Following the end of the 9-year terms of 127 "series C" senators, indirect senatorial elections were held in France on September 26, 2004.
This was the last renewal of serie C senators- following the electoral reform, senators are not elected by thirds to nine-year terms but by halves to six-year terms.
Since 2001, 10 seats had been added to Senate. This election elected Senators from 28 departments on the mainland (115 seats including 107 incumbents and 8 new seats), 2 from Guadeloupe and Martinique (5 seats including 4 incumbents and one new seat), 2 from overseas territories, Mayotte and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (3 seats including 2 incumbents and one new seat), and 4 senators representing French citizens abroad.
The 117 incumbents were divided in the following way:
65 from the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) group 23 from the Socialist Party group 11 from the Communiste, Républicain et Citoyen group 10 from the Union Centriste-Union for French Democracy 7 from the Rassemblement démocratique et social européen 1 miscellaneous from the MPF
Results GroupSeats (2001)Seats (2004)Change UMP Group 162 155 –7 Socialist Group 83 97 +14 Centrist Union - UDF Group 31 33 +2 Communist, Republican and Citizen Group 23 23 ±0 Democratic, Social, and European Rally 17 16 –1 Non-Inscrits 5 7 +2Total: 321 331 +5
Source: