Union for a Popular Movement

The Union for a Popular Movement (French: Union pour un Mouvement Populaire, UMP), was the main French centre-right political party. It was formed in 2002. On 30 May 2015, it was replaced by The Republicans.
The party had an absolute majority in the National Assembly but lost its majority in the Senate in September 2011. The UMP is a member of the European People's Party (EPP), of the Christian Democrat International (CDI) and of the International Democrat Union (IDU).
History
Since the 1980s, the political groups of the parliamentary right joined forces around the values of economic liberalism and the building of Europe. Their rivalries had contributed to their 1981 and 1988 electoral defeats. Therefore, some politicians were in favour of the formation of a confederation, a party.
UMP was founded from the merger of the Gaullist-conservative Rally for the Republic (Rassemblement pour la Republique, RPR), the conservative-liberal Liberal Democracy (Democratie Liberale, DL), and a part of the centrist Union for French Democracy (Union pour la Democratie Francaise, UDF). Many Christian Democrats (such as Philippe Douste-Blazy and Jacques Barrot), the social-liberal Radical Party and the centrist Popular Party for French Democracy (both associate parties to UDF until 2002) joined the party.
The party was thus born out of the meeting of four major French political traditions: Gaullism, Liberalism (Republicanism), Christian Democracy (Popularism) and Radicalism.
The UMP generally supported the policies of President Jacques Chirac. However, in 2004, the party showed increasing signs of independence. The unpopularity with the electorate of Jacques Chirac and Jean-Pierre Raffarin's government led most members of the UMP to support Nicolas Sarkozy, a rival of Chirac. The party also publicly disapproved of Turkey's proposed membership in the European Union, which Chirac was in favour of.
The first president of the UMP, Alain Juppe, a close associate of Jacques Chirac, resigned on 15 July 2004. On 29 November 2004, Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he would officially take over the presidency of the UMP.
In the 2004 French regional elections the UMP suffered a heavy blow, securing only 2 out of 22 regions in Metropolitan France and half of the departments. This led to the fall of the Jean-Pierre Raffarin government (2001-04), and to the formation of a new cabinet, presided by another UMP politician, Dominique de Villepin.
On 22 April 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy won most of the votes in the first round of the 2007 presidential election. In the second round, he faced Socialist Candidate Segolene Royal. On 6 May 2007 he won the Presidential election, garnering 53.35% of the vote.
Factions
Sarkozystes
Liberal Conservatives (conservatives, liberal-conservatives and conservative-liberals): Nicolas Sarkozy, Jean-Claude Gaudin, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, Edouard Balladur, Dominique Bussereau, Francois Fillon, Michel Barnier, Dominique Perben, Jean-Francois Mattei, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, Charles Millon, Alain Lamassoure, Brice Hortefeux, Francois Baroin
The Reformers (liberals and libertarians): Herve Novelli, Gerard Longuet, Alain Madelin (president of the Liberal Circles), Patrick Devedjian, Jean-Pierre Soisson, Jean-Pierre Gorges, Claude Goasguen, Pierre Lellouche (president of "Liberal Generation"), Louis Giscard d'Estaing
The Free Right (conservative liberals, libertarians and souverainists): Rachid Kaci, Alexandre Del Valle, Yannick Favennec, Etienne Blanc, Francois d'Aubert
Democratic and Popular (Christian-democrats and centrists): Philippe Douste-Blazy, Pierre Mehaignerie, Herve de Charette, Adrien Zeller, Jacques Barrot, Nicole Fontaine, Pierre-Andre Wiltzer, Marc-Philippe Daubresse, Alain Joyandet, Antoine Herth
Forum of Social Republicans (social-conservatives and Christian-democrats): Christine Boutin, Jean-Frederic Poisson, Vincent You, Charles de Champeaux
Chiraquiens
Neo-Gaullistes (rightish Gaullistes and secular-minded conservatives, considering themselves the true heirs of President Charles de Gaulle): Jacques Chirac, Dominique de Villepin, Alain Juppe, Jean-Louis Debre, Michele Alliot-Marie, Jean Tiberi
Social-Gaullistes (leftish Gaullistes, social-democrats): Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Philippe Dechartre, Jean Matteoli, Bernard Reygrobellet, Yves Guena, Alain Terrenoire, Jean Peyrelevade, Hamlaoui Mekachera
Radicals and other social-liberal centrists: Andre Rossinot, Francois Loos, Jean-Louis Borloo, Renaud Dutreil, Serge Lepeltier, Jean-Luc Romero (Gay Lib)
Souverainists
Arise the Republic (conservative-liberals, national-conservatives and souverainists): Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Adrien Gouteyron, Yves Jego, Lionnel Luca, Michel Terrot, Rene Andre
Rally for France (national-conservatives and souverainists): Charles Pasqua, Lionnel Luca, Jacques Myard, Jean-Jacques Guillet, Philippe Pemezec, Georges Siffredi
National Centre of Independents and Peasants (national-conservatives, conservative-liberals and souverainists): Philippe Dominati, Christian Vanneste, Edouard Leveau, Jerome Riviere
Ecologists
Blue Ecologie (centrist-ecologists): Corinne Lepage, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, Patrice Hernu, Antoine Waechter
Leadership
Presidents
Alain Juppe (2002-2004)
Nicolas Sarkozy (2004-2007)
Vice-Presidents
Jean-Claude Gaudin (2002-...)
General Secretaries
Philippe Douste-Blazy (2002-2004)
Pierre Mehaignerie (2004-...)
Other websites
UMP official website
Forum de la Droite Europeenne, ancien FPL UMP
UMP Watch
2002 establishments in France
2015 disestablishments in Europe
Conservative parties
Political parties in France