1936 French legislative election
26 April and 3 May 1936
All 608 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
306 seats were needed for a majority
Registered11,68,491
Turnout84.45%
Government before election

Albert Sarraut II
PRRRS (Republican coalition)

 Elected Government

Léon Blum I
SFIO (Popular Front)

Political poster (1936) claiming that the Popular Front was under Soviet control.

Legislative elections were held in France on 26 April and 3 May 1936, the last elections before World War II. The number of candidates set a record, with 4,807 running for election to the Chamber of Deputies. In the Seine Department alone, there were 1,402 candidates.[1]

The Popular Front, composed of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), the Radical-Socialists, the French Section of the Communist International (SFIC), and miscellaneous leftists, won power from the broad Republican coalitions that had governed since the 6 February 1934 crisis. Léon Blum became president of the council.

Results

Vote strength for the Popular Front

The SFIC, predecessor of the Communist Party, doubled its score from 11 SFIC and 9 Union Ouvrière deputies in 1932 to 72 in 1936. The party made gains in industrialized suburbs and working-class areas of major cities. They also progressed in rural central and southwestern France (e.g., Dordogne, Lot-et-Garonne) The Radicals lost votes to the SFIO and SFIC, but also to the right. The SFIO declined slightly. In working-class suburbs, the party declined, but it gained votes in Brittany, to the dismay of the right. Only 174 seats were elected in the first round, 424 were decided in a run-off. The right fared better in the second round.

Party or allianceVotes%Seats
Popular FrontFrench Section of the Workers' International1,955,30619.86149
French Communist Party1,502,40415.2672
Radical Socialist Party1,422,61114.4556
Republican-Socialist Party748,6007.60109
Total5,628,92157.16386
National FrontRepublican Left2,536,29425.76222
Republican Union1,666,00416.92
Total4,202,29842.67222
Others16,0470.160
Total9,847,266100.00608
Valid votes9,847,26699.09
Invalid/blank votes90,6920.91
Total votes9,937,958100.00
Registered voters/turnout11,768,49184.45
Source: Mackie & Rose,[2] Nohlen & Stöver,[3] France Politique

References

  1. ↑ "French elections a task for voters", The New York Times. 20 April 1936. Page 7.
  2. ↑ Thomas T. Mackie & Richard Rose (1982) The International Almanac of Electoral History, Macmillan, pp128–130
  3. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p692 ISBN 9783832956097
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