List_of_Presidents_of_the_French_Senate

List of presidents of the Senate of France

List of presidents of the Senate of France

List of presidents of the French Senate


This article lists the presidents of the Senate of France (French: Président du Sénat français; official translation: Speaker of the Senate)[1] and assimilated chambers.

Quick Facts President of the French Senate, Type ...

The Senate is the upper house of the French Parliament. It is presided over by a president. Although there had been Senates in both the First and Second Empires, these had not technically been legislative bodies, but rather advisory bodies on the model of the Roman Senate. France's first experience with an upper house was under the Directory from 1795 to 1799, when the Council of Ancients was the upper chamber. With the Restoration in 1814, a new Chamber of Peers was created, on the model of the British House of Lords. At first it contained hereditary peers, but following the July Revolution of 1830, it became a body to which one was appointed for life. The Second Republic returned to a unicameral system after 1848, but soon after the establishment of the Second Empire in 1852, a Senate was established as the upper chamber. In the Fourth Republic, the Senate was renamed the Council of the Republic, but its function was largely the same. With the new constitution of the Fifth Republic in 1959, the older name of Senate was restored.

Acting President of the French Republic

The president of the Senate, in addition to his duties as presiding officer of the upper house of parliament, is also, according to the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, first in line of succession in case of death, resignation, or removal by impeachment of the president, thus becoming Acting President of the Republic until a new election can be held.[2] This has already occurred twice. Alain Poher, the president of the French Senate, served as Acting President of France from 28 April until 20 June 1969 (between the resignation of President Charles de Gaulle and the installation of his elected successor President Georges Pompidou) and again from 3 April until 27 May 1974 (between the death of President Georges Pompidou and the installation of his elected successor President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing).

List of officeholders

Under the Directory (1795–1799)

Presidents of the Council of Ancients:

More information Portrait, Name ...

Under the Consulate (1799–1804)

Presidents of the Sénat conservateur:

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Under the First Empire (1804–1814)

Presidents of the Sénat conservateur:

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Under the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830)

Presidents of the Chamber of Peers:

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Under the July Monarchy (1830–1848)

Presidents of the Chamber of Peers:

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Under the Second Empire (1852–1870)

Presidents of the Senate:

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Under the Third Republic (1870–1940)

Presidents of the Senate:

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Under the Fourth Republic (1946–1958)

Presidents of the Council of the Republic:

Political party
  MRP   Radical

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Under the Fifth Republic (1958–present)

Presidents of the Senate:

Political party
  Radical   CD; CDS; FD   RPR; UMP; LR   PS

More information Portrait, Name ...

See also


References

  1. "The Speaker of the Senate". senat.fr. Senate (France). Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  2. The exact title is "President of the Senate, exercising provisionally the functions of the President of the Republic"; see how Alain Poher is referred to on signing statutes into law, e.g. law 69-412 Archived 28 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine

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