1885 French legislative election explained

Country:French Third Republic
Type:parliamentary
Previous Election:1881 French legislative election
Previous Year:1881
Election Date:4–18 October 1885
Next Election:1889 French legislative election
Next Year:1889
Seats For Election:All 584 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
Majority Seats:293
Image1:Eugene Henri Brisson young (cropped).jpg
Leader1:Henri Brisson
Party1:Opportunist Republicans
Seats1:200
Party2:Moderates
Color2:FFC0C0
Seats2:83
Image3:Armand de Mackau (1832-1918).jpg
Leader3:Armand de Mackau
Party3:Monarchists
Color3:1F497D
Seats3:73
Prime Minister
Before Election:Henri Brisson
Before Party:Republican Union
After Election:Henri Brisson
After Party:Democratic Union

Legislative elections were held in France on 4 and 18 October 1885. Following the deaths of Napoléon, Prince Imperial and the Comte de Chambord, the monarchists and Bonapartists formed a conservative electoral alliance under the leadership of the Baron de Mackau. In the first round of the election, the conservatives won 176 seats, whereas the Opportunist Republicans - partly because radical and moderate Republicans ran against each other, underestimating the danger from the right - only won 127. However, in the second round the radical and moderate Republicans agreed that the worse-placed Republican candidates would withdraw, and Republicans won 244 seats to the conservatives' 25, leading to a Republican victory.[1]

Henri Brisson remained prime minister immediately after the elections, but resigned in December following his defeat in the presidential election to the incumbent, Jules Grévy. Brisson was replaced by Charles de Freycinet.

Notes and References

  1. Gildea, R., Children of the Revolution, London, 2008, p. 257