electionstracker

France 1978 legislative election

What was the result of the 1978 legislative election in France?

Rally for the Republic won 142 of 474 seats with 22.5% of the vote. 83.2% 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 : Rally for the Republic won 142 of 474 seats with 22.5% of the vote; 83.2% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 1.9 points on 1973.

  • Socialist Party 102 +13 seats 22.8% +3.7 points
  • Rally for the Republic 142 22.5%
  • French Communist Party 86 +13 seats 20.6% −0.8 points
  • Independent Republicans / Liberal Democracy 0 −54 seats 10.6% +3.4 points
  • Centre of Social Democrats 0 5.2%
  • National Centre of Independents and Peasants 10 −5 seats 2.8% −0.6 points
  • Radical Party of the Left 0 −11 seats 2.2% +0.5 points
  • The Greens 0 2.0%
  • other left 10 1.4%
  • Union for French Democracy / Democratic Movement 124
  • 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 1973 legislative election, party by party.

238 of 474 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 22.5%

    Share of the vote won by Rally for the Republic

    Rally for the Republic won 142 of 474 seats. A majority needs 238.

  2. +13 seats

    Seats gained by Socialist Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1973. Independent Republicans / Liberal Democracy lost 54 seats.

  3. 83.2%

    Voter turnout

    Up 1.9 points on 1973.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Socialist Party102+1322.8+3.76,403,265
Rally for the Republic14222.56,333,173
French Communist Party86+1320.6−0.85,791,525
Independent Republicans / Liberal Democracy0−5410.6+3.42,968,014
Centre of Social Democrats05.21,452,025
National Centre of Independents and Peasants10−52.8−0.6785,886
Radical Party of the Left0−112.2+0.5606,565
The Greens02.0574,136
Party of Presidential Majority02.0548,608
Radical Party01.9533,405
Lutte Ouvrière001.7+0.9474,226
other left101.4385,158
Unified Socialist Party0−21.1−0.9311,807
Union for French Democracy / Democratic Movement124

± is the change against the France 1973 legislative election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Socialist Party 6,403,265
  • Rally for the Republic 6,333,173
  • French Communist Party 5,791,525
  • Independent Republicans / Liberal Democracy 2,968,014
  • Centre of Social Democrats 1,452,025
  • National Centre of Independents and Peasants 785,886
  • Radical Party of the Left 606,565
  • The Greens 574,136
  • Party of Presidential Majority 548,608
  • Radical Party 533,405
  • Lutte Ouvrière 474,226
  • other left 385,158
  • Unified Socialist Party 311,807
  • Union for French Democracy / Democratic Movement

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?

83.2% of the 34,424,388 registered voters cast a ballot (28,656,845 ballots), up 1.9 points on 1973. 28,098,115 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?

  • Rally for the Republic22.5% of votes30.0% of seats
  • Socialist Party22.8% of votes21.5% of seats
  • French Communist Party20.6% of votes18.1% of seats
  • National Centre of Independents and Peasants2.8% of votes2.1% of seats
  • other left1.4% of votes2.1% of seats
  • Independent Republicans / Liberal Democracy10.6% of votes0.0% of seats
  • Centre of Social Democrats5.2% of votes0.0% of seats
  • Radical Party of the Left2.2% of votes0.0% of seats
  • Party of Presidential Majority2.0% of votes0.0% of seats
  • The Greens2.0% of votes0.0% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 21.3 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 6.2 by votes and 4.2 by seats; Socialist Party led Rally for the Republic by 0.3 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of