance law creates public funding and campaign spending ceilings, audited later by the CNCCFP (created 1990).
  8. 1995No corporate donationsCompanies may no longer fund parties or campaigns; only individuals can give, within caps.
  9. 2000Five-year term and parityThe presidential term is cut from seven years to five by referendum. A parity law penalises parties that do not field equal numbers of women and men.
  10. 2001President first, Assembly secondThe electoral calendar is reversed so that legislative elections follow the presidential election by a few weeks, making a matching majority likely.
  11. 2008Two terms and a limit on 49.3The constitution limits the President to two consecutive terms, restricts Article 49.3 to budget bills plus one other bill per session, and lets citizens challenge laws before the Constitutional Council (QPC).
  12. 2014No more double mandatesFrom 2017, deputies and senators may no longer also be mayors or lead a local executive.
  13. 2024A hung AssemblyAfter the President dissolves the Assembly, the snap election leaves three blocs, none near a majority; in December a government falls to a censure motion for the first time since 1962.