1974 French Presidential Election
Closest ever runoff5 and 19 May 1974 · The age of alternance · direct two-round vote
In 1969, Georges Pompidou, formerly Prime Minister under the presidency of Charles de Gaulle, was elected President of France for a seven-year term. However, he died in office on 2 April 1974, and the French voters were called to elect his successor.
President before
Alain Poher
(acting President after Georges Pompidou died in April)
Elected President
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
RI
Winning share
50.8%
second round
Turnout
84.2%
second round 87.3%
The result
| François Mitterrand | Socialist Party | 11 044 373 | 43.25% | 12 971 604 | 49.19% |
| Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | National Federation of the Independent Republicans | 8 326 774 | 32.60% | 13 396 203 | 50.81% |
| Jacques Chaban-Delmas | Union of Democrats for the Republic | 3 857 728 | 15.11% | — | — |
| Jean Royer | Independent right-wing conservative | 810 540 | 3.17% | — | — |
| Arlette Laguiller | Workers' Struggle | 595 247 | 2.33% | — | — |
| René Dumont | Independent environmentalist | 337 800 | 1.32% | — | — |
| Jean-Marie Le Pen | National Front | 190 921 | 0.75% | — | — |
| Émile Muller | Democratic Socialist Movement | 176 279 | 0.69% | — | — |
| Alain Krivine | Revolutionary Communist Front | 93 990 | 0.37% | — | — |
| Bertrand Renouvin | New French Action | 43 722 | 0.17% | — | — |
| Jean-Claude Sebag | European Federalist Movement | 42 007 | 0.16% | — | — |
| Guy Héraud | European federalist | 19 255 | 0.08% | — | — |