Editing Union for a Popular Movement (section)

===Background===
Since the 1980s, the political groups of the parliamentary right have joined forces around the values of [[economic liberalism]] and the [[European integration|building of Europe]]. Their rivalries had contributed to their defeat in the [[1981 French legislative election|1981]] and [[1988 French legislative election|1988]] legislative elections.

Before the [[1993 French legislative election|1993 legislative election]], the [[Gaullism|Gaullist]] [[Rally for the Republic]] (RPR) and the centrist [[Union for French Democracy]] (UDF) formed an electoral alliance, the [[Union for France]] (UPF). However, in the [[1995 French presidential election|1995 presidential campaign]], they were both divided between followers of [[Jacques Chirac]], who was eventually elected, and supporters of Prime Minister [[Edouard Balladur]]. After their defeat in the [[1997 French legislative election|1997 legislative election]], the RPR and UDF created the [[Alliance for France]] in order to coordinate the actions of their parliamentary groups.