The Republicans (France)
The principal French center right party, founded in 2002 as the UMP, renamed in 2015, heir of Gaullism.
Overview
The UMP was created in 2002 to unite the Gaullist RPR and its allies behind Jacques Chirac, winning the presidency and dominating parliament under Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, president from 2007. Renamed Les Republicains in 2015 under Sarkozy, it lost its role as natural governing party as the Macronist center absorbed its moderate voters and the National Rally its right flank. It holds regions and the Senate, and flirted with alliances with the far right in 2024 in the shape of Eric Ciotti breakaway. The party carries the heritage of de Gaulle, Pompidou, Chirac, and Sarkozy, now squeezed from both sides.
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