# Senate Republicans

The Senate Republicans (formally The Republicans group; French: Groupe Les Républicains, also Les Républicains du Sénat), formerly the Union for a Popular Movement group (Groupe Union pour un mouvement populaire), is a parliamentary group in the French Senate including representatives of The Republicans (LR), formerly the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). It is currently the largest group in the Senate. Its president has been Bruno Retailleau since 2014.

## History

The Union for a Popular Movement group (groupe Union pour un mouvement populaire) in the Senate was officially formed on 10 December 2002 after the foundation of the Union for a Popular Movement earlier that year; at the time of its creation, it included 167 members, an absolute majority, with Josselin de Rohan elected as its first president. The group united 93 out of 94 members of the Rally for the Republic (RPR) group, 40 out of 41 members of the Republicans and Independents (RI) group (associated with Liberal Democracy), 29 out of 54 members of the Centrist Union (UC) group, 4 out of 21 members of the European Democratic and Social Rally (RDSE) group, and 1 non-inscrit. The group maintained its absolute majority until the 2004 renewal.
On 15 January 2008, de Rohan stood down as president of the group to assume the role of president of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces Committee, and was succeeded the same day by the former member of the Radical Party Henri de Raincourt. De Raincourt subsequently stepped down on 6 July 2009, ahead of his appointment to the government, with Gérard Longuet elected unopposed as his successor on 7 July, his only opponent – Eric Doligé – having withdrawn his candidacy before the vote. On 7 March 2011, Longuet departed from the presidency of the group after his appointment as Minister of Defense within the government, with Jean-Claude Gaudin taking his place on 8 March uncontested; though Jean-Pierre Raffarin envisaged the possibility of presenting his candidature, he ultimately supported Gaudin for the post.
The UMP group lost its relative majority in the 2011 renewal, after which the left took control of the upper chamber for the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic. Though Gaudin remained in the Senate after the 2014 renewal, he did not wish to seek the presidency of the group, leaving it to an open contest instead. On 2 October, Bruno Retailleau, a supporter of François Fillon in the disputed 2012 leadership election, was elected president of the group with 79 votes against Sarkozyist Roger Karoutchi with 39 votes and Longuet with 25. On 2 June 2015, the group was renamed to The Republicans group (groupe Les Républicains) following the founding congress of the renamed party.
In the 2020 French Senate election the Republicans held their majority.

## List of presidents

| Name | Term start | Term end |
| Josselin de Rohan | 10 December 2002 | 15 January 2008 |
| Henri de Raincourt | 15 January 2008 | 6 July 2009 |
| Gérard Longuet | 7 July 2009 | 7 March 2011 |
| Jean-Claude Gaudin | 8 March 2011 | 6 October 2014 |
| Bruno Retailleau | 7 October 2014 | 30 September 2024 |

## Historical membership

| Year | Leader | Seats | Change | Series |
| 2004 | Josselin de Rohan | 156 / 331 | | C |
| 2008 | Henri de Raincourt | 151 / 343 | 5 | A |
| 2011 | Gérard Larcher | 132 / 348 | 19 | 1 |
| 2014 | Jean-Claude Gaudin | 143 / 348 | 11 | 2 |
| 2017 | Bruno Retailleau | 146 / 348 | 3 | 1 |
| 2020 | Bruno Retailleau | 148 / 348 | 2 | 2 |
| 2023 | Bruno Retailleau | 139 / 348 | 7 | 1 |

