In a turbulent political summer, few surprises were greater than that caused by French president Emmanuel Macron’s decision in June to call early parliamentary elections. Macron’s party had just been trounced in the European Parliament elections; and victory for the far right seemed likely. In the end, thanks to some last minute deals, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally did not win. Rather, it was an alliance of the left that secured most seats in the National Assembly.

France’s Socialist Party was regularly in power from the early 1980s till the mid 2010s. But it collapsed spectacularly in the elections of 2017, and its very survival today seems in doubt. So what has been going on? And have the recent elections brought any signs of revival?

Joining us to explore these questions is Philippe Marlière, Professor of French and European Politics in the UCL European and International Social and Political Studies department.

This episode of UCL Uncovering Politics is the first in an occasional series of episodes based on pieces in Political Quarterly.

Mentioned in this episode:

Marlière, P. (2024), French Social Democracy in Turmoil. The Political Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13442

UCL’s Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy offers a uniquely stimulating environment for the study of all fields of politics, including international relations, political theory, human rights, public policy-making and administration. The Department is recognised for its world-class research and policy impact, ranking among the top departments in the UK on both the 2021 Research Excellence Framework and the latest Guardian rankings.

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