electionstracker

France 1958 legislative election

What was the result of the 1958 legislative election in France?

Gaullist Party won 198 of 465 seats with 20.6% of the vote. 77.2% 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 198 of 465 seats with 20.6% of the vote; 77.2% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 5.5 points on 1956.

  • Gaullist Party 198 +182 seats 20.6% +16.6 points
  • National Centre of Independents and Peasants 133 +38 seats 20.0% +5.0 points
  • French Communist Party 10 −137 seats 18.9% −7.0 points
  • Socialist Party 44 −44 seats 15.5% +0.3 points
  • Popular Republican Movement 57 −14 seats 11.1% 0.0 points
  • Radical Party 23 −50 seats 9.7% −1.4 points
  • Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans 0 −51 seats 1.5% −10.2 points
  • Union of the Democratic Forces 0 1.2%
  • 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 1956 legislative election, party by party.

233 of 465 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 20.6%

    Share of the vote won by Gaullist Party

    Gaullist Party won 198 of 465 seats. A majority needs 233.

  2. +182 seats

    Seats gained by Gaullist Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1956. French Communist Party lost 137 seats.

  3. 77.2%

    Voter turnout

    Down 5.5 points on 1956.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Gaullist Party198+18220.6+16.64,229,145
National Centre of Independents and Peasants133+3820.0+5.04,091,120
French Communist Party10−13718.9−7.03,870,184
Socialist Party44−4415.5+0.33,171,459
Popular Republican Movement57−1411.10.02,272,643
Radical Party23−509.7−1.41,977,710
Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans0−511.5−10.2301,371
Union of the Democratic Forces01.2248,262
other far-right001.1−0.1225,273

± is the change against the France 1956 legislative election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Gaullist Party 4,229,145
  • National Centre of Independents and Peasants 4,091,120
  • French Communist Party 3,870,184
  • Socialist Party 3,171,459
  • Popular Republican Movement 2,272,643
  • Radical Party 1,977,710
  • Union for the Defense of Tradesmen and Artisans 301,371
  • Union of the Democratic Forces 248,262
  • other far-right 225,273

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?

77.2% of the 27,244,992 registered voters cast a ballot (21,026,543 ballots), down 5.5 points on 1956. 20,492,368 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout of this kind in our data, which begins in 1945.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Gaullist Party20.6% of votes42.6% of seats
  • National Centre of Independents and Peasants20.0% of votes28.6% of seats
  • Popular Republican Movement11.1% of votes12.3% of seats
  • Socialist Party15.5% of votes9.5% of seats
  • Radical Party9.7% of votes4.9% of seats
  • French Communist Party18.9% of votes2.2% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 21.2 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 6.1 by votes and 3.4 by seats; Gaullist Party led National Centre of Independents and Peasants by 0.6 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of