The first French legislative constituency for citizens abroad (French: Première circonscription des Français établis hors de France) is one of eleven constituencies representing French people living outside France. It was created by the 2010 redistricting of French legislative constituencies and elects, since 2012, one representative to the National Assembly.
It represents all French citizens living in Canada and the United States. It is the most populous constituency of its kind, containing 265,898 registered French voters as of 2024."Les élections en 2012 à l’étranger: Votre circonscription pour l’élection des députés" , French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
Area represented The first constituency for citizens abroad encompasses the following countries and French consular constituencies:
(79,328 French registered) 1st voting constituency: consular constituencies of Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. 2nd voting constituency: consular constituencies of Moncton, Halifax, Montréal, and Québec. (122,686 French registered) 1st voting constituency: consular constituencies of Atlanta, Boston, Miami, New York City, and Washington, D.C. 2nd voting constituency: consular constituencies of Chicago. 3rd voting constituency: consular constituencies of Houston and New Orleans. 4th voting constituency: consular constituencies of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Deputy ElectionNameParty 2012 Corinne Narassiguin PS 2013 Frédéric Lefebvre UMP 2017 Roland Lescure LREM 2022 2022 Christopher Weissberg 2024 Roland Lescure RE
National Assembly elections 2024 CandidatePartyAllianceFirst roundSecond roundVotes%Votes%Roland LescureREEnsemble36,36338.8450,33354.25Oussama LaraichiLÉNFP33,82236.1242,43945.75Jennifer AdamRN10,01810.70Olivier PitonLRUDC4,8565.19Véronique JacksonDVC4,6434.96Elias FornerisDVD1,4141.51Alexandra PourchetREC1,3571.45Greg LacosteDIV1,0901.16Paloma LadamDVG670.07Valid votes93,630100.0092,772100.00Blank votes1,0390.394,9585.07Null votes900.031420.15Turnout94,75935.6397,87234.89Abstentions171,17364.37168,02663.19Registered voters265,932265,898Source: ResultRE HOLD
2022
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2017 CandidateLabelFirst roundSecond roundVotes%Votes%Roland LescureREM57.5379.73Frédéric LefebvreLR14.5320.27Clémentine LangloisFI9.01Yan ChantrelPS8.44Jocelyne Le BoulicautECO2.90Damien RegnardDVD2.32Denis FranceskinFN2.02Christine Agathon-BurtonDIV0.77David LawsonDIV0.46Fanny EtterDIV0.39Vincent Boileau-AutinDVG0.39David Sanchez DavidDVG0.39Laure PascarelDVG0.29Julie MorelPCF0.27Arnaud Dumas de RaulyDIV0.19Élise DesaulniersDIV0.07Florent FernandezDIV0.01Balie ToplaDIV0.00Votes100.00100.00Valid votes99.1694.22Blank votes0.164.43Null votes0.681.35Turnout18.6413.07Abstentions81.3686.93Registered votersSource: Ministry of the Interior
2013 by-election Following the invalidation of the 2012 election, a by-election was held on May 25 and June 8, 2013.
Candidates The list of candidates was officially released on May 6, 2013, with twelve candidates:
The Socialist Party was represented by Franck Scemama who lived in France. His deputy was Annie Michel.
The Union for a Popular Movement was represented once again by Frédéric Lefebvre. His deputy was Olivier Piton.
Europe Ecology – The Greens was represented by Cyrille Giraud who had been deputy to Narassiguin in the previous election. His deputy was Emmanuelle Garcia-Guillen.
The Left Front was represented once again by Céline Clément. Her deputy was Jean-Baptiste Plouhinec.
The Democratic Movement was represented by Nicolas Druet who lived in Montreal. His deputy was Martine Volard.
The Union of Democrats and Independents was represented by Louis Giscard d'Estaing who lived in Chamalières, France. His deputy was Séverine Boitier.
The Rally of French Citizens Abroad (Rassemblement des Français de l’étranger) was represented by Damien Regnard who lived in New Orleans. His deputy was Virginie Beaudet.
The National Front was represented by Thierry Franck Fautre who lived in Florida. His deputy was Sylvie Verez.
The Pirate Party was represented by Véronique Vermorel who lived in Boston. Her deputy was Mathieu Chambefort.
Solidarity and Progress was represented once again by Karel Vereycken.
Nicolas Rousseaux was an independent candidate who lived in France. His deputy was Raphaël Rousseaux.
Pauline Czartoryska was an independent candidate who lived in France and previously worked in Maryland. Her deputy was Emmanuèle Pillard.
