The first senatorial elections of the Fifth Republic were held in France on April 26, 1959.[1]
The Senate was created by constitution of the Fifth Republic to replace Council of the Republic. This election depend largely of the results of 1959 municipal elections.
Group | Ideology | Seats | Percentage | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Independent Republicans (RI) | Liberalism, Right-wing | 70 | 22,6 % | ||
Democratic Left (GD) | Radicalism, Right-wing, Left-wing | 66 | 21,3% | ||
Socialist (SOC) | Socialism, Left-wing | 61 | 19,7% | ||
Union for the New Republic (UNR) | Gaullism, Right-wing | 37 | 12,0% | ||
Popular Republican Movement (MRP) | Christian democracy, Right-wing | 34 | 11,0% | ||
Republican Centre of Rural and Social Action (CNIP) | Conservatism, Right-wing | 20 | 6,5% | ||
Communist (COM) | Communism, Left-wing | 14 | 4,5% | ||
Non-Registered (NI) | None | 7 | 2,3% | ||
Total: | 309 | 100,0 % |
On April 28, 1959, Gaston Monnerville a senator from Guyane was elected president of the Senate. Monnerville has been the highest-ranking black politician in French history, and if he was a candidate for reelection in 1968, he could have become the first black president of France the next year when President Pompidou died.[2]