Founded in 1994, the party nominated Philippe de Villiers as candidate in the 1995 presidential election. He obtained over a million votes and 4.74% of the popular vote, but failed to pass 5%.
The MPF formed an alliance with the RPF, but Villiers fell out with Pasqua the following year. Standing by itself in the 2004 European elections, the MPF obtained 7.6% of the popular vote and returned three Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). The party was a member of the Independence and Democracy group in the European Parliament.
Villiers declared his candidacy for the 2007 presidential election and appointed a secretary-general, Guillaume Peltier, then ranked second in the party. He ranked sixth out of twelve candidates, obtaining 2.23% (818,407 votes), down almost 2% from his previous candidacy in 1995. His best scores came in Pays de la Loire with 4.99% and Poitou-Charentes with 3.58%. Unlike in 1995, he failed to win in his department of Vendée, where he obtained 11.28% (over 20% in 1995).
The MPF was a souverainist party which supported the national independence of France within a Europe "of peoples and co-operation". Unlike the United Kingdom Independence Party, it did not support France's withdrawal from the EU but rather a massive overhaul of it. The MPF was a strong critic of what it saw as excessive bureaucracy and technocracy in the EU.
Allow the countries of Europe to form their own, independent foreign policies.
Follow a policy of respect of national borders and control of immigration.
Put the national Parliaments in the middle of European construction and giving them veto power on the vital interests of the people which they represent.
Put the European Union and the euro at the service of the growth and employment.
Found a European preference for industry and the services, as for agriculture.
Opposition to the Lisbon Treaty and halting the ratification process.
Draft a "fundamental treaty" of the European Union based on a free association of independent nations and peoples.
Economy
Establishing a "European protectionism" with tariffs on external imports. Within France, it is more neoliberal in supporting lower taxes to encourage the growth of industries within France.
The Youth for France (French: Jeunes pour la France, JPF) was founded in 2001 by Guillaume Peltier as the party's youth organisation. Its successive presidents included Peltier (2001–2006), Jean-Baptiste Doat (2006–2008), Thibaud Vincendeau (2008–2010), Christophe Bentz (2010–2011) and Pierre Meurin (2014–2018).
Electoral performance
The MPF had little electoral clout and most of its support was concentrated in Philippe de Villiers' department of Vendée, his electoral stronghold. While most of his support drew on his status as a favourite son, Vendée is also a strongly Traditionalist Catholic department which maintains a sense of pride in the monarchist counter-revolution and the Chouans during the French Revolution. In the 2009 European election, Villiers' list won the department with 32.96%[13] while polling only 4.8% nationally. In the 2004 European election the MPF won 38.63%[14] and it won 31.9% in the 1999 elections and 34.75% in 1994. However, the MPF is weaker in the department in national elections – such as presidential votes. Philippe de Villiers, who had won 22.02% in his department in the 1995 presidential election (he also got first place) came in fourth place with 11.28% in the 2007 presidential election. His electoral base in the department is his constituency – Vendée's 4th constituency – in which he consistently does better than in the department as a whole.[15]
His influence waned, however: through considered to be pro-EU in general, the department voted against the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 due to Villiers' influence, but it voted for the European Constitution in 2005. It was the only department to switch between a NO vote in 1992 and a YES vote in 2005.
The MPF was also strong in other departments, mostly those neighboring Vendée. In 2009, for example, Villiers' list won 14.26% in the Deux-Sèvres, a department which is also strongly Catholic. It also won 12.36% in Charente-Maritime, 10.39% in Maine-et-Loire, 9.79% in Charente, 9.29% in Vienne and 8.56% in Loire-Atlantique. Due to Jacques Bompard, it also polled 6.40% in the southeastern Vaucluse department.
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