Are these elections “very lucrative” for political parties?

Since the beginning of this early legislative election campaign, activists and ordinary citizens have not failed to point out that there is also a major financial stake behind this election for the political parties. It is true.

These legislative elections, “It’s also a money story”, writes one Internet user. Another rejoices at the debacle of Reconquête, the far-right party founded by Éric Zemmour, because with “0.7% in the first round, subsidies will fall”. “The legislative elections are very lucrative for a party and for its survival”assures an activist on the social network X to call for voting. Same message from a sympathizer of another political persuasion, a few days before the first round of voting: “If you are in a constituency that is unwinnable for the left, go and vote anyway: the number of votes in the legislative elections determines a significant part of the automatic financing of the parties.”

It is true that public aid has become vital for political parties because in France, private funding is capped and strictly regulated by law. Parties can benefit from membership fees, donations from individuals (maximum 7,500 euros per year) or even loans.

>>> 2024 legislative elections: a major financial challenge for political parties

For the public financing of parties, the State determines by decree the amount of aid allocated to political parties and groups. For 2024, it has released an envelope of nearly 66.5 million euros. For comparison, 20 years ago, in 2004, the amount of this aid was set at 73 million euros.

This sum is then distributed over time, based on the number of votes in the first round and the number of elected parliamentarians, at the end of the second round. Thus, initially, each party that obtains at least 1% of the votes in at least 50 constituencies in the first round, receives approximately 1.6 euros per vote. But the parties can be subject to financial penalties in the event of non-compliance with gender parity. In the first round of these legislative elections, women represent only 41.1% of the candidates. Secondly, each political organization receives money based on the number of elected representatives. This year, a parliamentarian brings in 37,119.28 euros to his political party.

In 2024, the parties of the presidential majority (Renaissance, MoDem, Horizons) are those that received the most public aid (nearly 19.5 million euros). The National Rally received around 10.2 million euros, Les Républicains accumulated 9.5 million euros in public aid and La France insoumise nearly 8 million euros.

Poor results can therefore have consequences for political parties. For example, the Socialist Party was forced to sell its historic headquarters on Rue de Solférino in Paris and to lay off some of its staff after the electoral defeats in the presidential and then legislative elections in 2017. The Republicans also had to make savings after poor results in the elections, although this is not the only reason. The party’s accounts were also weighed down by the Bygmalion affair.