Democratic Movement (France)

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (April 2020)

Democratic Movement Mouvement démocrate
Abbreviation	MoDem
President	François Bayrou
Founder	François Bayrou
Founded	1 December 2007; 16 years ago (2007-12-01)
Preceded by	Union for French Democracy
Headquarters	133 bis Rue de l'Université 75007 Paris
Membership (2017)	13,000[1]
Ideology	Liberalism Christian democracy
Political position	Centre to centre-right
National affiliation	Ensemble
European affiliation	European Democratic Party
European Parliament group	Renew Europe
Colours	Orange
National Assembly	33 / 577
Senate	5 / 348
European Parliament	3 / 79
Presidency of Regional Councils	0 / 17
Presidency of Departmental Councils	1 / 95
Website
www.mouvementdemocrate.fr
Politics of France Political parties Elections

The Democratic Movement (French: Mouvement démocrate, pronounced [muv.mɑ̃ de.mɔ.kʁat]; MoDem, [mɔ.dɛm]) is a centre^[2][3][4][5] to centre-right^[6][7] political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism^[8] and Christian democracy,^[8] and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance.^[8] MoDem was established by François Bayrou to succeed the Union for French Democracy (UDF) and contest the 2007 legislative election, after his strong showing in the 2007 presidential election.^[9] Initially named the Democratic Party (Parti démocrate), the party was renamed "Democratic Movement",^[10] because there was already a small Democratic Party in France.^[11]

MoDem secured an agreement with La République En Marche! (LRM) — later Renaissance (RE) — in the 2017 legislative election after Bayrou had endorsed the candidacy of Emmanuel Macron in February. The two parties have since been in alliance, as of late named Ensemble.

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2024) This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (June 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The MoDem traces its roots to the Union for French Democracy (UDF), centrist coalition/party active from 1978 to 2007.

Traditionally, the UDF had always supported centre-right governments since its creation by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. The UDF aligned itself with the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) following its creation in 2002, and even took part in the government coalition in the Senate from 2002 to 2007, though it did not participate in the Cabinet (except for Gilles de Robien). However, during the second term of Jacques Chirac, the UDF became increasingly independent from the UMP. On the initiative of its leader, François Bayrou, it eventually supported a censure motion along with the Socialist Party (PS).

During the 2007 presidential campaign, Bayrou advocated a national unity government. He presented himself as a centrist and a social-liberal,^[12] proclaiming that, if elected, he would "govern beyond the left-right divide".^[13] Although eliminated in the first round, over 18% of voters supported him, partly because of his independence from major parties. Following the election, he founded the Democratic Movement (MoDem) on 29 May to reinforce his strategy of political independence. MoDem was also supported by the Union of Radical Republicans.

Some members of the UDF did not agree with this new strategy because the weighted French balloting system would hinder the Democratic Movement from obtaining seats in the legislative elections. These members created the New Centre, continuing their support for the newly elected president Nicolas Sarkozy.

The MoDem won 7.6% of the votes in the first round of the June 2007 legislative election.

Candidates ran under the UDF-MoDem banner, since the party had not yet been created officially. The party gained three seats in the National Assembly (not including Abdoulatifou Aly who was elected in Mayotte for a party affiliated to the MoDem. He sat with the New Centre for a short while but he is now sitting with the MoDem deputies^[14]). Thierry Benoit, one of the four MPs, has been vocally critical of the party,^[15] but he actually sits for the MoDem and defends the movement's policies. He stated that he had been elected jointly by centre-right and left-wing citizens.^[16]

The MoDem became an official political party on 1 December 2007 following its founding assembly in Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis, in the suburbs of Paris. The assembly elected Bayrou, who ran uncontested, as the party president, and also elected 29 others to the provisional executive board. On 30 November 2007, the UDF effectively ceased to exist, and was fully integrated within MoDem.^[17]

At the 2012 presidential election, Bayrou won 9.3% of the vote, a half of what he had obtained five years before. In the subsequent legislative election the party was reduced to 1.8% and won only two seats. Bayrou lost his seat in the National Assembly, which he had held for most of his political career.

In the cities counting more than 10,000 inhabitants, the party scored an average of 15%, winning over 50 cities.^[18] Bayrou won in Pau, while the party governed cities like Biarritz, Saint-Brieuc, Mont-de-Marsan and Talence, and was part of the ruling coalition in Bordeaux, Dijon, Saint-Étienne and Auxerre, among others.^{[citation needed]}

In an alliance with the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI), also a successor of the Union for French Democracy, MoDem obtained 9.93% of the national level vote in France.

