electionstracker

France 1956 legislative election

What was the result of the 1956 legislative election in France?

French Communist Party won 147 of 544 seats with 25.9% of the vote. 82.7% 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 147 of 544 seats with 25.9% of the vote; 82.7% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 2.5 points on 1951.

  • French Communist Party 147 +50 seats 25.9% −0.8 points
  • National Centre of Independents and Peasants 95 +8 seats 15.0% +1.0 points
  • Socialist Party 88 −6 seats 15.2% +0.7 points
  • Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans 51 11.7%
  • Radical Party 73 11.1%
  • Popular Republican Movement 71 −11 seats 11.1% −1.4 points
  • Rally of Republican Lefts 0 −77 seats 4.0% −6.0 points
  • Gaullist Party 16 −91 seats 4.0% −17.8 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 1951 legislative election, party by party.

273 of 544 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 25.9%

    Share of the vote won by French Communist Party

    French Communist Party won 147 of 544 seats. A majority needs 273.

  2. +50 seats

    Seats gained by French Communist Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1951. Gaullist Party lost 91 seats.

  3. 82.7%

    Voter turnout

    Up 2.5 points on 1951.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
French Communist Party147+5025.9−0.85,514,403
National Centre of Independents and Peasants95+815.0+1.03,257,782
Socialist Party88−615.2+0.73,247,431
Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans5111.72,483,813
Radical Party7311.12,389,163
Popular Republican Movement71−1111.1−1.42,366,321
Rally of Republican Lefts0−774.0−6.0848,321
Gaullist Party16−914.0−17.8842,351
other far-right01.2260,749
Other parties (seats only)3

± is the change against the France 1951 legislative election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • French Communist Party 5,514,403
  • National Centre of Independents and Peasants 3,257,782
  • Socialist Party 3,247,431
  • Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans 2,483,813
  • Radical Party 2,389,163
  • Popular Republican Movement 2,366,321
  • Rally of Republican Lefts 848,321
  • Gaullist Party 842,351
  • other far-right 260,749
  • Other parties (seats only)

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?

82.7% of the 26,772,255 registered voters cast a ballot (22,138,046 ballots), up 2.5 points on 1951. 21,490,886 of them were valid votes. The highest turnout of this kind in our data, which begins in 1945.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • French Communist Party25.9% of votes27.0% of seats
  • National Centre of Independents and Peasants15.0% of votes17.5% of seats
  • Socialist Party15.2% of votes16.2% of seats
  • Radical Party11.1% of votes13.4% of seats
  • Popular Republican Movement11.1% of votes13.1% of seats
  • Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans11.7% of votes9.4% of seats
  • Gaullist Party4.0% of votes2.9% of seats
  • Rally of Republican Lefts4.0% of votes0.0% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 4.5 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 6.5 by votes and 5.7 by seats; French Communist Party led Socialist Party by 10.7 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of