## Founding members

The UMP group was founded on 10 December 2002 with 167 members, including 93 out of 94 members of the Rally for the Republic (RPR) group, 40 out of 41 members of the Republicans and Independents (RI) group (associated with Liberal Democracy), 29 out of 54 members of the Centrist Union (UC) group, 4 out of 21 members of the European Democratic and Social Rally (RDSE) group, and 1 non-inscrit.
| Name | Group |
| Nicolas About | RI |
| Jean-Paul Alduy | UC |
| Pierre André | RPR |
| Gérard Bailly | RPR |
| José Balarello | RI |
| Bernard Barraux** | UC |
| Jacques Baudot | UC |
| Michel Bécot | UC |
| Claude Belot | UC** |
| Christian Bergelin | RPR |
| Daniel Bernardet | UC |
| Roger Besse | RPR |
| Laurent Béteille | RPR |
| Joël Billard | RI |
| Jean Bizet | RPR |
| Jacques Blanc | RI |
| Paul Blanc | RPR |
| Joël Bourdin | RI |
| Brigitte Bout | RPR* |
| Jean-Guy Branger | UC |
| Gérard Braun* | RPR* |
| Dominique Braye | RPR* |
| Paulette Brisepierre | RPR |
| Louis de Broissia | RPR |
| Jean-Pierre Cantegrit | UC** |
| Jean-Claude Carle | RI |
| Auguste Cazalet | RPR |
| Charles Ceccaldi-Raynaud | RPR |
| Gérard César | RPR |
| Jacques Chaumont | RPR |
| Jean Chérioux | RPR |
| Marcel-Pierre Cléach | RI** |
| Jean Clouet | RI |
| Christian Cointat | RPR |
| Gérard Cornu | RPR |
| Jean-Patrick Courtois | RPR |
| Robert del Picchia** | RPR** |
| Christian Demuynck | RPR |
| Gérard Dériot** | UC |
| Éric Doligé | RPR |
| Jacques Dominati | RI |
| Michel Doublet | RPR |
| Paul Dubrule | RPR** |
| Alain Dufaut | RPR |
| André Dulait | UC |
| Ambroise Dupont | RI |
| Hubert Durand-Chastel** | RASNAG |
| Louis Duvernois** | RPR** |
| Daniel Eckenspieller | RPR* |
| Jean-Paul Emin | RI |
| Jean-Paul Emorine | RI |
| Michel Esneu | RPR |
| Jean-Claude Étienne | RPR |
| Jean Faure | UC |
| André Ferrand | RI |
| Hilaire Flandre | RPR |
| Gaston Flosse | RPR |
| Alain Fouché | RI |
| Jean-Pierre Fourcade | RDSE |
| Bernard Fournier | RPR |
| Serge Franchis | UC |
| Philippe François | RPR |
| Jean François-Poncet | RDSE |
| Yves Fréville** | UC |
| Yann Gaillard | RPR* |
| René Garrec | RI |
| Jean-Claude Gaudin | RI |
| Philippe de Gaulle | RPR |
| Patrice Gélard | RPR |
| André Geoffroy | RI |
| Alain Gérard | RPR |
| François Gerbaud | RPR |
| Charles Ginésy | RPR |
| Francis Giraud | RPR |
| Paul Girod | RDSE |
| Daniel Goulet | RPR |
| Alain Gournac | RPR |
| Adrien Gouteyron | RPR |
| Francis Grignon | UC |
| Louis Grillot | RI |
| Georges Gruillot | RPR |
| Charles Guené | RPR |
| Michel Guerry | RPR |
| Hubert Haenel | RPR |
| Emmanuel Hamel | RPR |
| Françoise Henneron | RI |
| Pierre Hérisson | UC |
| Daniel Hoeffel | UC |
| Jean-François Humbert | RI |
| Jean-Jacques Hyest | UC |
| Pierre Jarlier | UC |
| Jean-Marc Juilhard | RI |
| Roger Karoutchi | RPR |
| Jean-Philippe Lachenaud | RI |
| Christian de La Malène** | RPR |
| Lucien Lanier | RPR |
| Jacques Larché | RI |
| Gérard Larcher | RPR |
| André Lardeux | RPR |
| Patrick Lassourd | RPR |
| Robert Laufoaulu** | RPR** |
| René-Georges Laurin | RPR |
| Jean-René Lecerf | RPR |
| Dominique Leclerc | RPR |
| Jacques Legendre | RPR |
| Jean-François Le Grand | RPR |
| Serge Lepeltier | RPR |
| Philippe Leroy | RPR |
| Marcel Lesbros | UC |
| Gérard Longuet | RI |
| Jean-Louis Lorrain | UC |
| Simon Loueckhote | RPR |
| Roland du Luart | RI |
| Brigitte Luypaert | UC |
| Max Marest | RPR |
| Philippe Marini | RPR |
| Pierre Martin | RPR |
| Jean-Louis Masson | RPR |
| Serge Mathieu | RI |
| Lucette Michaux-Chevry | RPR |
| Jean-Luc Miraux | RPR |
| René Monory | UC |
| Dominique Mortemousque | UC |
| Georges Mouly* | RDSE |
| Bernard Murat | RPR |
| Philippe Nachbar | RI |
| Paul Natali | RPR |
| Nelly Olin | RPR |
| Joseph Ostermann | RPR |
| Jacques Oudin | RPR |
| Monique Papon | UC |
| Michel Pelchat | RI |
| Jean Pépin (fr) | RI |
| Jacques Peyrat | RPR |
| Xavier Pintat | RI |
| Bernard Plasait | RI |
| Jean-Marie Poirier | UC |
| Christian Poncelet | RPR |
| Ladislas Poniatowski | RI |
| André Pourny** | RI** |
| Jean Puech | RI |
| Henri de Raincourt | RI |
| Victor Reux | RPR |
| Charles Revet | RI |
| Henri Revol | RI |
| Henri de Richemont | RPR |
| Philippe Richert | UC |
| Yves Rispat | RPR* |
| Josselin de Rohan | RPR |
| Roger Romani | RPR |
| Janine Rozier | RPR** |
| Bernard Saugey | RI |
| Jean-Pierre Schosteck | RPR |
| Bruno Sido | RPR |
| Louis Souvet | RPR |
| Michel Thiollière | UC |
| Henri Torre | RI |
| René Trégouët | RPR |
| André Trillard | RPR |
| François Trucy | RI |
| Maurice Ulrich | RPR |
| Jacques Valade | RPR |
| Alain Vasselle | RPR |
| Jean-Pierre Vial | RPR |
| Xavier de Villepin | UC |
| Serge Vinçon | RPR |
| Jean-Paul Virapoullé | UC |
| * Associated member ** Administratively attached member |||