Union of Democrats and Independents

History

On 9 October 2012, the leaderships of the parties making up the UDI parliamentary group announced the creation of a new political party and set up a temporary office in Paris. On 21 October, a founding assembly was convened at the Maison de la Mutualité in Paris, which marked the official foundation of the movement.

Following the congress of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) on 18 November 2012 and the ensuing tensions between the two rival candidates for the party's presidency, a number of leading figures of the UMP announced that they were joining the UDI, including former cabinet minister and deputy Pierre Méhaignerie and Mayenne deputy Yannick Favennec. However, during a legislative by-election on 9 and 16 December 2012 in the Val-de-Marne's 1st constituency, UDI incumbent Henri Plagnol a former member of the UMP who had joined the UDI in June was defeated by a right-wing dissident, Sylvain Berrios.

On 9 June 2013, the UDI gained a deputy (Meyer Habib) at the by-election in the Eighth constituency for French residents overseas, but this contribution was cancelled out by Gilles Bourdouleix's resignation from UDI after the controversy for saying Adolf Hitler had not killed enough Romani people.

The UDI became a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party on 2 December 2016.

Although the UDI leadership supported François Fillon in the 2017 French presidential election, several members of the party were supporting En Marche! candidate Emmanuel Macron.

Former members

The National Centre of Independents and Peasants was expelled after its leader and only deputy Gilles Bourdouleix's resigned for saying Adolf Hitler had not killed enough Romani people. The Centrist Alliance was excluded on 25 March 2017 as a result of its support for Emmanuel Macron; Territories in Movement left after the results of the 2015 regional elections; and the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) was excluded from the UDI in December 2013. The Radical Party left after its reunification with the Radical Party of the Left to form the Radical Movement on 10 December 2017 (and therefore the Modern Left as well); on 16 December, The Centrists followed suit in announcing its intention to quit the UDI. The Democratic European Force is the last founding party to remain a component of the UDI.

Election results

Legislative elections

European elections

The 2014 elections involved an alliance with the forces of the Democratic Movement (MoDem); this joint list, The Alternative (L'Alternative), saw three UDI MEPs out of seven elected from the list. The change in seats shown is since the 2009 election for the MoDem list.

References

References

1. (22 January 2017). "Lagarde : "sur 20.000 adhérents UDI, 150 jeunes sont partis" chez Macron". Europe 1.
2. "Appendix A3: Political Parties". European Social Survey.
3. (2013). "The 2012 French Presidential Elections: The Inevitable Alternation". Palgrave Macmillan.
4. Nordsieck, Wolfram. (2017). "France".
5. (13 November 2014). "Jean-Christophe Lagarde élu président de l'UDI". Le Monde.fr.
6. [http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2012/10/22/le-premier-pari-reussi-de-borloo-et-de-l-udi_1779017_823448.html Le premier pari réussi de Borloo et de l'UDI ], ''[[Le Monde]]'', 22 October 2012.
7. [http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/politique/20121216.OBS2651/legislatives-partielles-l-ump-veut-reprendre-des-couleurs.html Défaite de l'UDI Henri Plagnol ]
8. [http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/Total_1er_tour_modalites_CC_CL8_cle45254e.pdf Official 2013 by-election]
9. [http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2013/07/24/apres-ses-propos-sur-hitler-gilles-bourdouleix-demissionne-de-l-udi_3453152_823448.html Gilles Bourdouleix resigned to UDI]
10. "UDI France and LDP Macedonia become ALDE Party member parties {{!}} ALDE Party".
11. (26 March 2017). "L'UDI écartelée entre Macron et Fillon".
12. [http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2013/07/24/apres-ses-propos-sur-hitler-gilles-bourdouleix-demissionne-de-l-udi_3453152_823448.html Gilles Bourdouleix resigned to UDI]
13. (16 December 2017). "Les Centristes d'Hervé Morin s'affranchissent de l'UDI". Libération.