electionstracker

France November 1946 legislative election

What was the result of the November 1946 legislative election in France?

French Communist Party won 166 of 544 seats with 28.6% of the vote. 78.1% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • France
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : French Communist Party won 166 of 544 seats with 28.6% of the vote; 78.1% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 3.8 points on 1946.

  • French Communist Party 166 +20 seats 28.6% +2.5 points
  • Popular Republican Movement 158 −2 seats 26.3% −1.8 points
  • Socialist Party 90 −25 seats 17.9% −3.2 points
  • Republican Party of Liberty 70 +8 seats 12.8% 0.0 points
  • Rally of Republican Lefts 55 +16 seats 12.4% +0.9 points
  • Gaullist Party 5 1.6%
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the France June 1946 legislative election, party by party.

273 of 544 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 28.6%

    Share of the vote won by French Communist Party

    French Communist Party won 166 of 544 seats. A majority needs 273.

  2. +20 seats

    Seats gained by French Communist Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1946. Socialist Party lost 25 seats.

  3. 78.1%

    Voter turnout

    Down 3.8 points on 1946.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
French Communist Party166+2028.6+2.55,489,288
Popular Republican Movement158−226.3−1.85,058,307
Socialist Party90−2517.9−3.23,431,954
Republican Party of Liberty70+812.80.02,465,526
Rally of Republican Leftswith Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance and Radical Party55+1612.4+0.92,381,385
Gaullist Party51.6312,635

± is the change against the France June 1946 legislative election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • French Communist Party 5,489,288
  • Popular Republican Movement 5,058,307
  • Socialist Party 3,431,954
  • Republican Party of Liberty 2,465,526
  • Rally of Republican Lefts 2,381,385
  • Gaullist Party 312,635

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

For France ParlGov gives the first round's votes and the seats after the second round.

ParlGov counts an alliance's votes and seats under its first party: such a row names the allies it counts.

How many people voted?

78.1% of the 25,052,523 registered voters cast a ballot (19,565,743 ballots), down 3.8 points on 1946. 19,203,071 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • French Communist Party28.6% of votes30.5% of seats
  • Popular Republican Movement26.3% of votes29.0% of seats
  • Socialist Party17.9% of votes16.5% of seats
  • Republican Party of Liberty12.8% of votes12.9% of seats
  • Rally of Republican Lefts12.4% of votes10.1% of seats
  • Gaullist Party1.6% of votes0.9% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 3.1 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 4.7 by votes and 4.3 by seats; French Communist Party led Popular Republican Movement by 2.3 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of