France — Analysis

French presidentials, round one: the final scores, the power balance, how the regions voted

The final, official scores of the candidates in the first round of the French presidential elections show Socialist Party candidate François Hollande in the lead with 28.63% of votes cast, followed by Nicolas Sarkozy at 27.18%. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is in third spot, with 17.9% of votes cast. Radical-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon sits fourth with 11.11%, while centre-right MoDem candidate François Bayrou is in fifth position with 9.13%. Of the remaining five candidates, Green party EELV’s Eva Joly scored 2.31%, Gaullist conservative Nicolas Dupont-Aignan 1.79%, far-left NPA party candidate Philippe Poutou 1.15%, the far-left Lutte Ouvrière party’s Nathalie Arthaud 0.56%, while maverick right Jacques Cheminade of the Solidarité et Progrès party came last with 0.25%. The abstention rate among all registered voters is estimated at 21.53%, compared with 16.23% in the first round of the last presidential elections, in 2007. Mediapart presents a graphic guide to how the major candidates scored region by region, the number of votes cast for each, the power balance between Right and Left, and how the situation compares with previous elections.

La rédaction de Mediapart

23 April 2012 à 14h07

This article is freely available.

The final, official scores of the candidates in the first round of the French presidential elections, released by the interior ministry, show the Socialist Party’s François Hollande in the lead with 28.63% of votes cast, followed by Nicolas Sarkozy, incumbent candidate for the ruling conservative UMP party at 27.18%. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is in third spot, with 17.9% of votes cast. Radical-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon sits fourth with 11.11%, while centre-right MoDem candidate François Bayrou is in fifth position with 9.13%.

Of the remaining five candidates, Green party EELV’s Eva Joly scored 2.31%, Gaullist conservative Nicolas Dupont-Aignan 1.79%, far-left NPA party candidate Philippe Poutou 1.15%, the far-left Lutte Ouvrière party’s Nathalie Arthaud 0.56%, while maverick right Jacques Cheminade of the Solidarité et Progrès party came last with 0.25%.

The abstention rate among all registered voters is estimated at 21.53%, compared with 16.23% in the first round of the last presidential elections, in 2007.

The above chart shows the final scores of each candidate on Sunday, based on interior ministry figures, and at the bottom are the results of the first round voting in 2007. UMP = conservative right party; PS = Socialist Party, Modem = centre right party; FN = far-right Front National party; LCR = far-left Revolutionary Communist League party (now re-named NPA); MPF = sovereigntist radical-right Movement for France party; PCF = French Communist Party (now part of Front de Gauche alliance); Les Verts = The Greens (now EELV); LO = far-left Lutte Ouvrière party; Osez Bovez = radical-left movement of José Bové; CPNT = right-wing Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition party; PT = far-left Workers' Party.

In terms of the exact numbers of votes cast per candidate, the results are:

Hollande: 10, 273, 582

Sarkozy: 9,753, 844

Le Pen: 6, 421, 1773

Mélenchon: 3, 985, 298

Bayrou: 3, 275, 349

Joly: 828, 451

Dupont-Aignan: 644, 086

Poutou: 411, 178

Arthaud: 202, 562

Cheminade: 89, 572

The pie chart below shows the overall power balance between Left and Right after Sunday's vote – which includes the mainstream and extreme parties of both camps - with a third, separate slice indicating the score of the centre-right MoDem party. While the MoDem is historically anchored just right of centre, its supporters are considered to be a potentially floating electorate split between the camps of both Right and Left. MoDem leader François Bayrou, eliminated in the first round, has announced his readiness to reach a political alliance with either candidate. Bayrou previously served as education minister in three successive conservative governments, from 1993 to 1997.

The main pie chart shows the overall Left-Right-Centre slices of the votes cast in the first round, based on interior ministry figures, and excluding the result for Jacques Cheminade. The bottom two pie charts show the Left-Right-Centre power balance after voting in the first rounds of the last two presidential elections, in 2007, and 2002. UMP = conservative right party, RPR = Gaullist conservative right Rally for the Republic (now UMP) party; FN = far-right Front National party MNR = far-right National Republican Movement (a breakaway from the FN); DL = Liberal Right party; FRS = conservative Catholic right Forum of Social Republicans party; MPF = sovereigntist radical-right Movement for France party; UDF = centre-right Union for French Democracy (now MoDem); Modem = centre-right party, Cap 21 = centre-right eclogist party; PS = Socialist Party; Les Verts = The Greens (now EELV); MDC = maverick left Citizens' Movement; LCR = far-left Revolutionary Communist League party (now re-named NPA); PCF = Communist Party (now part of Front de Gauche alliance), LO = far-left Lutte Ouvrière party; Osez Bovez = radical-left movement of José Bové; CPNT = right-wing Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition party; PT = far-left Workers' Party.

The maps below show, region by region, where François Hollande or Nicolas Sarkozy came first in the poll on Sunday. The bottom two maps show where candidates led the first round in 2007 and 2002. The islands illustrated left of France are overseas French regions (Caribbean and Indian Ocean).