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country	France 1978 French legislative election>1978 1986 French legislative election>1986 National Assembly (France)>National Assembly| majority_seats = 246| election_date = 14 June and 21 June 1981| turnout = 70.35% (first round)69.13% (second round) Socialist Party (France)>PS–MRG| leader1 = Pierre Mauroy| last_election1 = 114| seats1 = 283| percentage1 = 37.52| party2 = Rally for the Republic| leader2 = Jacques Chirac| last_election2 = 150| seats2 = 85| percentage2 = 20.81| party3 = Union for French Democracy| leader3 = Jean Lecanuet| last_election3 = 130| seats3 = 61| percentage3 = 19.20| party4 = French Communist Party| leader4 = Georges Marchais| last_election4 = 86| seats4 = 44| percentage4 = 16.17| party5 = Miscellaneous right| leader5 = –| last_election5 = 9| seats5 = 11| percentage5 = 2.80| party6 = Miscellaneous left| leader6 = –| last_election6 = 2| seats6 = 7| percentage6 = 0.73 map CarteLégislativesFrance1981.svg| map_caption = Results by constituency {{Politics of France}}Legislative elections were held in France on 14 and 21 June 1981,WEB,weblink France, Inter-Parliamentary Union, to elect the seventh National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.The Socialist Party (PS) achieved the biggest electoral success of their history. This result marked the triumph of Mitterrand's strategy. Like the Gaullist Union of Democrats for the Republic in 1968, the PS obtained an absolute parliamentary majority. The French Communist Party (PCF) obtained its poorest result since 1936 and lost the half of its MPs, most of them to the PS. However, four Communists became members of Pierre Mauroy's government. This was the first PCF governmental participation since 1947. The two main right-wing parliamentary parties, the Rally for the Republic (RPR) and Union for French Democracy (UDF), lost the half of their seats too. This result earned the nickname "the pink wave" from the press. Background On 10 May 1981 François Mitterrand was elected president, becoming the first Socialist to win a presidential election under universal suffrage. It was also the first occasion of alternance (between the right and the left) in government during the Fifth Republic.The new head of state nominated Pierre Mauroy to lead a Socialist cabinet. He then dissolved the National Assembly so that he could rely on a parliamentary majority. The left had lost the 1978 legislative election and the full term of the National Assembly would have expired in 1983. Campaign Knocked out after its defeat in the recent presidential election, the right campaigned against the concentration of the powers and the possible nomination of Communist ministers. However, it suffered from the economic crisis, the will for change amongst the electorate, and the rivalry between RPR leader Jacques Chirac and previous UDF President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. The formation of the Union for a New Majority appeared as a false reconciliation and so, had not convinced voters. Furthermore, as the PCF had been declining, and was no longer the dominant party of the Left, it did not seem to be a real danger.The Communist leaders were very disappointed by the result of their candidate, Georges Marchais, in the presidential election, and very worried by the legislative elections. During the presidential campaign, the PCF had denounced the "turn towards the right" of the Socialist Party, in vain. It understood that Mitterrand was ready to win his bet, expressed in the 1972 Congress of the Socialist International, to capture 3 of the 5 million PCF voters. Perceiving the great hope of the left-wing voters after Mitterrand's election, Marchais signed a "contract of government" with the First Secretary of the PS Lionel Jospin. Results {{Election results	secondround=	Socialist Party (France)>Socialist Party	vspan1=2	votes1_2=9198332	seats1_2=222	sc1=	Radical Party of the Left>Movement of Left Radicals	seats2=1	seats2_2=13	sc2=	Rally for the Republic>votes3=5231269	votes3_2=4174302	totseats3=85|sc3=	Union for French Democracy>votes4=4827437	votes4_2=3489363	totseats4=61|sc4=	French Communist Party>votes5=4065540	votes5_2=1303587	totseats5=44|sc5=	Miscellaneous right>votes6=704788	votes6_2=408861	totseats6=11|sc6=	votes7=334674	votes7_2=3517	totseats7=0|sc7=	votes8=271688	r2blockc8=3	sc8=	Miscellaneous left>votes9=183010	votes9_2=97066	totseats9=7|sc9=	votes10=90422	r2blockc10=3	sc10=	invalid2=512678	electorate2=27757374|source=IPU}} Parliamentary groups in the National Assembly {{Election results	Socialist Party (France)>Socialist Group|seats1=285	Rally for the Republic>RPR Group|seats2=88	Union for French Democracy>UDF Group|seats3=62	French Communist Party>Communist Group|seats4=44	seats6=12|source=}} References {{reflist}}{{French elections}}