The partial elections for the French Senate, which took place on Sunday, September 27, 2026, resulted in remarkable results in the party landscape within the upper house of parliament, without leading to a change in the traditional majority held by the right-wing and centrist parties.
The elections were conducted through an indirect voting system, whereby “electors” vote to choose members of the Senate. The renewal included 178 seats out of 348 in the Senate.
The most notable results of the vote were that the far-right National Rally (RN) party gained nine additional seats, with the newly elected members joining three existing members, while its ally, the Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR), added two seats.
Thus, the RN and UDR alliance now has the necessary number to form a parliamentary group/bloc for the first time in the history of the National Rally within the Senate; this gives them broader institutional rights within the council, including greater representation on committees, additional time for interventions, and the possibility of benefiting from parliamentary tools allocated to groups.
National Rally leader Jordan Bardella welcomed the result, confirming that his party would, for the first time, be able to form a group in the Senate. He said: “These results represent a new milestone in consolidating the National Rally’s (RN) presence. For the first time, it will be able to form a parliamentary group in the Senate! This result also represents a further step in Marine Le Pen’s path to the presidential elections expected in the coming months.”
For her part, the party leader and presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen , described the results as a “historic victory” and a “major milestone.”
On the other hand, the radical left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI) recorded its entry into the Senate for the first time since the party’s founding, with Gabriel Amard becoming the party’s first elected senator, after winning in the Rhône constituency.
Marc Perry also won in the Haute-Garonne region as part of a unified left-wing list, in a result that gave the radical left new representation in the upper house.
Despite gains made by Marine Le Pen's party and its allies, the elections did not fundamentally alter the balance of power in the Senate, with the right and center maintaining their majority and several prominent figures being re-elected. Gérard Larcher of the Republicans (LR) is expected to be re-elected as president of the Senate.
Senate President Gérard Larcher, who is running for re-election, warned senators in a letter of impending political and institutional challenges. He affirmed that the Luxembourg Palace would continue to act as a “necessary counterweight to democracy,” emphasizing the Senate’s importance as a stabilizing force for institutions, the balance of power, and national unity.
Larcher said the situation in France was "worrying" and that the issues at hand placed significant responsibilities on the Senate in the coming months and years.
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