Together (coalition)

Together (French: Ensemble, stylised as Ensemble !) is a liberal political coalition in France.[1][2] Formed in November 2021 as Ensemble Citoyens,[3] it includes Renaissance (RE, formerly known as En Marche), Democratic Movement (MoDem), Horizons, En commun, and the Progressive Federation. The coalition included the parties Agir and Territories of Progress (TDP) until they were merged into the rebranded Renaissance. Ensemble has mainly been described as being centrist,[4][5][6][7] and sometimes as centre-right[8][9][10] on the political spectrum.

"Citizens Together" redirects here. For the American political organization, see Citizens United.
Not to be confused with Ensemble!, a political party bearing the same name.

Ensemble !
LeaderRichard Ferrand (RE)
Secretary-GeneralStanislas Guerini (RE)
Vice Presidents
Founded29 November 2021 (2021-11-29) (as Ensemble Citoyens)
Political positionCentre
Members
Colours
  •   Black
  •   White
Senate
46 / 348
National Assembly
250 / 577
European Parliament
23 / 79
Website
ensemblecitoyens.fr

History
Initial logo of the coalition

François Bayrou, the leader of the Democratic Movement (MoDem) has previously proposed the formation of a coalition that would include centrist and centre-right parties. In November 2021, president of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, accepted his proposal and together they had formed Ensemble Citoyens. Besides the Democratic Movement and Renaissance, Agir was also its founding member.[11][12][13] In the following month, they were joined by the Radical Party, Horizons, Territories of Progress, and En Commun.[14][15]

From its foundation in November, the coalition has been headed by Ferrand as its leader, Bayrou and Édouard Philippe as vice-presidents, and Stanislas Guerini as secretary-general.[16][17] Jean Castex has also affiliated himself with the coalition.[18] Philippe suspended its participation in the coalition on 14 January 2022, although, four days later he had announced that his party was reinstated into the coalition.[19][20] In April, LREM announced that it would change its party name to "Renaissance", and a month later, the name of the coalition was shortened to just Ensemble.[21][22] The Progressive Federation joined the coalition in May 2022.[23]

Members
Party Abbreviation Main ideology Position Leader
Renaissance RE Liberalism Centre Stanislas Guerini
Democratic Movement MoDem Christian democracy Centre to centre-right François Bayrou
Horizons Horizons Liberal conservatism Centre-right Édouard Philippe
Radical Party PRV Liberalism Centre Laurent Hénart
En Commun EC Green politics Centre-left Philippe Hardouin
Progressive Federation FP Social democracy François Rebsamen
Republican Refoundation RR Gaullism Jean-Yves Autexier

Objectives

The coalition aimed to bring the presidential majority of Emmanuel Macron together in order to present its joint candidates for the 2022 French legislative election.[11][13] In May 2022, Ferrand indicated their commitment for "a stable majority in the National Assembly", while Philippe specified that the program of Ensemble "is that of the Macron". Bayrou indicated that the parties would form a joint parliamentary group in the National Assembly, however Renaissance, MoDem, and Horizons each formed separate parliamentary groups following the legislative elections. [24] Some media sources consider it as a modern incarnation of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's Union for French Democracy (UDF), founded in 1978.[25]

Electoral history

Legislative elections
National Assembly
Election year Leader First round Second round Seats Role in government
Votes % Votes %
2022 Richard Ferrand 5,857,364 25.71 8,002,419 38.57
245 / 577
 Presidential minority

