Movement for France Mouvement pour la France | |
|---|---|
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| Leader | Philippe de Villiers |
| Founder | Philippe de Villiers |
| Founded | 20 November 1994 |
| Dissolved | 28 June 2018[1] |
| Split from | Union for French Democracy |
| Headquarters | 16 bis avenue de la Motte-Picquet – 75007 Paris |
| Ideology | National conservatism[2] Souverainism[3] French nationalism[4] |
| Political position | Right-wing[4] |
| European affiliation | Movement for a Europe of Liberties and Democracy (2011–2015) |
| European Parliament group | Europe of Freedom and Democracy (2009–2014) |
| Colours | Purple |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheMovement for France (French:Mouvement pour la France,MPF;French pronunciation:[muvmɑ̃puʁlaˈfʁɑ̃s]) was aconservativeEuroscepticFrench political party, founded on 20 November 1994, with a markedregional stronghold inVendée. It was led byPhilippe de Villiers, once secretary of state for culture underJacques Chirac.
The party was considered Eurosceptic, though not to the extent of seekingwithdrawal from the European Union, contrasting with some mainstream Eurosceptic parties such as theUK Independence Party (UKIP). The MPF resisted increases inEuropean integration and campaigned successfully for a "no" vote in theFrench referendum of 2005 on the proposedEuropean Constitution. It was also strongly opposed to the possibleaccession of Turkey to the European Union and to what it saw as theIslamisation of France.
The party was a member of PresidentNicolas Sarkozy's presidential majority, which gathered allies of the ruling partyUnion for a Popular Movement (UMP). However, the party eventually distanced itself from Sarkozy, and party leader Villiers expressed support forMarine Le Pen in the2017 presidential elections.[5]
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Founded in 1994, the party nominatedPhilippe de Villiers as candidate in the1995 presidential election. He obtained over a million votes and 4.74% of the popular vote, but failed to pass 5%.
In the1997 legislative election, the MPF joined forces with theNational Centre of Independents and Peasants asLa Droite Indépendante (LDI). Philippe de Villiers was re-elected, as was one of his allies, who nonetheless left the party soon thereafter.
It contested the1999 European Parliamentary elections in alliance with theRassemblement pour la France (RPF) ofCharles Pasqua, the combination winning 13 seats, surpassingNicolas Sarkozy'sRassemblement pour la République (RPR) list.
The MPF formed an alliance with the RPF, but Villiers fell out with Pasqua the following year. Standing by itself in the2004 European elections, the MPF obtained 7.6% of the popular vote and returned threeMembers of the European Parliament (MEPs). The party was a member of theIndependence and Democracy group in the European Parliament.
Villiers declared his candidacy for the2007 presidential election and appointed a secretary-general,Guillaume Peltier, then ranked second in the party. He ranked sixth out of twelve candidates, obtaining 2.23% (818,407 votes), down almost 2% from his previous candidacy in 1995. His best scores came inPays de la Loire with 4.99% andPoitou-Charentes with 3.58%. Unlike in 1995, he failed to win in his department ofVendée, where he obtained 11.28% (over 20% in 1995).
In the2007 legislative election, MPF candidates ran nationwide, but only one candidate was elected –Véronique Besse inVendée's 4th constituency by the first round. Former MPF memberJoël Sarlot was also elected by the first round in theVendée's 5th constituency. Sarlot subsequently lent support to the victoriousUnion for a Popular Movement (UMP) in the National Assembly. Sarlot's election was invalidated in 2007 andDominique Souchet, aVillierist won the ensuingby-election easily. Other candidates, mostly in the south of France obtained important scores.Jacques Bompard, in the 4th constituency ofVaucluse won over 20%.
In the2009 European Parliament election, the party ran withHunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition under the umbrella of theLibertas political movement led by Irish businessmanDeclan Ganley. It won 4.8% and onlyPhilippe de Villiers was re-elected:Patrick Louis was defeated. The MPF was the only Libertas affiliated party throughout the whole of the European Union to elect MEPs in 2009. The party was member of theEurope of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group during the7th European Parliament.
In August 2009, Philippe de Villiers announced that the MPF would join theLiaison Committee for the Presidential Majority, which co-ordinates the member parties of the majority supporting the policies of PresidentNicolas Sarkozy.[6]
During the 2010s, the MPF gradually lost all its electoral representation. The party did not take part in the2012 and2017presidential elections. Party leader Villiers expressed his personal support forMarine Le Pen in the2017 presidential election.[5] The party was dissolved by its secretary-generalPatrick Louis on 28 June 2018.[7]
The MPF was asouverainist party which supported the national independence of France within a Europe "of peoples and co-operation". Unlike theUnited Kingdom Independence Party, it did not support France's withdrawal from the EU but rather a massive overhaul of it. The MPF was a strong critic of what it saw as excessive bureaucracy and technocracy in the EU.
