Chamber:
	Sénat
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	27 September 1998
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for one-third (104) of the seats in the Senate on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	In the 1998 triennial elections, 104 seats were up for renewal. These included 95 of metropolitan France in departments at the head of the alphabet (to the letter i). Polling results did not significantly alter the make-up of the Senate, with the two leading groups - the Rally for the Republic (RPR) and the Socialists - both gaining seats to arrive at overall totals of 99 (+5) and 78 (+3), respectively. Of the seats up for renewal, the Socialist Party (PS) came out ahead with 32 victories to 29 for the right-wing RPR. The Centrist Union group, for its part, lost seven seats. Altogether 13 Senators who sought re-election were not returned.

STATISTICS

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total 1998
Socialist Party	32
Rally for the Republic (RPR)	29
Liberal Democracy (DL)	13
Other parties of the right	7
Democratic Force (UDF-FD)	7
Radical Party (UDF-Rad.)	4
Union for French Democracy (direct members)	4
Communist Party	2
Others	6

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	302
Women:	19

Distribution of seats according to age:
41-50 years	42
51-60 years	109
61-70 years	110
71-80 years	56
Over 80 years	4
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Teaching	70
Medical professions	44
Civil servants	43
Salaried employees	41
Legal and liberal professions	39
Agricultural professions	35
Commerce and industry	32
Undeclared	17