Socialist Party (France)

"Socialist Party of France" redirects here. Not to be confused with Socialist Party of France (1902), French Socialist Party (1919), or Socialist Party of France – Jean Jaurès Union.
"French Socialist Party" redirects here. Not to be confused with French Socialist Party (1902) or French India Socialist Party.

Socialist Party
Parti socialiste
AbbreviationPS
First SecretaryOlivier Faure
President in the National AssemblyBoris Vallaud
President in the SenatePatrick Kanner
FoundersFrançois Mitterrand
Alain Savary
Founded4 May 1969; 55 years ago (1969-05-04)
Merger of
See list
Headquarters99 Rue Molière, 94200 Ivry-sur-Seine
NewspaperLe Populaire (1969–1970)
Youth wingYoung Socialist Movement
LGBT wingHomosexualités et Socialisme
Membership (2024)Increase 47,000
IdeologySocial democracy
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre-left to left-wing
National affiliationNew Popular Front
(2024–present)
New Ecological and Social People's Union (2022–2024)
European affiliationParty of European Socialists
European Parliament groupProgressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
International affiliationProgressive Alliance
Socialist International
Colours  Pink and   green
Anthem
"Changer la vie" (1977–2010)[1]
"Changing Life"
"Il faut tourner la page" (2010–)
"We must turn the page"
National Assembly
67 / 577
Senate
66 / 348
European Parliament
10 / 81
Presidency of Regional Councils
5 / 17
Presidency of Departmental Councils
22 / 95
Website
www.parti-socialiste.fr Edit this at Wikidata

The Socialist Party (French: Parti socialiste, [paʁti sɔsjalist], PS)[a] is a centre-left[2][3][4] to left-wing[5][6][7][8] political party in France. It holds social-democratic[9] and pro-European views.[10][11] The PS was for decades the largest party of the "French Left" and used to be one of the two major political parties under the Fifth Republic, along with the Rally for the Republic in the late 20th century, and with the Union for a Popular Movement in the early 2000s. It is currently led by First Secretary Olivier Faure. The PS is a member of the Party of European Socialists, Progressive Alliance and Socialist International.

The PS was founded in 1969 from a merger of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), the Convention of Republican Institutions led by François Mitterrand, and other groups. In the 1970s, the PS surpassed the Communist Party's share of the left-wing vote. It first won power in 1981, when Mitterrand was elected president. The PS achieved a governing majority in the National Assembly from 1981 to 1986, and again from 1988 to 1993. PS leader Lionel Jospin lost his bid to succeed Mitterrand as president in 1995 to conservative Jacques Chirac, but he served as prime minister in a cohabitation government from 1997 to 2002, when he was again defeated by Chirac in the presidential election.

In the 2007 presidential election, the PS's candidate, Ségolène Royal, was defeated by conservative Nicolas Sarkozy. In 2012, François Hollande, the leader of the party from 1997 to 2008, was elected president, and the party also won a governing majority. During his term, Hollande battled with high unemployment, multiple Jihadi terrorist attacks, poor opinion ratings and a splinter group of Socialist MPs known as frondeurs (rebels). Facing the emergence of centrist Emmanuel Macron and left-winger Jean-Luc Mélenchon, PS candidate Benoît Hamon finished 5th in the 2017 presidential election. The PS also declined to the 4th largest party in the 2017 legislative election, and to the 6th largest in 2022.

Several figures who acted at the international level have also been members of the PS, including Jacques Delors, who was the president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1994 and the first person to serve three terms in that office;[12] Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was the managing director of the International Monetary Fund from 2007 to 2011;[13] and Pascal Lamy, who was Director-General of the World Trade Organization from 2005 to 2013.[14] Party membership has declined precipitously, standing at 22,000 members in 2021,[15] down from 42,300 in 2016,[16] 60,000 in 2014[17] and 173,486 members in 2012.[18] However, before the start of the 2023 Marseille Congress, the party announced that it had more than 41,000 members,[19] almost double that of the previous count announced during the 2021 Villeurbanne Congress. By November 2024, the Socialist Party claimed 47,000 members.[20]

  1. ^ Priestley, Pascal (11 May 2017). "Vies et morts du Parti socialiste français". tv5monde.com (in French).
  2. ^ Paul Statham (2007). "Political communication and European integration and the transformation of national public spheres: a comparison of Britain and France". In John Erik Fossum; Philip R. Schlesinger (eds.). The European Union and the Public Sphere: A Communicative Space in the Making?. Routledge. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-134-17462-1.
  3. ^ Liubomir K. Topaloff (2012). Political Parties and Euroscepticism. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-230-36176-8.
  4. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (29 January 2017). "French Socialists choose leftwing rebel Benoît Hamon for Élysée fight". The Guardian. Paris.
  5. ^ De La Cerda, Nicolás; Gunderson, Jacob R. (7 November 2023). "Are party families in Europe ideologically coherent today?". European Journal of Political Research. 63 (3): 1208–1226. doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12638. ISSN 0304-4130.
  6. ^ David, Romain (12 July 2022). "Faut-il voir dans le virage à gauche d'Olivier Faure l'influence des insoumis ?". Public Sénat (in French). Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Officiellement intronisé premier secrétaire du PS, Olivier Faure promet une ligne "vraiment à gauche, vraiment réaliste"". France Info (in French). 30 March 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  8. ^ "LE PARTI SOCIALISTE : À GAUCHE, MAIS AVEC QUI ?". Fondation Jean Jaurès (in French). 25 January 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  9. ^ The Parti Socialiste is widely described as social-democratic:
  10. ^ "France".
  11. ^ "Our national parties | Socialists & Democrats". www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  12. ^ European Commission – Discover the former Presidents, retrieved 21 September 2009
  13. ^ "IMF Managing Directors". Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  14. ^ "Previous GATT and WTO Directors-General". WTO. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  15. ^ "Olivier Faure réélu à la tête du Parti socialiste". 17 September 2021.
  16. ^ Ludovic Galtier (30 November 2016). "Parti socialiste : 42.300 adhérents seraient à jour de cotisation". RTL.
  17. ^ "PS : 60.000 militants PS à jour de cotisations". Parti socialiste. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  18. ^ "PS: Résultats officiels validés" (PDF). Socialist Party. 12 October 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 November 2013.
  19. ^ web, À propos de l'auteur Fabrice de Comarmond Facebook Twitter Site. "Plus de 41 000 adhérents sont appelés à voter dans le cadre du Congrès de Marseille". Parti Socialiste (in French). Retrieved 5 February 2023. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  20. ^ https://www.sudouest.fr/france/le-parti-socialiste-lance-une-campagne-d-adhesion-et-revendique-47-000-membres-22196637.php


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