1951 French legislative election

Legislative elections were held in France on 17 June 1951 to elect the second National Assembly of the Fourth Republic.

1951 French legislative election

17 June 1951
All 625 seats to the French National Assembly 313 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	80.2% ( 2.15 pp)
Leader Jacques Soustelle Guy Mollet Maurice Thorez Party RPF SFIO PCF Leader's seat Rhône Pas-de-Calais Seine Last election 0 seats 102 seats 182 seats Seats won 121 107 103 Seat change 121 5 79 Popular vote 4,122,696 2,894,001 4,939,380 Percentage 21.93% 15.39% 26.27%   CNIP Leader none Georges Bidault Jean-Paul David Party CNIP MRP Rally of the Republican Lefts Leader's seat none Loire Seine-et-Oise Last election 72 seats (PRL) 173 seats 69 seats Seats won 96 95 93 Seat change 24 78 24 Popular vote 2,563,782 2,369,778 1,913,003 Percentage 13.64% 12.60% 10.17%
PM before election Henri Queuille PRV Elected PM René Pleven UDSR

After the Second World War, the three parties which took a major part in the French Resistance to the German occupation dominated the political scene and government: the French Communist Party (PCF), the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO, socialist party) and the Christian democratic Popular Republican Movement (MRP). The forces associated with the Third Republic and the 1940 disaster (the Radical Party and the classical Right) were considered as archaic and were the losers of the post-war elections.

Nevertheless, after the proclamation of the Fourth Republic, the 1947 strikes and the beginning of the Cold War, the Three-parties alliance split. In spring 1947, the Communist ministers were dismissed. At the same time, Charles de Gaulle, symbol of the Resistance, founded his Rally of the French People (RPF) which campaigned for constitutional reform and criticized the "parties' regime" as a rebirth of the defunct Third Republic.

The Socialists and the Christian-Democrats allied with the Rally of the Republican Lefts (composed of the Radicals and the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance, UDSR) and right-wing groupings to form the Third Force. This coalition defended the regime against the opposition of the Communists on the one hand, and the Gaullists on the other. But this diverse alliance did not lead to a stable executive power. Indeed, its components advocated opposing policies on the economy, the finances of the state, secularism (laïcité) and denominational schools. This discontent was beneficial to the Communists and the Gaullists.

In March 1951, Henri Queuille (Radical Party), became head of the cabinet. His Vice-Prime Ministers were Georges Bidault (MRP), Guy Mollet (SFIO) and René Pleven (UDSR). In order to limit the number of seats won by the Communists and the Gaullists, an electoral reform was passed. The proportional representation system was conserved but if an alliance of parties obtained more of 50% of votes in a given constituency, it won all the seats. The promoters of the electoral reform knew the Communists and the Gaullists were so different from allie contrary to the parties of the Third Force. They hoped the alliance of the pro-government parties would reach the 50% threshold in a maximum of constituencies, whereas the PCF and the RPF would be eliminated of representation.

Whilst the PCF and the RPF were the two largest parties in terms of the popular vote, the Third Force remained the parliamentary majority. Due to the ballot system, the Communist Party, which won more votes than any other party, was only third in terms of the number of seats won. In the winning coalition, the SFIO and the MRP lost support whereas the Radicals and the classical Right made gains. However, due to continuing internal divisions (about the denominational schools, the budget and the colonial question) the problem of the stability of the executive was not resolved. In August 1951, René Pleven replaced Henri Queuille as Prime Minister and the Socialists left the cabinet.

Results

Parties and coalitions		Abbr.	Votes	%	Seats
	French Section of the Workers' International (Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière)	SFIO	2,894,001	15.39	107
	National Centre of Independents and Peasants (Centre national des indépendants et paysans)	CNIP	2,563,782	13.64	96
	Popular Republican Movement (Mouvement républicain populaire)	MRP	2,369,778	12.60	95
	Rally of the Republican Lefts (Rassemblement des gauches républicaines)	RGR	1,913,003	10.17	93
Total "Third Force"			9,740,564	51.80	388
	French Communist Party (Parti communiste français)	PCF	4,939,380	26.27	103
	Rally of the French People (Rassemblement du peuple français)	RPF	4,122,696	21.93	121
	Total		18,802,640	100	625
Abstention: 19.8%

Popular vote PCF   26.27% RPF   21.93% SFIO   15.39% CNIP   13.64% MRP   12.60% RGR   10.17%

Parliamentary seats RPF   19.36% SFIO   17.12% PCF   16.48% CNIP   15.36% MRP   15.20% RGR   14.88%

Parliamentary Groups

Party		Seats
	Rally of the French People	121
	French Section of the Workers' International	107
	French Communist Party	103
	Popular Republican Movement	95
	Radical Party	74
	Independent Republicans	53
	National Center of Independents and Peasants	43
	Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance	16
	Non-inscrits	12
	African Democratic Rally	3
	Seats not elected (TOM)	2
Total		625

Sources

• Parties and Elections
• Election-Politique

See also

• 1951 French legislative election in Guinea
• 1951 French legislative election in Algeria
• 1954 Guinea by-election