Socialist group in the Senate

History[edit]

The first parliamentary group of socialists in the Senate of the Third Republic was formed following the 1927 senatorial elections with a total of 14 members, after the election of 2 socialists in the 1921 renewal and the 1924 renewal bringing the total to 6 senators.^[1] Before the formal constitution of a group in the Senate, the elected socialists sat with the Democratic, Radical, and Radical-Socialist Left group.^[2] Though initially disorganized, the senators of the group recognized themselves under the common label of "socialist".^[3] Camille Reboul presided over the group from its foundation, and was later succeeded in this position by André Morizet.^[1] Tensions within the group led to the dissent of seven "neo-socialists" in 1933, halving the size of the group;^[2] however, the impact of this split was ultimately limited as the SFIO was able to ensure the survival of the socialist group in the Senate.^[1] The group remained roughly the same in size through the end of the Third Republic, with 16 members after the renewals of both 1929 and 1932;^[4][5] it subsequently adopted the appellation of the SFIO in 1934,^[3] was reduced to 13 members after the 1935 renewal,^[6] and rebounded to 15 senators after the 1938 renewal.^[7]


During the Fourth Republic, a socialist group was formed in the Council of the Republic, with 64 seats following senatorial elections on 8 December 1946,^[8] and 62 seats following senatorial elections on 7 November 1948,^[9] doing better than its tripartite partners as a result of its good local implantation.^[3] The group subsequently maintained 56 seats following senatorial elections on 18 May 1952,^[10] 56 seats following senatorial elections on 19 June 1955,^[11] and 60 seats following senatorial elections on 8 June 1958.^[12]


Antoine Courrière was the first president of the socialist group in the Senate of the Fifth Republic, presiding until his death on 20 September 1974.^[13] Following senatorial elections two days later,^[14] Marcel Champeix was elected president of the group on 2 October.^[15][16] After his defeat on 28 September 1980,^[17] Champeix was replaced by André Méric, who was officially designated president of the group on 6 October; he led the group until 5 July 1988, resigning as a result of his appointment as a Secretary of State in the government,^[18] and was succeeded by Claude Estier, who was elected president of the group on the same day.^[19] After Estier decided not to represent himself in the 2004 renewal,^[20] he was succeeded by Jean-Pierre Bel, elected by the socialists in a four-way contest on 28 September.^[21][22]


Bel remained president of the group until 30 September 2011, after which he took office as president of the Senate on 1 October;^[23] the left, long a minority a Senate,^[3] took control of the high chamber for the first time in the history of the republic after the 2011 renewal, with the number of Europe Ecology – The Greens senators swinging from 4 to 10 and the continuation of the communist group.^[24] With Bel at the perch, François Rebsamen was elected president of the group on 1 October,^[25] and on 25 September, the group was reformed as the Socialist group, associated and attached Europe Ecology The Greens group (groupe socialiste, apparentés et groupe Europe Écologie Les Verts rattaché); after the formation of an independent ecologist group on 11 January 2012, the socialist faction was renamed to the socialist and associated group (groupe socialiste et apparentés).^[26] After Rebsamen was appointed to the government, he left his seat in the Senate on 14 April 2014,^[27] and was succeeded by Didier Guillaume the following day.^[28] The left's control of the Senate was ephemeral, with the chamber decisively returning to the control of the right after the 2014 renewal.^[29] Following the renaming of the UMP to as the Republicans, its associated group in the Senate was also renamed on 2 June,^[30] followed soon thereafter on 10 June by the renaming of the socialist group to the Socialist and Republican group (groupe socialiste et républicain).^[31] On 27 June 2017, 23 socialists left for the La République En Marche group on the day of its foundation.^[32] After the retirement of Guillaume from politics, Patrick Kanner was elected president of the group with 47 votes, against Laurence Rossignol with 25 votes, on 23 January 2018.^[33]