Not many of us know anything about the elections to the upper house of the French parliament which took place yesterday (Sunday). The voters are the "grands electeurs", ie locally elected maires and councillors, hence no posters or flyers through our letter boxes. No doubt, however, the voters have been lobbied intensively by the candidates and the results reflect the municipal elections held in May. The Front National gained its first ever two seats in the Senate, in the Bouches du Rhone and Var departments, leading Marine le Pen to call for the dissolution of the Assembly.
The Senate is elected in part every 5 years and this time 178 seats were up for grabs. The results put the right firmly back in charge after 5 years of left dominance.
Locally the winner was a former ally of Jean Michel Baylet the PRG leader, who came third. The maire of Caussade (UMP) was also elected for T&G. In the Tarn the controversial president of the Conseil General (see Sivens post below) was elected along with the former maire of Albi (UMP).
It is not unusual for the Senate majority to be formed from opponents of the government and apart from holding up legislation its powers are limited so expect no great influence on Mssrs Hollande and Valls.
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