Centrism in France (French: Centrisme politique) has played a major role in French politics over many decades. This page presents the parties, political movements and personalities linked to Centrism in France according to their political traditions or their background. The different families of centrism are presented in the different sections.
Moderates, Democrats and Christian Democrats
History The moderates, democrats and Christian democrats constitute the main political family of the center in France, they come from the Orleanist and liberal traditions of the French right, the moderates, democrats and Christian democrats were mainly structured into political parties after the Liberation of France. The Popular Republican Movement (MRP), under the French Fourth Republic, then the Union for French Democracy (UDF), under the French Fifth Republic constituted the two major political forces which brought the ideologies together. The Fifth Republic and the election by direct universal suffrage of the President of the Republic was established in 1962 would make the electoral success of centrist parties more difficult.
The MRP, founded as a party in 1944 by former resistance fighters, quickly became one of the three major parties (with the PCF and the SFIO) who dominated the national political life of the Fourth Republic. The MRP was the second largest party in the Constituent Assembly of 1945 and that the National Assembly elected in November 1946. The MRP was the largest party during the election of the second Constituent Assembly in June 1946 and was part of the two main coalitions of the Fourth Republic: Tripartisme (1946–47) and the Third Force (1947–51). The MRP then became a central political force of the new regime and counted among its ranks three Prime Ministers: Robert Schuman, Georges Bidault et Pierre Pflimlin. The Christian Democrats participated in all the governments of the Fourth Republic and, despite the political instability of their party, their ministers remained in place for many years with Schuman at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1948–1953), Jean-Marie Louvel at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (1950–1954). However, the MRP fell back electorally: its vote share was halved during the legislative elections of 1951 and 1956. After the founding of the RPF, the MRP no longer appeared as the party of loyalty to Charles de Gaulle, while the traditional moderate right regrouped around the National Centre of Independents and Peasants (CNI). The MRP supported the return of De Gaulle and the establishment of the Fifth Republic and participated in the beginning of his presidency but disagreements over European politics pushed the MPR into opposition before dissolving in 1965. Jean Lecanuet was inspired to found a new party, the Democratic Centre. The Union for French democracy (UDF) was established in 1978 as a union between a number of centrist parties, including the Democratic Centre (from the MRP), the Republican Party (formerly FNRI) and the Radical Party. Other centrist factions, like the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Democratic Convention (PSD) succeeded in establishing itself as a political force of government thanks to the legitimacy of its founder, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who was elected President of France in 1974, the first time that the role hadn't been held by a Gaullist or a left winger. However, after the failure of Giscard to be re-elected in the 1981 presidential election, the UDF could only maintain its political influence by allying with right-wing forces, disputing the neo-Gaullist Rally for the Republic for leadership over the conservative electorate. Despite this conflict part of the UDF, mainly members of the Centre of Social Democrats (formerly the Democratic Centre of Jean Lecanuet) nevertheless took part in the government of openness led by Michel Rocard from 1988 to 1991, forming a distinct group () of the UDF in the National Assembly. From the mid-1990s onwards, the UDF experienced several splits, seeing the Liberals leave it in 1998 (including the Republican Party, which later became Liberal Democracy), then a majority of its executives and many activists in favour of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) in 2002 (including the Radical Party). At the same time, the "New-UDF" was created through the merging of most of the remaining components apart from the PPDF.
In 2007, François Bayrou, president of the UDF, reached 18.57% of the votes in the first round of the presidential election. The UDF finally disappeared through its integration into the new party founded by François Bayrou, the Democratic Movement (MoDem), which adopted a position independent of the right and left forces. Party members that refused to abandon the alliance with the right created The Centrists at the same time. In June 2008, Jean Arthuis, who left the MoDem, created a national association, the Centrist Alliance, which brought together elected officials and activists attached to the political heritage of the UDF.
In 2011, Jean-Louis Borloo president of the Radical Party, created the Republican, Ecologist and Social Alliance (ARES) which aimed to bring together the centrist groups that were members of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential majority, with the prospect of a common candidacy in the 2012 presidential election. In November 2011, Jean-Louis Borloo decided not to run in the election as a candidate. The members of ARES mainly supported the candidacy of Nicolas Sarkozy after Hervé Morin also did not stand.
In May 2012 Jean-Louis Borloo created the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) following the failure of Nicolas Sarkozy to win re-election. He relaunched his intention to bring together center-right political groups under one movement. Under its influence, Members of Parliament who were members of The Centrists, the Radical Party, and the Centrist Alliance (formerly Rassembler les centrists), and various right and center right (including Caledonia Together and the CNIP) form the Union group democrats and independents in the National Assembly, the UDI became a political party in September 2012 joined by the Democratic European Force (FED) under the leadership of Jean-Christophe Lagarde, which was founded by several members of the New Centre who opposed Hervé Morin's leadership.
