Editing Radical Party of the Left (section)

== History ==
The party was formed in 1972 by a split from the [[Radical Party (France)|Republican, Radical, and Radical-Socialist Party]], once the dominant party of the [[French Left]]. It was founded by Radicals who opposed [[Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber]]'s [[centrist]] direction. They chose to join the [[Union of the Left (France)|Union of the Left]] and agreed to the [[Programme commun|Common Programme]] signed by the [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist Party]] (PS) and the [[French Communist Party]] (PCF). At that time, the party was known as the '''Movement of the Radical Socialist Left''' ({{langx|fr|link=no|Mouvement de la gauche radicale-socialiste}}, MGRS), then as the '''Movement of Radicals of the Left''' ({{langx|fr|link=no|Mouvement des Radicaux de Gauche}}, MRG) after 1973.

Led by [[Robert Fabre]] during the 1970s, the party was the third partner of the Union of the Left. Nevertheless, its electoral influence did not compare with those of its two allies, which competed for the leadership over the left. [[Robert Fabre]] sought to attract [[left-wing]] [[Gaullism|Gaullists]] to the party and gradually became close to President [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]], who nominated him as Mediator of the Republic in 1978. He and his followers were excluded from the party by those who strongly supported the alliance with the PS.

[[Michel Crépeau]] was nominated by the party for the [[1981 French presidential election|1981 presidential election]] and obtained a disappointing 2.09% in the first round. He and his party in the runoff endorsed PS candidate [[François Mitterrand]], who eventually won. The MRG won 14 seats in the subsequent [[1981 French legislative election|1981 legislative election]] and participated in PS-led governments between 1981 and 1986 and again between 1988 and 1993.

In the [[1984 European Parliament election in France|1984 European elections]], the MRG formed a common list with [[Brice Lalonde]]'s environmentalists and [[Olivier Stirn]], a [[centre-right]] deputy. The list styled as the Radical and Ecologist Agreement won 3.32%, but no seats.<ref name="ColeDoherty2006">{{cite book|author1=Alistair Cole|author2=Brian Doherty|chapter=France: Pas come les autres – the French Greens at the crossroads|editor1=Dick Richardson|editor2=Chris Rootes|title=The Green Challenge: The Development of Green Parties in Europe|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=doiJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA36|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-84403-6|page=36}}</ref> The party resumed its customary alliance with the PS in the [[1986 French legislative election|1986 legislative election]] and supported President Mitterrand's 1988 reelection bid by the first round.

At the beginning of the 1990s, under the leadership of the popular businessman [[Bernard Tapie]] the party benefited from an ephemeral upswing in its popularity while the governing SP was in disarray. The list led by Tapie won 12.03% and 13 seats<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dev.ulb.ac.be/cevipol/en/elections_france_europeennes_1994.html|title=CEVIPOL - Electoral results: France - European elections of 1994|publisher=Dev.ulb.ac.be|access-date=12 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725204639/http://dev.ulb.ac.be/cevipol/en/elections_france_europeennes_1994.html|archive-date=25 July 2012}}</ref> of the votes in the [[1994 European Parliament election in France|1994 European Parliament election]]. However, Tapie retired from politics due to his legal problems and the party, renamed the '''Radical Socialist Party''' ({{langx|fr|link=no|Parti radical-socialiste}}, PRS), returned to its lowest ebb.

After the [[Radical Party (France)|Radical Party]] opened legal proceedings against the PRS, it was forced to change its name to the '''Radical Party of the Left''' ({{langx|fr|link=no|Parti radical de gauche}}, PRG). Between 1997 and 2002, it was a junior partner in [[Lionel Jospin]]'s [[Plural Left]] coalition government. In the [[2002 French presidential election|2002 presidential election]], the PRG nominated its own candidate, former MEP and [[French Guiana]] deputy [[Christiane Taubira]], for the first time since 1981. However, some members of the party including [[Émile Zuccarelli]] and PRG senator [[Nicolas Alfonsi]] supported [[Jean-Pierre Chevènement]]'s candidacy. Taubira won 2.32% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dev.ulb.ac.be/cevipol/en/elections_france_presidentielles_2002.html|title=CEVIPOL - Electoral results: France - Presidential elections of 2002|publisher=Dev.ulb.ac.be|access-date=12 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725175546/http://dev.ulb.ac.be/cevipol/en/elections_france_presidentielles_2002.html|archive-date=25 July 2012}}</ref> Taubira gave her name to the 2001 law which declared the [[Atlantic slave trade]] a [[crime against humanity]].<ref>[http://www.ldh-toulon.net/spip.php?article575 "La Loi Taubira"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927162328/http://www.ldh-toulon.net/spip.php?article575|date=27 September 2011}}. [[Human Rights League (France)]].</ref>

In the [[2007 French presidential election|2007 presidential election]], while the party supported the PS candidate [[Ségolène Royal]], Bernard Tapie, who had been a leading figure in the PRG, supported [[Nicolas Sarkozy]]. In the [[2007 French legislative election|2007 legislative election]], the party won eight seats, including a seat in [[French Guiana]] (Taubira) and [[Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon]].