Since the 2017 legislative election MoDem has been in alliance with Emmanuel Macron's La République En Marche! (LRM) — later Renaissance (RE). Macron was first elected president of France in the 2017 presidential election and then re-elected in the 2022 presidential election, both times with MoDem's support.

In June 2017, the MoDem and its MEPs were accused of potentially fictitious employment practices within the European Parliament.^[19] Bayrou resigned on 21 June from his post as Justice Minister soon after he became embroiled in the fictitious employment scandals, and allegations of harassment against a journalist reporting on the scandal.^{[citation needed]}

Ahead of the 2022 legislative election, MoDem formed the Ensemble coalition with other centrist parties, notably including RE and Horizons.^[20]

This article is part of a series on
Liberalism in France
Schools Classical Orthodox Orléanism Economic National Radical Jacobinism Social
Principles Anti-clericalism Civic nationalism Civil and political rights Economic freedom Equality before the law Freedom of the press Freedom of speech Laicism Laissez-faire Liberté, égalité, fraternité Republicanism
History Dreyfusards February Revolution French Resistance French Revolution July Monarchy July Revolution Lumières
People Alain Aron Bastiat Brissot Clemenceau Condorcet Constant Doumergue Fallières Freund Gambetta de Gouges Grévy Hugo Louis Philippe I (early) Macron Manent Mendès France Merleau-Ponty de Molinari Montesquieu Poincaré Rougier Say Thiers Tocqueville de Tracy Voltaire
Parties Active Agir Centrist Alliance The Centrists Democratic European Force Democratic Movement Liberal Alternative Liberal Democratic Party Radical Party Radical Party of the Left Renaissance Union of Democrats and Independents Former Democratic Republican Alliance Doctrinaires Independent Radicals Jacobins Girondins Liberal Party Moderate Republicans (1848) Moderate Republicans (1871) Progressive Republicans Radical Movement Republican Union Union for French Democracy
Media Active BFM TV La Chaîne Info Courrier International Les Echos Le Figaro Le Monde L'Opinion Le Parisien Former L'Aurore
Related topics Centrism in France Political positions of Emmanuel Macron Rally of Republican Lefts Laïcité Sinistrisme Together (coalition)
Liberalism portal France portal
v t e

During the 2007 presidential election, Bayrou stressed three points: the public debt, the need for change and ouverture to the right/left political system, and the need of constitutional reforms in that direction.

In 2004, Bayrou launched the European Democratic Party (EDP) along with Francesco Rutelli's Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy. In 2005, the EDP created, along with the New Democrat Coalition of the United States Democratic Party, the Alliance of Democrats, a worldwide network of centrist and social liberal parties.

In the European Parliament, MoDem sits in the Renew Europe group with 5 MEPs.^{[21][22][23][24][25]}

In the European Committee of the Regions, MoDem sits in the Renew Europe CoR group with two full member for the 2020 to 2025 mandate.^[26] François Decoster is the President of the Group and Vincent Chauvet is Coordinator in the ENVE Commission.^[27]

This table includes the 2002 and 2007 elections in which the MoDem founder, François Bayrou, presented himself as a candidate of the Union for French Democracy (UDF).

National Assembly

Election year	Leader	1st round		2nd round		Seats	+/−	Rank (seats)	Government
		Votes	%	Votes	%
2007	François Bayrou	1,981,107	7.61	100,115	0.49	3 / 577	24	9th	Opposition
2012		458,098	1.77	113,196	0.49	2 / 577	1	10th	Opposition
2017		932,227	4.12	1,100,656	6.06	42 / 577	40	3rd	Presidential majority (under REM)
2022		1,044,807 [a]	4.59	1,441,218	6.95	48 / 577	6	5th	Presidential minority (under Ensemble)
2024		1,205,976 [b]	3.76	1,363,656	5.00	33 / 577	15	6th	Presidential minority (under Ensemble)

The 2014 elections involved an alliance with the forces of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI); this joint list, The Alternative (L'Alternative), saw four MoDem MEPs out of seven elected from the list.

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	EP Group
2009	François Bayrou	1,455,841	8.46 (#4)	6 / 72	5	ALDE
2014[a]		1,884,565	9.94 (#4)	4 / 74	2
2019[b]		5,079,015	22.42 (#2)	5 / 79	1	RE
2024[b]		3,589,114	14.56 (#2)	3 / 81	2

• Democratic Movement and affiliated group
• Centrist Union group

Media related to Mouvement démocrate at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website