In March 2017, the Centrist Alliance provided its support to Emmanuel Macron's En Marche campaign in the 2017 French presidential election, which led to its exclusion from the UDI as the party and its affiliates supported the candidacy of François Fillon (after having supported Alain Juppé during the primary). After the 2017 French legislative election, two other founding parties left the UDI: the Radical Party, which initiated a process of reunification with the left radicals, which led to the founding of the Radical Movement in December 2017. This was followed by Hervé's movement The Centrists.
Following the presidential election and legislative elections, radical centrism was considered France's dominant political ideology.
List of parties and movements PartyYears of creation/dissolutionFounderOther notable leadersNotesDemocratic Republican Alliance1901–1940Adolphe CarnotCharles Jonnart, Pierre-Étienne FlandinRadical left; Left-wing RepublicansPopular Liberal Action1901–1927Jacques Piou and Albert de MunA center-right political force dominating the French right at the beginning of the 20th century, the group almost completely disappeared in 1919.Popular Democratic Party1923–1942Georges ThiboutAuguste Champetier de RibesCivic Action OfficePopular Republican Movement1944–1967Georges BidaultMaurice Schumann, Pierre-Henri Teitgen, Pierre Pflimlin, André Colin, Jean Lecanuet Inspired by French social CatholicismDemocratic Centre1966–1976Jean LecanuetBecame the Centre of Social Democrats in 1976.Democratic Convention(Popular Party for French Democracy from 1995 to 2002)1966Jean-Pierre Fourcade(founder of the first club)Louis Giscard d'EstaingÉric HélardThe Perspectives and Realities Clubs brought together moderate liberals supporting Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. In 1978, they participated in the founding of the Union for French Democracy. In 1995, they took the form of the Popular Party for French Democracy under the leadership of Hervé de Charette, a party which joined the UMP in 2002. The Democratic Convention took the form of a political party to integrate the Republican Alliance, ecological and social in May 2011. After being put on hold, it was relaunched in 2014 by Yves Jégo in the form of a political club associated with the Union of Democrats and Independents.Centre Democracy and Progress1969–1976René Pleven, Jacques DuhamelBecame the Centre of Social Democrats in 1976.Centre of Social Democrats1976–1995Jean LecanuetFounding party of the Union for French Democracy in 1978 and of Democratic Force in 1995.Union for French Democracy1978–2007Jean Lecanuet, Valéry Giscard d'EstaingFrançois Léotard and François BayrouFounding party of MoDem in 2007 (without real activity since, its definitive disappearance being set for 2010).Democratic Force1995–1998François BayrouMerged in 1998 with the PRIL and direct members of the UDF within "the new UDF".The Alliance2011–2012Jean-Louis BorlooFounded in June 2011 with the aim of supporting a common candidacy for the 2012 French presidential election, this structure brings together the Radical Party, the New Center, the Democratic Convention and the Modern Left. It has been without public activity since Jean-Louis Borloo renounced his candidacy in November 2011.Les Centristes(Nouveau Centre until 2016)2007Hervé MorinAssociated with Fetia Api; member of the Union of Democrats and Independents from 2012 to 2017Democratic Movement (MoDem)2007François BayrouBroke away from the UDF; Part of the Together coalition (created in 2021).Centrist Alliance2009Jean ArthuisPhilippe FolliotFounded in June 2008 in the form of the Centrist Alliance, which transformed into a political party on 27 June 2009. Member of the Union of Democrats and Independents from 2012 to 2017, the party has been affiliated with LREM since 2017.Democratic European Force2012Jean-Christophe LagardeFounded in July 2012 by former members of the Nouveau Center and the Democratic Movement. Component of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI).Union des démocrates et indépendants2012Jean-Louis BorlooJean-Christophe LagardeFounded on 18 September 2012 composed of eight national political groups which maintain their existence: Components : FED, Parti radical (2012–2017), LC (2012–2017), AC (2012–2017), NED (2013–2019)
Movements associated : CPPR, Calédonie ensemble, La Gauche moderne, Canal écologiste républicain, GayLib (2013–2018), Tapura Huiraatira (2016–2019)2014–2017Jean-Luc BennahmiasDissolved into Résistons2016Jean LassalleAgrarian and regionalist movement.
French centrist personalities
Raymond Barre Simone Veil Pierre Méhaignerie Philippe Douste-Blazy André Santini Jean-Pierre Raffarin Hervé de Charette Gilles de Robien Jean-Marie Cavada François Sauvadet Michel Mercier Marielle de Sarnez
Liberals Liberalism in France can be considered a right-wing ideology but many centrist movements have claimed to be liberal or have had liberal wings like the UDF.
History Liberalism has never been a very popular political movement in France since the 20th century. This was partly due to the fact that liberals took quite a long time to organize themselves in the aftermath of the Second World War.
Even within the National Centre of Independents and Peasants (CNIP), it wasn't until the personalities of Antoine Pinay and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing to gain political stature for the liberals to find national leaders in France.