1958 French legislative election

Legislative elections were held in France on 23 and 30 November 1958 to elect the first National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic.[1]

1958 French legislative election
France
23 November 1958 (first round)
30 November 1958 (second round)
All 576 seats in the National Assembly
290 seats needed for a majority
PartyLeader % Seats
CNIP & moderates Roger Duchet 19.97 132
PCF Maurice Thorez 18.94 10
UNR & Gaullists Charles de Gaulle 17.58 189
SFIO Guy Mollet 15.45 40
PR, CR & dissidents Félix Gaillard 13.15 37
MRP Pierre Pflimlin 11.65 57
Far-right – 3.27 1
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Charles de Gaulle
UNR		 Michel Debré
UNR
Politics of France
Constitutions
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary
Administrative divisions
Elections
Foreign relations
Related topics

Since 1954, the French Fourth Republic had been mired in the Algerian War.[2] In May 1958, Pierre Pflimlin, a Christian-Democrat, became Prime Minister.[3] He was known to be in favour of a negotiated settlement with the Algerian nationalists.[4] On 13 May riots broke out in Algiers, with the complicity of the army.[5] A rebel government seized power in Algiers in order to defend "French Algeria". The next day, General Massu demanded the return to power of General Charles de Gaulle.[6]

The rebellious generals took control of Corsica threatening to conduct an assault on Paris, involving paratroopers and armoured forces based at Rambouillet.[6] In Paris, the political leaders were trying to find a compromise.[7] On 1 June De Gaulle replaced Pflimlin to lead a government of national unity and nominated as Ministers of State (Vice-Prime Ministers) Pierre Pflimlin (Popular Republican Movement, MRP), Guy Mollet (French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), Louis Jacquinot (National Center of Independents and Peasants, CNIP) and Félix Houphouët-Boigny.[8] He obtained the right to develop a new Constitution.[9] Only the Communists and some center-left politicians such as Pierre Mendès-France and François Mitterrand, opposed this "coup against the Republic".[7][10]

On 28 September the new Constitution was approved in a referendum in the French Union by 82.6% of all voters, and in metropolitan France by 79.3% of voters. The Fifth Republic was born. The two-round system was re-established for the legislative elections.[11] The Gaullists created the Union for the New Republic which became the largest parliamentary group. Their opponents were crushed. The small number of left-wing MPs elected may be explained by divisions among left-leaning parties between supporters and opponents to the Fifth Republic: the two-round ballot tends to reward parties which are able to form alliances with each other.[12]

On 21 December de Gaulle was elected President of France by an electoral college.[13] His Justice Minister Michel Debré became Prime Minister.[14] The pro-Fifth Republic center-left parties (SFIO and Radical Party) left the presidential majority.[15][1] This established the first gaullist centre-right government.

Results (Metropolitan France)
PartyFirst roundSecond roundTotal
seats
Votes%Votes%
National Centre of Independents and Peasants and Moderates4,092,60019.974,250,08323.60132
French Communist Party3,882,20418.943,741,38420.7810
Union for the New Republic and Gaullists3,603,95817.584,769,05226.48189
French Section of the Workers International3,167,35415.452,484,41713.8040
Radical Party, Dissidents and Republican Centre2,695,28713.151,398,4097.7737
Popular Republican Movement and Christian Democrats2,387,78811.651,365,0647.5857
Far-right669,5183.271
Total20,498,709100.0018,008,409100.00466
Source: Macridis & Brown[16]

Notes
  1. Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 253–266.
  2. Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 26–44.
  3. Laponce 1961, pp. 1–2.
  4. Laponce 1961, pp. 9–10; Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 60–61.
  5. Macridis & Brown 1960, p. 62.
  6. Watson 2003, pp. 123–129; Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 81–91.
  7. Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 92–97.
  8. Laponce 1961, pp. 12–13; Macridis & Brown 1960, p. 154.
  9. Macridis & Brown 1960, p. 117.
  10. Mitterrand 1964.
  11. Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 210–236, 335–358.
  12. Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 249–266.
  13. Macridis & Brown 1960, p. 182, 270.
  14. Macridis & Brown 1960, p. 152, 273.
  15. Macridis & Brown 1960, pp. 242–246.
  16. Macridis & Brown 1960, p. 258, N.B.: Unofficial and partly reconstructed

References
  • Macridis, Roy C; Brown, Bernard Edward (1960). Long, Norton E. (ed.). The De Gaulle Republic: Quest For Unity. The Dorsey Series in Political Science (1st ed.). Homewood: The Dorsey Press. LCCN 60-14048. OCLC 408387. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  • Laponce, J. A. (1961). The government of the Fifth Republic: French Political Parties and the Constitution. Berkeley, Los Angeles; London: University of California; Cambridge University. LCCN 60-14656. OCLC 501634. Retrieved 11 November 2014 – via Internet Archive.
  • Watson, William E. (2003). Tricolor and Crescent: France and the Islamic World. Perspectives on the twentieth century (10th ed.). Westport: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-97470-7. ISSN 1538-9626. LCCN 2002030336. OCLC 50322732. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  • Mitterrand, François (1964). Le Coup d'Etat permanent (in French). Paris: Plon.
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