The Centrists – New Centre Les Centristes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Hervé Morin |
| Founder | Hervé Morin |
| Founded | 29 May 2007 (as New Centre) 11 December 2016 (as The Centrists) |
| Split from | Union for French Democracy |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right[3] |
| National affiliation | UDI (2012–2017) UDC (2017–present) |
| European Parliament group | European People's Party[4] |
| Colours | Light blue |
| National Assembly | 2 / 577 |
| Senate | 8 / 348 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 81 |
| Presidency of Regional Councils | 1 / 17 |
| Presidency of Departmental Councils | 2 / 95 |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Centrists (French:Les Centristes,pronounced[lesɑ̃tʁist],LC), known asThe Centrists – New Centre (Les Centristes – Nouveau Centre[lesɑ̃tʁistnuvosɑ̃tʁ],LC-NC) since 2018, formerly known asNew Centre (Nouveau Centre,NC) andEuropean Social Liberal Party (Parti Social Libéral Européen[paʁtisɔsjallibeʁaløʁɔpeɛ̃],PSLE), is acentre-right[3]political party in France formed by the members of theUnion for French Democracy (UDF) – including 18 of the 29 members of the UDF in theNational Assembly) – who did not agree withFrançois Bayrou's decision to found theDemocratic Movement (MoDem) and wanted to support the newly-elected presidentNicolas Sarkozy, continuing the UDF–Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) alliance.
The party was founded on 29 May 2007 during a press conference[5] and renamed on 11 December 2016.[6]
The Centrists trace their history to the major centrist andChristian-democratic political parties in the Fourth and Fifth Republics. The parties maintained a separate existence from theGaullist 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, theUnion for French Democracy (UDF), began to lose importance after UDF leaderValéry Giscard was defeated byFrançois Mitterrand in the1981 presidential election and as the GaullistRally 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 leaderFrancois Bayrou refused. The RPR itself merged with smaller parties in 2002 to become theUnion 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, theDemocratic Movement (MoDem).[7]
During thelegislative 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 DefenseHervé Morin was elected by the first round inEure (50.05%), other candidates such asFrançois 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 candidatesJean-Christophe Lagarde.Mayotte MoDem deputy Abdoulatifou Aly joined the group before defecting back to the MoDem. In a 2008 by-election in theRhone, the party gained a seat after the UMP incumbent's election was invalidated.
In his second cabinet, the Prime MinisterFrançois Fillon appointed three NC membersHervé Morin as Defense Minister,André Santini as State Secretary for Public Servants andValérie Létard as State Secretary for Social Solidarity.
The party held its foundation congress inNîmes in 2008, whereHervé Morin was elected president of the party.
In themunicipal andcantonal elections held in 2008, the party held most if its seats, but lostBlois andAmiens to thePS. It did gain, however, the cities ofAgen andChâtellerault. It lost the department of theSomme but gained theCôte-d'Or, whereFrançois Sauvadet was elected as departmental president. In the2009 European elections the party joined the presidential majority alliance and three NC members were elected as MEPs.
In May–June 2011 the party joinedthe Alliance with theRadical Party, as an alternative to the UMP.[8][9][10]
The Centrists' political ideas are in large part inspired by those ofFrançois Bayrou in his 2007 presidential campaign.
It supports asocial market economy, which seeks to find a compromise betweensocialism andlaissez-faire capitalism. In this regard, it supportssocial welfare and a competitive market economy. It also supports a looser application of the French35-hour workweek, a reduction in thepayroll tax, a French equivalent to the AmericanSmall Business Administration and a reduction of thegovernment debt and more budgetary regulation.
The Centrists supports a diversification of energy sources to cut by fourgreenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In this regard, it supports the development ofpublic transit and further development of fluvial and railway transportation of goods and people.
It supports a greater role for the French Parliament and some in the party favour the introduction of a German-stylemixed member proportional (MMP) system for parliamentary elections. Like many French centrist parties descended from the centristChristian democratic ideals, it is stronglyEurophilic and supports increased European control over the economy, environment, immigration, energy and research.
| Leader | Took office | Left office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Hervé Morin | 2007 | Incumbent | |
It is hard to pinpoint the geographic distribution of the LC's vote since most of its candidates run without UMP opposition. The party is strong institutionally in theLoir-et-Cher, where it holds two of the department's three seats and the presidency of the general council.
| Election year | Councils |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 (Jean-Léonce Dupont) |
| Election | Leader | Votes (round 1) | % (round 1) | Votes (round 2) | % (round 2) | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Hervé Morin | 616,440 | 2.37 | 433,057 | 2.12 | 22 / 577 | New | Presidential Majority |
| 2012 | 569,897 | 2.20 | 568,319 | 2.47 | 12 / 577 |  10 | Opposition | |
| 2017 | withUnion of the Right and Centre | 2 / 577 | 8 | Opposition | ||||
| 2022 | withUnion of the Right and Centre | 1 / 577 | 1 | Opposition | ||||
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009[a] | Hervé Morin | 4,799,908 | 27.88 (#1) | 3 / 72 | New | EPP |
| 2014 | Merged intoUDI | |||||
| 2019[b] | 1,920,407 | 8.48 (#4) | 1 / 79 |  1 | EPP | |
| 2024[c] | 1,783,965 | 7.24 (#2) | 0 / 81 | 1 | − | |
In order to obtain public financing, The Centrists have signed a convention withFetia Api, a very small party inFrench Polynesia. 23 parliamentarians (18 of the French National Assembly and 5 from the Senate) declared they belong to Fetia Api for this reason.
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