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Senate
Sign in to saveAlso known as French Senate, Senate of France
upper house of the French Parliament
Key facts
- Type
- Upper house of the French Parliament
- Founded
- 4 October 1958 ; 67 years ago ( 1958-10-04 )
- Preceded by
- Council of the Republic , ( Fourth Republic )
- New session started
- 2 October 2023 ; 2 years ago ( 2023-10-02 )
- President
- Gérard Larcher , LR , since 1 October 2014 ( 2014-10-01 )
- Political groups
- SR (130) S (65) UC (59) LIRT (20) RDPI (19) CRCE (18) RDSE (17) E (16) RASNAG (4)
- Length of term
- 6 years
- Voting system
- Indirect election
- First election
- 26 April 1959 ( 1959-04-26 )
- Last election
- 24 September 2023 ( 2023-09-24 )
- Next election
- September 2026
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Official name
- SENAT
- Official website
- www.senat.fr
- Image
- Palais Luxembourg Sunset.JPG
Show 8 more facts
- P6413
- Senate
- Commons category
- Senate of France
- Commons gallery
- Sénat (France)
- number of seats
- 348
- native label
- Sénat de la France
- inception
- 1859-04-28
- external data available at URL
- data.senat.fr
- citizens' initiative URL
- petitions.senat.fr
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
~10 min read
Article
48°50′54″N 2°20′14″E / 48.84833°N 2.33722°E / 48.84833; 2.33722 The Senate (French: Sénat, [sena] ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (sénateurs and sénatrices) elected by part of the country's local councillors in indirect elections. Senators have six-year terms, with half of the seats up for election every three years. They represent France's departments (328), overseas collectivities (8) and citizens abroad (12).
Senators' mode of election varies upon their constituency's population size: in the less populated constituencies (one or two seats), they are elected individually, whereas in more populated ones (three seats or more), they are elected on lists. It is common for senators to hold dual mandates, such as in a regional council or departmental council.