The party split on [[French constitutional law of 23 July 2008|Nicolas Sarkozy's constitutional reforms]] in 2008. Six deputies ([[Gérard Charasse]], [[Paul Giacobbi]], [[Annick Girardin]], [[Joël Giraud]], [[Dominique Orliac]] and [[Sylvia Pinel]]) and three senators ([[Jean-Michel Baylet]], [[André Boyer]] and [[François Vendasi]]) opted to vote in favour, hence allowing for its passage.

The PRG's then-president [[Jean-Michel Baylet]] ran in the [[French Socialist Party presidential primary, 2011|2011 SP presidential primaries]], the only non-PS candidate in the field, but was placed last with only 0.64% of the vote in the primary. The PRG supported [[François Hollande]], the eventual winner of the primaries and the [[2012 French presidential election|2012 presidential election]]. In the [[2012 French legislative election|2012 legislative election]], the PRG won 12 seats. With four additional members, it formed its own parliamentary group in the [[French National Assembly|National Assembly]], the [[Radical, Republican, Democratic and Progressist|Radical, Republican, Democratic and Progressive]] group.

Although the PRG remained a close and loyal ally of the PS, it has also cooperated with the small [[Ecology Generation]] (GE) party since December 2011.<ref>[http://www.generation-ecologie.fr/2011/12/14/bapt%C3%AAme-du-p%C3%B4le-radical-et-ecologique/ "Baptême du Pôle Radical et Ecologique"]. {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120604135939/http://www.generation-ecologie.fr/2011/12/14/bapt%C3%AAme-du-p%C3%B4le-radical-et-ecologique/|date=4 June 2012}}. ''Génération écologie''. 21 December 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.planeteradicale.org/Creation-du-pole-radical-et.html Création du "pôle radical et écologique"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730045546/http://www.planeteradicale.org/Creation-du-pole-radical-et.html|date=30 July 2013}}. ''Parti radical de gauche''. 21 December 2011.</ref>

In the [[2014 European Parliament election in France|2014 European elections]], the party received 13.98% of the vote on a joint list with the PS, electing one MEP [[Virginie Rozière]], who joined the [[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats]] (S&D) group with PS MEPs.

In the [[French Socialist Party presidential primary, 2017|2017 SP presidential primary]], PRG candidate [[Sylvia Pinel]] received 2% of the vote in the first round election held on 22 January 2017. In the [[2017 French legislative election]], the party only re-elected three [[Member of Parliament (France)|MPs]]; [[Annick Girardin]], [[Jeanine Dubié]] and [[Sylvia Pinel]].

In 2019, the party was relaunched.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Le PRG choisit son nouveau président|url=https://www.ladepeche.fr/2019/09/22/le-prg-choisit-son-nouveau-president,8430330.php|access-date=2022-01-15|website=ladepeche.fr|language=fr}}</ref>

The party supported [[Christiane Taubira]] in the [[2022 French presidential election]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Belaïch|first=Charlotte|title=Présidentielle : Christiane Taubira se jette dans la fosse à l'union|url=https://www.liberation.fr/politique/christiane-taubira-se-jette-dans-la-fosse-a-lunion-20211217_SFCL4YXEIBGUFMUBORHOQBHHZM/|access-date=2022-01-15|website=Libération|language=fr}}</ref>

Following the [[2022 French legislative election]], the party's only deputy is [[Olivier Falorni]] representing [[Charente-Maritime's 1st constituency]]. He was elected in 2022 with 66.11% of the (second-round) vote in that constituency, and re-elected in 2024 with 74.71%. The PRG was the only [[centre-left]] party on the French mainland with representation in the [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]] to refuse to join the [[Left-wing politics|leftist]] electoral coalition [[New Ecologic and Social People's Union|NUPES]], headed by [[Jean-Luc Mélenchon]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 May 2022 |title=Le Parti radical de gauche dénonce les négociations pour une union autour de La France insoumise |language=fr |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2022/05/02/le-parti-radical-de-gauche-denonce-les-negociations-pour-une-union-autour-de-la-france-insoumise_6124492_823448.html |access-date=3 May 2022}}</ref> and in 2024 it formed part of [[Emmanuel Macron]]'s [[Ensemble (political coalition)|Ensemble coalition]]{{cn|reason=Your explanation here|date=November 2024}}.