1959 French Senate election
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The first senatorial elections of the Fifth Republic were held in France on April 26, 1959.[1]
Context
The Senate was created by constitution of the Fifth Republic to replace Council of the Republic. This election depend largely of the results of 1959 municipal elections.
Results
| Group | Ideology | Seats | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Republicans (RI) | Liberalism, Right-wing | 70 | 22,6 % | |
| Democratic Left (GD) | Radicalism, Right-wing, Left-wing | 66 | 21,3% | |
| Socialist (SOC) | Socialism, Left-wing | 61 | 19,7% | |
| Union for the New Republic (UNR) | Gaullism, Right-wing | 37 | 12,0% | |
| Popular Republican Movement (MRP) | Christian democracy, Right-wing | 34 | 11,0% | |
| Republican Centre of Rural and Social Action (CNIP) | Conservatism, Right-wing | 20 | 6,5% | |
| Communist (COM) | Communism, Left-wing | 14 | 4,5% | |
| Non-Registered (NI) | None | 7 | 2,3% | |
| Total: | 309 | 100,0 % | ||
Senate Presidency
On April 28, 1959, Gaston Monnerville a senator from Guyane was elected president of the Senate. Monnerville has been the highest-ranking black politician in French history, and if he was a candidate for reelection in 1968, he could have become the first black president of France the next year when President Pompidou died.[2]
List of senators elected by region
References
- ^ Élections sénatoriales 1959
- ^ On a failli avoir un président noir en France...
- ^ election annulled by the Constitutional Council
- ^ dies two months later and was replaced by Paul Guillaumot