A list of the names and abbreviations used for current and recent French political parties.
Cap21 : Citoyenneté, action, participation pour le XXIe siècle (Citizenship, Action, Participation for the 21st Century), centre-right green party.*
* Split from the UDF in 2010.
Candidate: Corinne Lepage
CPNT : Chasse, Pêche, Nature et Tradition (Hunting, Fishing, Nature and Tradition), rural conservative party.
DLR : Debout La République (“Arise, The Republic”), right-wing eurosceptic party.
Candidate: Nicolas Dupont-Aignan
EELV : Europe Écologie les Verts (European Green Party), left-wing, pro-European green party.
FG : Front de Gauche (Left Front), far-left party.*
* Formed in 2009 as a coalition of the PCF, the PG and various smaller left-wing parties.
Candidate: Jean-Luc Mélenchon
FN : Front National (National Front), far-right nationalist party.
Candidate: Marine Le Pen
FNJ: Front National de Jeunesse, the FN's youth wing.
LCR : Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire (Revolutionary Communist League), far-left Trotskyist party dissolved in 2009 when incorporated into the NPA.
LO : Lutte Ouvrière (Workers' Struggle), far-left Trotskyist party.*
* Also known as Union Communiste (Communist Union), and a member of the Internationalist Communist Union.
Candidate: Nathalie Arthaud
MoDem : Mouvement Démocrate (Democratic Movement), centre party.*
* Formerly the UFD, before Corinne Lepage left to form Cap21.
Candidate: François Bayrou
MNR: Mouvement National Républicain (National Republican Movement) offshoot of the FN, created by Bruno Mégret in 1999.
NPA : Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste (New Anticapitalist Party), far-left party.*
* Founded in 2009 after the dissolution of the LCR.
Candidate: Philippe Poutou
PCD : Parti Chrétien-Démocrate (Christian Democratic Party), right-wing Christian party.
Candidate: Christine Boutin (withdrawn in support of François Fillon).
PCF : Parti Communiste Français (French Communist Party), currently part of the FG.
PG : Parti de Gauche (Left Party), formed in 2008 as a left-wing splinter group from the PS, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marc Dolez. Joined with the PCF (amongst others) in 2009 to form the Front de Gauche.
PRG : Parti Radical de Gauche, a relatively minor but influential left-wing party with very close, if sometimes shaky, relations with the PS.
PS : Parti Socialiste (Socialist Party), the main left-wing party.
Candidate: Benoît Hamon
RBM : Rassemblement Bleu Marine (Marine ['Navy'] Blue Rally), a group of far-right, populist and anti-European parties organised by Marine Le Pen and dominated by the Front National. The double meaning of the FN leader's first name (Marine / navy blue) leads to a number of journalistic puns linked to an idea something like Michael Portillo's "clear blue water" in the UK, which Le Pen seems actively to encourage.
RPF : Rassemblement pour la France (Rally for France), a right-wing party founded by Charles Pasqua in 1999. Forms a eurosceptic group within the UMP, with close links to the DLR, but backing Nicolas Sarkozy in these elections.
RPR : Rassemblement pour la République (Rally for the Republic), a former right-wing, Gaullist party founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976. In 2002 it was merged into the UMP.
Républicains (Les): the main right-wing party in France, formerly called the UMP.
Candidate: François Fillon
RS : République Solidaire (United Republic), centre-right party.*
* Formed in 2010 as a vehicle for Villepin's candidacy in opposition to his former UMP rival, Nicolas Sarkozy.
SP : Solidarité et Progres (Solidarity and Progress), controversial radical party with links to American politician Lyndon LaRouche.
Candidate: Jacques Cheminade
UDI : Union des démocrates et indépendants (Union of Democrats and Independents), a centre-right party led by Jean-Christophe Lagarde formed in September 2012, under the leadership of Jean-Louis Borloo, as a splinter group of the UMP containing members that previously identified themselves as centrist "radicals".
UFD : Union pour la démocratie française (Union for French Democracy), former name of the MoDem.
UMP : Union pour un Mouvement Popluaire (Union for a Popular Movement), the former name of the Républicains,the main right-wing party.*
* Formed in 2002 under the leadership of President Jacques Chirac as a merger of several Gaullist, Liberal and Christian Democratic parties.
Last President : Nicolas Sarkozy.
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