Editing Union for a Popular Movement (section)

==Ideology and platform==
{{Conservatism in France|Parties}}
The UMP was a party of the [[centre-right politics|centre-right]]<ref name="centreright">{{cite book|first=Thomas M.|last=Magstadt|title=Understanding Politics|edition=9th|publisher=Wadsworth, Cengage Learning|year=2011|page=[https://archive.org/details/understandingpol0009mags/page/183 183]|url=https://archive.org/details/understandingpol0009mags|url-access=registration}}</ref> belonging to the [[Gaullism|Gaullist]] lineage,<ref name="HlousekKopecek">{{cite book|first1=Vít|last1=Hloušek|first2=Lubomír|last2=Kopeček|title=Origin, Ideology and Transformation of Political Parties: East-Central and Western Europe Compared|publisher=Ashgate|year=2010|page=157|isbn=9780754678403|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K79sdX-amEgC&pg=PA157}}</ref><ref name="Slomp2011">{{cite book|first=Hans|last=Slomp|title=Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics|volume=2|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2011|pages=393–394|isbn=9780313391828|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LmfAPmwE6YYC&pg=PA393}}</ref> and was variously described as [[Liberal conservatism|liberal-conservative]],<ref name=Nordsieck/><ref>{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Kaeding|title=Better regulation in the European Union: Lost in Translation or Full Steam Ahead?|publisher=Leiden University Press|year=2007|page=123|isbn=9789087280260|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8dPmxot75ykC&pg=PA123}}</ref> [[Conservatism|conservative]],<ref name=“Vaccari2013”>{{cite book|author=Cristian Vaccari|title=Digital Politics in Western Democracies: A Comparative Study|year=2013|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=9781421411170|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sSCcAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA89|page=89}}</ref> [[Conservative liberalism|conservative-liberal]],<ref name="Slomp2011"/> and [[Christian democracy|Christian democratic]].<ref name=Nordsieck>{{cite web|url-status=dead|url=http://parties-and-elections.eu/france.html|title=France|last=Nordsieck|first=Wolfram|date=2012|website=Parties and Elections in Europe|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150523000823/http://parties-and-elections.eu/france.html|archive-date=23 May 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The UMP believed that each individual's [[destiny]] must be unencumbered and it rejects political systems which "stifle economic freedom". It said that work, merit, innovation and personal initiative must be encouraged to reduce unemployment and boost economic growth; but at the same time, it maintained that adherence to the rule of law and the authority of the state is necessary. In a [[Gaullist]] tradition, the UMP supported solidarity, with the state guaranteeing social protection of less fortunate individuals. But in a more liberal vein, the party always denounced ''l'assistanat'', a French term which can refer to "welfare [[handouts]]".

The party took more nationalist positions at times, and often adopted tough stances against immigration and [[illegal immigration]]. It strongly supported the integration and [[Cultural assimilation|assimilation]] of immigrants into French society and always denounced [[communitarianism]] as a danger to the French [[nation-state]]. However, the UMP traditionally was a strong proponent of [[European integration]] and the [[European Union]], albeit sometimes with a hint of traditional Gaullist [[souverainism]].<ref>[http://www.u-m-p.org/notre-parti/nos-valeurs Nos valeurs] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424005425/http://www.u-m-p.org/notre-parti/nos-valeurs |date=24 April 2013 }} UMP website, consulted 15 March 2013</ref>

Under [[Nicolas Sarkozy]]'s leadership, the UMP adopted a liberal and security-oriented platform. His platform in the [[2007 French presidential election|2007]] and [[2012 French presidential election|2012 presidential election]]s emphasised the ideas of personal responsibility and individual initiative. He developed the idea of "working more to earn more", promising that [[overtime]] hours would not be taxed and employers exonerated from [[non-wage labour costs]].<ref name="BrechonPierre">{{Citation |first1=Bréchon |last1=Pierre|title=Les partis politiques français |publisher=La documentation française |year=2011 |pages=62–65}}</ref> Under his presidency, the government's short-lived [[tax cap]] for high-income earners was denounced by the left but also several centrist and centre-right politicians within or outside the UMP.

Having gained his popularity as a 'hardliner' [[Ministry of the Interior (France)|Interior minister]], Sarkozy's policies also carried a strong law-and-order and tough on crime orientation. He supported tougher sentences for criminals and [[Recidivism|repeat offenders]].<ref name="BrechonPierre"/> As candidate and president, he placed heavy emphasis on immigration and [[national identity]], presenting immigration as a danger to French identity and as source of increased criminality. As president, he imposed stricter limits on [[family reunification]], created a [[French Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Codevelopment|Ministry of Immigration, and National Identity]] for three years between 2007 and 2010, launched a controversial national dialogue on national identity and [[French Roma expulsion|expelled thousands]] of [[Romani people|Roma]] from illegal camps.<ref name="BrechonPierre"/>

Critics of the right-wing government denounced what they felt was a rapprochement with the controversial far-right [[National Front (France)|National Front]] (FN). While several members of the UMP's right-wing have indicated that they would favour local alliances with the FN and prefer to vote for a FN candidate over a [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist Party]] or left-wing candidate in runoff elections between the left and the FN; the party's official position continues to reject alliances with the FN at any level but also opposes so-called "[[Republican Front (French Fifth Republic)|republican fronts]]" with the left against the FN.<ref>[http://www.liberation.fr/politiques/2012/06/11/ni-fn-ni-front-republicain-l-ump-choisit-de-ne-pas-choisir_825481 Ni FN ni front républicain: l'UMP choisit de ne pas choisir] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306052808/http://www.liberation.fr/politiques/2012/06/11/ni-fn-ni-front-republicain-l-ump-choisit-de-ne-pas-choisir_825481 |date=6 March 2013 }} ''[[Libération]]'', 11 June 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.slate.fr/story/57663/droite-ump-fn-convergence UMP/FN: La recomposition des droites, hypothèse crédible ou fantasme mariniste] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521163748/http://www.slate.fr/story/57663/droite-ump-fn-convergence |date=21 May 2013 }} ''Slate'', 17 June 2012</ref>