Editing Union for French Democracy (section)

===1990s===
With the dismissal of Rocard in 1991 there were no longer UDF ministers from the government, thus RPR and the UDF were allied in opposition to the subsequent Socialist governments which were weakened by economic crisis, scandals and internal quarrels. The RPR–UDF coalition named "[[Union of the Right and Centre|Union for France]]" comfortably won the [[1993 French legislative election|1993 legislative election]] and obtained a massive majority in the National Assembly. The new Prime Minister [[Édouard Balladur]], who hailed from the RPR, nominated a large number of UDF members to his cabinet: [[François Léotard]] (PR) became minister of Defense, [[Gérard Longuet]] (PR) of Industry, [[Pierre Méhaignerie]] (CDS) of Justice, [[François Bayrou]] (CDS) of Education, Simone Veil (PR) of Health and Social Affairs, [[Alain Madelin]] (PR) of Commerce, [[Bernard Bosson]] (CDS) of Transport, [[Jean Puech]] (CDS) of Agriculture, [[André Rossinot]] (Rad) of Civil Service and [[Hervé de Charette]] (CPR) of Housing.

In the run-up of the [[1995 French presidential election|1995 presidential election]] the different components of the UDF were unable to agree on a common candidacy and consequently they divided between the two RPR candidates. Most UDF members supported Balladur, whereas a minority endorsed Chirac, as Giscard had proposed. In the aftermath, the CDS merged with the PSD into [[Democratic Force (France)|Democratic Force]] (FD), while CPR members and other supporters of Giscard within the PR formed the [[Popular Party for French Democracy]] (PPDF).

After Chirac's election as president of France, some UDF ministers were dismissed as a result of their support for Balladur. Nevertheless, in [[Alain Juppé]]'s cabinet, the UDF was given several ministries including Foreign Affairs with [[Hervé de Charette]] (PPDF), Defense with [[Charles Millon]] (PR), Economy and Finances with Alain Madelin (PR), Industry with [[Yves Galland]] (Rad), Education with François Bayrou (CDS/FD), Commerce with [[Jean-Pierre Raffarin]] (PR), Labour with [[Jacques Barrot]] (CDS/FD), Agriculture with [[Philippe Vasseur]] (CDS/FD), Culture with [[Philippe Douste-Blazy]] (CDS/FD), Economic Development with [[Jean Arthuis]] (PR) and Reform and Decentralization with [[Claude Goasguen]] (PR).

In 1996 François Léotard, a Republican and a former ''balladurien'', was elected president of the UDF by defeating Alain Madelin, who was also a Republican, but had supported Chirac. After the defeat of the RPR–UDF front in the [[1997 French legislative election|1997 legislative election]], the UDF faced a major crisis. While the centrist components had merged into FD, the conservative liberals tried to overcome the fracture between ''chiraquiens'' and ''balladuriens''. The PR was joined by some politicians from the PPDF, such as Jean-Pierre Raffarin (a former Republican), and was renamed [[Liberal Democracy (France)|Liberal Democracy]] (DL), under Madelin's leadership. DL soon began to reassert its autonomy within the alliance and finally broke ranks with the UDF in 1998. The split was triggered by the [[1998 French regional elections|1998 regional elections]], during which some UDF politicians were elected regional presidents with the support of the [[National Rally|National Front]]: DL refused to condemn the arrangement, whilst the UDF leadership did.