Results
2012 Candidates The list of candidates was officially finalised on 14 May. There were eighteen candidates:"Arrêté du 14 mai 2012 fixant la liste des candidats au premier tour de l'élection des députés élus par les Français établis hors de France ", Journal Officiel de la République Française, 15 May 2012
The Union for a Popular Movement chose Finance Minister Christine Lagarde (who had never been a member of Parliament) as its candidate in April 2011."Législatives : l'UMP a désigné ses candidats pour l'étranger", Le Figaro, April 13, 2011 Lagarde, however, subsequently became Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and in November the party chose Frédéric Lefebvre, secretary of state for commerce, to replace her as candidate."Amérique du Nord : l'UMP désigne Lefebvre" , Le Journal du dimanche, 25 November 2011
The Socialist Party chose Corinne Narassiguin, a resident of New York City. Her deputy (suppléant) was originally Yves Alavo, a resident of Montreal."Elections législatives 2012 : nos candidates et candidats" , Parti Socialiste - Fédération des Français à l'Etranger Europe Écologie–The Greens had chosen Rémi Piet, with Sabrina Feddal as his deputy (suppléante)., Europe Écologie–The Greens Piet, a resident of Miami, teaches international relations at the University of Miami."Les 11 candidat-e-s EELV sur les circonscriptions législatives hors de France" 12 November 2011 In January 2012, Europe Écologie–The Greens and the Socialist Party merged their efforts to create a new ticket featuring Corinne Narassiguin (Socialist) and Cyrille Giraud (EELV), a resident of Montreal.Candidates for the 1st constituency , Le Petit Journal, updated on 13 January 2012About Cyrille Giraud, on the official website of Corinne Narassiguin
The Democratic Movement chose Carole Granade. A resident of San Francisco, she was a former director of the city's French American Chamber of Commerce."Présentation de Carole Granade", Le Petit Journal
The Left Front, which includes the French Communist Party, chose Céline Clément, a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Strasbourg. She had several years' experience working in Quebec, and a Canadian partner. Her deputy (suppléant) was Thomas Collombat, a professor of Quebec Studies at Western Washington University."Présentation de Céline Clément", Le Petit Journal
The National Front chose Claire Savreux.
The centre-right Radical Party and the centrist Republican, Ecologist and Social Alliance jointly chose Philippe Manteau as their candidate. He was also endorsed by the Liberal Democratic Party. Aurélia Palvel-Marmont was his deputy (suppléante).
The centre-left Radical Party of the Left chose Stéphanie Bowring, a long-term resident of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, and a dual citizen of France and Canada. Jean Lachaud was her deputy (suppléant)."Présentation de Stéphanie Bowring", Le Petit Journal
The Pirate Party chose Raphaël Clayette, with Olivier Henebelle as his deputy (suppléant).
Solidarity and Progress, the French branch of the LaRouche movement, was represented by Karel Vereycken, with Dominique Revault-D'Allonnes as his deputy. Vereycken described himself as a friend of Jacques Cheminade and Lyndon LaRouche."Présentation de Karel Vereycken", Le Petit Journal
Julien Balkany, a resident of New York City and a member of the Union for a Popular Movement, stood as a dissident candidate, having failed to obtain the party's endorsement. François Lubrina was his deputy (suppléant)."Balkany l'Américain, ou la guerre du 92 exportée aux USA" , Libération, 8 December 2011
Gérard Michon, a resident of the United States for 31 years who was serving his fourth mandate at the Assembly of French Citizens Abroad, for the constituency including San Francisco, stood as an independent candidate. Despite being a member of the Union for a Popular Movement, he too stood against the party's endorsed candidate. Marc Cormier was his deputy (suppléant)."Gerard Michon: Député 2.0", Le Canard US, 18 January 2012"L'UMP choisira son candidat à la députation pour l'Amérique du Nord mi-novembre" , France-Amérique, 14 October 2011
Antoine Treuille, a businessman, president of the French-American Foundation, and long-term resident of the United States, stood as an independent right-wing candidate."Présentation de Antoine Treuille", Le Petit Journal If elected, he said he would sit with the Union for a Popular Movement.
Christophe Navel was an independent candidate, presenting himself as neither left nor right. Matthieu Deborde was his deputy (suppléant)."Présentation de Christophe Navel", Le Petit Journal
Mike Remondeau was an independent candidate. A 31-year-old resident of Tampa, Florida, he was studying for a master's degree in political sciences. He called his political movement the "Circle of North Americans" (Cercle des Nord-Américains), and stood on a platform of "ideological laïcité", and a common cultural identity for French residents in North America. Christian Routier was his deputy."Présentation de Mike Remondeau", Le Petit Journal
Emile Servan-Schreiber, with Christian Déséglise as his deputy, was an "independent centre-right" candidate.
The other independent candidates were: Louis Le Guyader (with Claire Le Guyader as his deputy); Jean-Michel Vernochet (with Lieu Nguyen as his deputy); and Rob Temene (with Betty Millet as his deputy).
Campaign Due in part to the sheer size of the constituency, certain candidates barely campaigned at all, while others "made every effort to travel around" the United States and Canada and "mobilise their scattered voters". Los Angeles, with a sizable French expatriate population, was a focal point for some. Among issues of concern to voters were education (access to French schools for their children) and retirement pensions."En Amérique du Nord, l'UMP Frédéric Lefebvre fait figure de "parachuté" à droite", Le Monde, 26 May 2012
On 23 May, France 24 organised a televised debate in New York City for the eight candidates it deemed "active" in terms of their campaign : Corinne Narassiguin (Socialist), Frédéric Lefebvre (UMP) Carole Granade (MoDem), Philippe Manteau (ARES), Julien Balkany (dissident UMP), Gérard Michon (dissident UMP), Antoine Treuille (misc. right), and Emile Servan-Schreiber (misc. right). Seven of the invited candidates took part; Lefebvre indicated he did not wish to."À New York, des candidats à la députation débattent", France 24, 24 May 2012"Des candidats à la conquête de l’Amérique", Libération, 1 June 2012
Results Turnout in the first round was low: 22.5% in Canada and 18.9% in the United States. With the mainstream right strongly divided (four dissident candidates standing against the UMP-endorsed candidate), Socialist Corinne Narassiguin obtained a comfortable lead in the first round, in both countries of the constituency.Official results of the first round , French Ministry for Foreign Affairs"Législatives : tous les résultats des Français de l'étranger", Le Nouvel Observateur, 4 June 2012