The MPF and Villers, mostly due to their views on Islam and Muslim immigration, have been labeled in world news media such asCNN,Der Spiegel,The Wall Street Journal,The Boston Globe, andThe San Francisco Chronicle as "far right".[8][9][10][11][12]
According to itselectoral platform, its various proposals included:
| Party leader | Time in office | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Philippe de Villiers | 20 November 1994 – 28 June 2018 |
| Secretary-General | Time in office | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Stéphane Buffetaut | 1998 – 1999 |
| 2. | Thierry de La Perrière | 1999 – 2003 |
| 3. | Guillaume Peltier | 2003 – 2008 |
| 4. | Patrick Louis | 2008 – 2018 |
The MPF elected some representatives, including two deputies (Véronique Besse andDominique Souchet, part ofNon-Inscrits), two senators (Bruno Retailleau andPhilippe Darniche, part ofRASNAG) and a MEP (Philippe de Villiers, member of theEFD).
The MPF controlled the general council ofVendée, where Villiers served asPresident of the General Council. It had 10 general councillors in Vendée in addition to one in theMorbihan (Quiberon), one in theMeuse (Charny-sur-Meuse) and two in theVaucluse (Orange). It claimed 5 regional councillors, most of which were elected onFN lists in 2004.
The Youth for France (French:Jeunes pour la France, JPF) was founded in 2001 byGuillaume Peltier as the party's youth organisation. Its successive presidents included Peltier (2001–2006), Jean-Baptiste Doat (2006–2008), Thibaud Vincendeau (2008–2010),Christophe Bentz (2010–2011) andPierre Meurin (2014–2018).
The MPF had little electoral clout and most of its support was concentrated in Philippe de Villiers' department ofVendée, his electoral stronghold. While most of his support drew on his status as a favourite son, Vendée is also a stronglyTraditionalist Catholic department which maintains a sense of pride in the monarchistcounter-revolution and theChouans during theFrench Revolution. In the2009 European election, Villiers' list won the department with 32.96%[13] while polling only 4.8% nationally. In the2004 European election the MPF won 38.63%[14] and it won 31.9% in the 1999 elections and 34.75% in 1994. However, the MPF is weaker in the department in national elections – such as presidential votes. Philippe de Villiers, who had won 22.02% in his department in the1995 presidential election (he also got first place) came in fourth place with 11.28% in the2007 presidential election. His electoral base in the department is his constituency –Vendée's 4th constituency – in which he consistently does better than in the department as a whole.[15]
His influence waned, however: through considered to be pro-EU in general, the department voted against theMaastricht Treaty in 1992 due to Villiers' influence, but it voted for theEuropean Constitution in 2005. It was the only department to switch between a NO vote in 1992 and a YES vote in 2005.
The MPF was also strong in other departments, mostly those neighboring Vendée. In 2009, for example, Villiers' list won 14.26% in theDeux-Sèvres, a department which is also strongly Catholic. It also won 12.36% inCharente-Maritime, 10.39% inMaine-et-Loire, 9.79% inCharente, 9.29% inVienne and 8.56% inLoire-Atlantique. Due toJacques Bompard, it also polled 6.40% in the southeasternVaucluse department.
| Election | Candidate | First round | Second round | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| 1995 | Philippe de Villiers | 1,443,235 | 4.74% | - | - | Lost |
| 2007 | 818,407 | 2.23% | - | - | Lost | |
| Election | Leader | Votes(first round) | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | ± | ||
| 1997 | Philippe de Villiers | 606,355 | 2.38% | 2 / 577 |  2 |
| 2002 | 202,831 | 0.80% | 1 / 577 |  1 | |
| 2007 | 312,581 | 1.20% | 2 / 577 | 1 | |
| Election year | Leader | Number of votes | % of overall vote | # of seats won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Philippe de Villiers | 2,404,105 | 12.34%[16] | 13[17] |
| 1999 | 2,304,285 | 13.05%[16] | 6[17] | |
| 2004 | 1,145,839 | 6.67% | 3[18] | |
| 2009 | 826,357 | 4.80%[19] | 1 |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
