Senate Republicans Groupe Les Républicains | |
|---|---|
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| Chamber | Senate |
| Foundation | 10 December 2002 |
| Previous name(s) | Union for a Popular Movement group (2002–2015) Groupe Union pour un mouvement populaire |
| Member parties | The Republicans |
| President | Mathieu Darnaud |
| Representation | 130 / 348 |
| Ideology | Neo-Gaullism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Website | www |
TheSenate Republicans (formallyThe Republicans group;French:Groupe Les Républicains, alsoLes Républicains du Sénat), formerly theUnion for a Popular Movement group (Groupe Union pour un mouvement populaire), is aparliamentary group in theFrench Senate including representatives ofThe Republicans (LR), formerly theUnion for a Popular Movement (UMP). It is currently the largest group in the Senate. Its president has beenBruno Retailleau since 2014.
The Union for a Popular Movement group (groupe Union pour un mouvement populaire) in theSenate was officially formed on 10 December 2002 after the foundation of theUnion for a Popular Movement earlier that year; at the time of its creation, it included 167 members, an absolute majority, withJosselin de Rohan elected as its first president. The group united 93 out of 94 members of theRally for the Republic (RPR) group, 40 out of 41 members of the Republicans and Independents (RI) group (associated withLiberal Democracy), 29 out of 54 members of theCentrist Union (UC) group, 4 out of 21 members of theEuropean Democratic and Social Rally (RDSE) group, and 1 non-inscrit.[1] The group maintained its absolute majority until the2004 renewal.[2]
On 15 January 2008, de Rohan stood down as president of the group to assume the role of president of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces Committee,[3] and was succeeded the same day by the former member of theRadical PartyHenri de Raincourt.[4] De Raincourt subsequently stepped down on 6 July 2009, ahead of his appointment to the government,[5] withGérard Longuet elected unopposed as his successor on 7 July, his only opponent –Eric Doligé – having withdrawn his candidacy before the vote.[6] On 7 March 2011, Longuet departed from the presidency of the group after his appointment as Minister of Defense within the government,[7] withJean-Claude Gaudin taking his place on 8 March uncontested; thoughJean-Pierre Raffarin envisaged the possibility of presenting his candidature, he ultimately supported Gaudin for the post.[8]
The UMP group lost its relative majority in the2011 renewal,[9][10] after which the left took control of the upper chamber for the first time in the history of theFifth Republic.[11] Though Gaudin remained in the Senate after the2014 renewal, he did not wish to seek the presidency of the group, leaving it to an open contest instead.[12] On 2 October,Bruno Retailleau, a supporter ofFrançois Fillon in thedisputed 2012 leadership election, was elected president of the group with 79 votes againstSarkozyistRoger Karoutchi with 39 votes and Longuet with 25.[13] On 2 June 2015, the group was renamed to The Republicans group (groupe Les Républicains) following the founding congress ofthe renamed party.[14]
In the2020 French Senate election theRepublicans held their majority.[15]
| Name | Image | Term start | Term end | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josselin de Rohan |  | 10 December 2002 | 15 January 2008 | [1][3] |
| Henri de Raincourt |  | 15 January 2008 | 6 July 2009 | [4][5] |
| Gérard Longuet |  | 7 July 2009 | 7 March 2011 | [6][7] |
| Jean-Claude Gaudin |  | 8 March 2011 | 6 October 2014 | [8][16] |
| Bruno Retailleau | .jpg) | 7 October 2014 | 30 September 2024 | [17] |
| Year | Leader | Seats | Change | Series | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Josselin de Rohan | 156 / 331 |  | C | [2] |
| 2008 | Henri de Raincourt | 151 / 343 |  5 | A | [9] |
| 2011 | Gérard Larcher | 132 / 348 | 19 | 1 | [10] |
| 2014 | Jean-Claude Gaudin | 143 / 348 |  11 | 2 | [18] |
| 2017 | Bruno Retailleau | 146 / 348 | 3 | 1 | [19] |
| 2020 | 148 / 348 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2023 | 139 / 348 | 7 | 1 | [15] |
The UMP group was founded on 10 December 2002 with 167 members, including 93 out of 94 members of theRally for the Republic (RPR) group, 40 out of 41 members of the Republicans and Independents (RI) group (associated withLiberal Democracy), 29 out of 54 members of theCentrist Union (UC) group, 4 out of 21 members of theEuropean Democratic and Social Rally (RDSE) group, and 1 non-inscrit.[1]