    See also

    References
    1. "Présidentielle : la majorité s'affiche unie en lançant ' Ensemble Citoyens ! '". Les Echos (in French). 29 November 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
    2. Opalín, León (30 May 2022). "El débil triunfo de Macron y la Unión Europea". El Financiero (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    3. "France: LREM devient "Renaissance", au sein d'une confédération pour les législatives". RFI (in French). 5 May 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    4. "France's old duopoly is officially dead". UnHerd. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022. In first place, on 24% of the vote, is Ensemble Citoyens (Citizens Together) which is the centrist alliance dominated by Macron's party
    5. "Macron tried to make the center the biggest force in French politics. A land-grab by fringe parties has been the result". CNN. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022. While his centrist alliance, Ensemble!, took the largest share in Sunday's second round of elections – winning 245 out of 577 seats ...
    6. "France: Macron to hold talks with opposition parties over hung parliament". Deutsche Welle. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022. Negotiations will seek to "build solutions to serve the French" with Macron's centrist Ensemble (ENS) alliance taking the ruling role.
    7. "Will 'drifting' Macron need conservatives to save his majority?". France 24. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022. The French parliamentary elections' first round on Sunday put Emmanuel Macron's centrist Ensemble group barely ahead of the leftist...
    8. Bloch, Michel (9 June 2022). "Législatives : voici les quatre scénarios possibles au soir du second tour". Le Journal du dimanche (in French). Retrieved 13 June 2022. C'est sans aucun doute les élections législatives les plus indécises depuis l'instauration du quinquennat et l'inversion du calendrier électoral en 2002. Le premier tour de la présidentielle a révélé la présence de trois blocs dans le pays (un bloc macroniste de centre-droit, un bloc d'extrême-droite et un bloc de gauche).
    9. "Macron coalition, leftwing bloc neck and neck in first round of French elections". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 12 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022. The election 'confirms the fact that Ensemble (Macron's coalition) is now the centre-right,' says Mathieu Doiret of FRANCE 24's polling partners Ipsos, noting that the president's camp now draws most of its support from an elderly, centre-right constituency that previously voted for the mainstream conservative party, Les Républicains. Should Macron's coalition fail to win an outright majority, an alliance with the rump of the Républicains is the most likely outcome, Doiret added. 'We have a centre-right majority because elderly people hold the balance of power, because they vote twice as much as the young,' he said. 'That's why Angela Merkel stayed in power for so long in Germany and why Boris Johnson wins in the UK.'
    10. "Macron's bloc falls short of absolute majority, leftist coalition second, large gains for far right". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 19 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
    11. "Investiture unique aux législatives, parité... Les défis du mouvement "Ensemble citoyens !" porté par LREM et le MoDem". Franceinfo (in French). 29 November 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    12. "La majorité lance sa " maison commune ", pour quoi faire ?". www.20minutes.fr (in French). 28 November 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    13. "Qu'attendre d'"Ensemble citoyens !", le mouvement lancé par la majorité ?". Europe 1 (in French). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    14. "L'offensive d'Édouard Philippe bouscule l'aile droite de la majorité". LEFIGARO (in French). 23 September 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    15. "Politique. Pôle de gauche dans la majorité". www.ledauphine.com (in French). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    16. "Des députées s'agacent de la gouvernance trop masculine de la "Maison commune" de la majorité". TF1 INFO (in French). 30 November 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    17. "Ces élues de la majorité ne veulent pas "juste être sur la photo" de la maison commune". Le HuffPost (in French). 29 November 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    18. ""Ensemble citoyens !" : la majorité lance son alliance en soutien à Macron". LEFIGARO (in French). 30 November 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    19. "Entre Edouard Philippe et Emmanuel Macron, les relations tournent à l'aigre". Le Monde.fr (in French). 14 January 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    20. "Tensions dans la majorité présidentielle : Édouard Philippe accepte de réintégrer la maison commune". ladepeche.fr (in French). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    21. "Détail d'une annonce | Associations — Journal Officiel". www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    22. Tronche, Sébastien; Pol, Chez. "Législatives: avec Ensemble et Renaissance, la macronie vole à gauche". Libération (in French). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    23. "Attribution des nuances aux candidats aux élections législatives de 2022". www.legifrance.gouv.fr. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    24. "Législatives : LREM devient " Renaissance " et se rapproche du Modem et d'Horizons avec " Ensemble ! "". Public Senat (in French). 5 May 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
    25. "Investiture unique aux législatives, parité... Les défis du mouvement "Ensemble citoyens !" porté par LREM et le MoDem". 29 November 2021.
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