electionstracker

France 1951 legislative election

What was the result of the 1951 legislative election in France?

Gaullist Party won 107 of 544 seats with 21.8% of the vote. 80.2% 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 : Gaullist Party won 107 of 544 seats with 21.8% of the vote; 80.2% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 2.1 points on 1946.

  • French Communist Party 97 −69 seats 26.7% −1.9 points
  • Gaullist Party 107 +102 seats 21.8% +20.2 points
  • Socialist Party 94 +4 seats 14.5% −3.4 points
  • National Centre of Independents and Peasants 87 14.0%
  • Popular Republican Movement 82 −76 seats 12.5% −13.8 points
  • Rally of Republican Lefts 77 +22 seats 10.0% −2.4 points
  • 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 November 1946 legislative election, party by party.

273 of 544 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 21.8%

    Share of the vote won by Gaullist Party

    Gaullist Party won 107 of 544 seats. A majority needs 273.

  2. +102 seats

    Seats gained by Gaullist Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1946. Popular Republican Movement lost 76 seats.

  3. 80.2%

    Voter turnout

    Up 2.1 points on 1946.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
French Communist Party97−6926.7−1.95,056,605
Gaullist Party107+10221.8+20.24,125,492
Socialist Party94+414.5−3.42,744,842
National Centre of Independents and Peasants8714.02,656,995
Popular Republican Movement82−7612.5−13.82,369,778
Rally of Republican Lefts77+2210.0−2.41,887,583

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

Votes by party
  • French Communist Party 5,056,605
  • Gaullist Party 4,125,492
  • Socialist Party 2,744,842
  • National Centre of Independents and Peasants 2,656,995
  • Popular Republican Movement 2,369,778
  • Rally of Republican Lefts 1,887,583

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.

How many people voted?

80.2% of the 24,530,523 registered voters cast a ballot (19,670,655 ballots), up 2.1 points on 1946. 19,129,004 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Gaullist Party21.8% of votes19.7% of seats
  • French Communist Party26.7% of votes17.8% of seats
  • Socialist Party14.5% of votes17.3% of seats
  • National Centre of Independents and Peasants14.0% of votes16.0% of seats
  • Popular Republican Movement12.5% of votes15.1% of seats
  • Rally of Republican Lefts10.0% of votes14.2% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 7.7 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 5.4 by votes and 5.9 by seats; French Communist Party led Gaullist Party by 4.9 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of