Explained: The senate elections taking place in France this September
Half of upper chamber will be contested - and the far-right may win big
The 2026 Senate elections will take place next month, marking the latest vote in France’s political calendar.
The elections, held on September 27, will see 178 seats across 64 constituencies contested, around half of the total in the upper chamber.
These ‘constituencies’ are roughly half of France’s mainland departments, as well as several overseas territories. Half of the senators that represent French citizens abroad (six of 12) are also up for re-election.
The map below shows the departments where elections are taking place.
The number written inside the department borders shows the number of senators being elected in that department.
In departments where only one or two senators are being elected, a majority system is used, and the candidate or candidates with the most votes are directly elected.
In departments where three or more are elected, a form of proportional representation is used, where seats are allocated based on total vote share.
Different voting system used
The voting system for France’s upper chamber is different from other elections in France.
French senators are voted through a means of ‘indirect universal suffrage’.
Senators do not stand for a public election, but are voted in by municipal councillors and other officials, known as grands électeurs. There are approximately 150,000 people in France who quality as a potential grand élécteur.
The larger a commune is, the more members of council vote in the department-wide elections, and the largest individual communes (30,000 inhabitants or more) see additional delegates chosen to vote in the elections.
For senators representing French citizens abroad, they are chosen by 150 elected members of the Assembly of French Citizens Resident Abroad.
Is an upset on the cards?
This voting system has tended to benefit France’s traditional parties, particularly the right-wing who have controlled the chamber for the vast majority of the Fifth Republic.
Fewer people vote in municipal elections than the legislative or presidential counterparts, meaning that only the most politically engaged turn out to vote.
In turn, parties with a stronger core (the Socialists and right-wing Les Républicains in particular) have benefitted, and parties on the extremes have typically performed poorly for these local elections.
In turn, there are more councillors voting for these traditional parties (due to victories in the municipal elections), keeping them as the main groups in the Senate.
Parties either have their own Senatorial variants or sit in alliances with similar parties.
These groups differ slightly from the parties in the Assemblée nationale, the chamber of MPs that is directly elected in the legislative elections.
A group needs a minimum of 10 senators, restricting fringe senators who are shunned by mainstream parties.
The current groups in the Senate are as follows:
Les Republicains – 102 seats
Socialists, Ecologists – 63 seats
Centrist union (Union of Democrats and Independents, Democratic Movement, and Centrist Alliance) – 52 seats
LIRT (independents, typically centre-right) – 20 seats
CRCE (Communists, Republicans, Citizens and Ecologists group, left-wing) –18 seats
RDPI (centrists, including members of French President Emmanuel Macron’s party) – 17 seats
RDSE (European Democratic and Social Rally, both left and right-wing but all pro-European) – 16 seats
E (Ecologists) – 15 seats
Some Senators sit with groups by association but are not officially part of the groups.
The far-right Rassemblement National has only three senators despite being the largest party in the Assemblée nationale, and they are not part of any groups nor sit with any via association.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen previously criticised the Senate for a lack of direct representation – a criticism levied by the far-left, also under-represented in the chamber compared to the Assemblée nationale – and up until 2014 even called to abolish the Senate altogether.
However, with the far-right winning a number of councils in the 2026 municipal elections in departments where senatorial elections are being held there is the possibility that an increasing number of far-right senators may be elected.
The party has also looked to ally with other groups on the far-right, a continual part of its push for legitimacy, and it is certainly possible following September’s elections that a far-right group is formed.
It is less likely that a far-left group consisting of La France Insoumise senators will be formed, as the party remains limited with municipal support despite performing well at the Assemblée nationale.
Many senators are also experts in other fields, such as education, healthcare, or are civil servants.
Senators are able to table amendments to bills, and vote on amendments brought forward by MPs when a bill is being shuttled between the two chambers.
This can lead to a drawn-out process and several rounds of back-and-forth for the more heavily debated bills, significantly slowing the speed at which laws can be passed.
Despite all laws having to pass through the Senate, the Assemblée nationale typically has the final say on the matter and can reject changes to bills by the upper chamber.
Senators in this way are similar to the UK House of Lords (although not appointed), in that they are mostly a revising chamber (but can introduce their own bills).
