French Legislative Elections

Now that the Presidential Election has concluded, the next national elections in France are for the Assemblee nationale, one of the two house of the French parlement. (The Senat is the other - which has indirect elections).

Details of the circonscriptions (UK- constituencies; US - Districts) can be found on the Assemble nationale website. For the first time there are specific circonscriptions for French nationals living abroad (Scottish Parliament and Weslsh National Assembly please note!). There are eleven of these circonscriptions - the USA is in 1st & the UK in the 3rd.

I subscribe to "Le petit journal" - a daily email (and webpage) for French ex-pats. There are a number of local editions. There is also a page dedicated to the elections, with an emphasis on the candidates for the "Francais etablis hors de France". It can be accessed here.

Where Britain Leads - everyone else follows...

My little joke.... I refer to the fact that Parliament returned yesterday. The US Congress returns today, and a special session of the French parlement is being held today and tomorrow.

The websites for these institutions are

US House of Representatives
US Senate
French Assemblee nationale
French Senat

(the French Parlement sites are available in English - from the home pages above)

Of course, the European Parliament beat everyone - returning for a committee week last Monday. The next plenary session will be held in Strasbourg on 12th - 15th September. A weekly summary of events in the European Parliament is available here, while the Draft Agenda for the September plenary is accessible here.

Historic win for the Left?

Elections for the French Senat take place on September 25th. Le Monde suggests that there is a real possibility the Senat may, for the first time under the 5th Republic, fall to the parties of the Left.

In an article in the Le Monde of 26th August, Patrick Roger writes that the Left needs 22 gains to become the majority - and estimations by Le Monde currently suggest a gain of 20 seats. Too close to call!!!

170 seats (out of 348) are being contested. There is an electoral college made up up members of the Assemblee nationale; Regional and Departmental Councils and delegates from municipal councils. The system has been frequently criticised for having an inbuilt over-representation of rural areas giving an advantage to right wing parties. Roger points out the difficulties in predicting the results, but - for the first time, as a result of recent successes in local elections - the Left can see the possibility of an historic win.

Elections in 2012

As with any year, 2012 will see a number of important elections. Washminster will be focusing on the elections due in the USA and France (and a little on the London mayoral election and the other local elections in the UK). Already these elections are regularly in the news.

The US Elections will be held on November 6th 2012. The race which will dominate international coverage will be the Presidential Election. We've seen in recent days how the competition for the Republican nomination is developing. President Obama will seek re-election, but there is some chatter about a challenge for the Democratic nomination. The possibility of a serious third party challenger has also been discussed. On the same day there will be elections for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives. One third of the Senate seats are also in play. The Americans have moved to a system where most local, state and federal elections are held on the same day in November.

In France the two main national elections are held on separate days. The Presidential Election will see its first round on April 22nd. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the votes cast, a second round will be held on May 6th, a contest that will only involve two candidates. The first round of the elections for the Assemblee nationale will take place on June 10th - with a second round one week later.

In September 2011, on Sunday 25th, elections will be held for half of the Senat seats (the upper House of the French Parlement). These are indirect elections. Further details about the electorate and the seats which are being fought, can be found here.