1981 French presidential election

1981 French presidential election

← 1974 26 April 1981 (first round)
10 May 1981 (second round)
1988 →
Turnout81.09% (first round)
85.85% (second round)
 
Candidate François Mitterrand Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Party PS UDF
Popular vote 15,708,262 14,642,306
Percentage 51.76% 48.24%


President before election

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
UDF

Elected President

François Mitterrand
PS

Presidential elections were held in France on 26 April 1981, with a second round on 10 May. François Mitterrand defeated incumbent president, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing to become the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic.[1] It is the first presidential election in French history that an incumbent president actively seeking reelection was denied a second term.

In the first round of voting on 26 April 1981, a political spectrum of ten candidates stood for election, and the leading two candidates – Mitterrand and Giscard d'Estaing – advanced to a second round. Mitterrand and his Socialist Party received 51.76% of the vote, while Giscard and his Union for French Democracy trailed with about 48.24%, a margin of 1,065,956 votes.

The Socialist Party's electoral program was called 110 Propositions for France. Mitterrand served as President of France for the full seven-year term (1981–1988) and won re-election in 1988.

  1. ^ Eder, Richard (11 May 1981). "Mitterrand Beats Giscard; Socialist Victory Reverses Trend of 23 Years in France". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 5 November 2010.