Existential crisis for centre-right UMP

Commentators wondered whether the outgoing President Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP centre-right party in France could hold together following his defeat in the 2012 Presidential Election, or if it would splinter under the twin pressures of defeat and the rise of public support for the far-right National Front.

The immediate challenge for the UMP was to hold together for the June 2012 parliamentary elections. Wasting no time, Jean-Francois Copé, UMP leader, called a meeting of the party’s leadership at its Paris headquarters on the 7 May 2012 to agree on a legislative campaign strategy.

ESO: Background information: French presidential election, 2012 http://www.europeansources.info/record/french-presidential-election-2012/

ESO: Background information: Hollande takes French presidency http://www.europeansources.info/record/hollande-takes-french-presidency/

Wikipedia: Union for a Popular Movement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_for_a_Popular_Movement

ESO: Background information: French legislative election, 2012 http://www.europeansources.info/record/french-legislative-election-2012/

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