Nord's 19th constituency

Nord's nineteenth constituency is a French legislative constituency in the Nord département (in the far North of France). It is one of twenty-one in that département, and covers three cantons in whole or in part : Bouchain, Denain and Valenciennes-Sud (minus Valenciennes itself).[1]

Patrick Roy, MP from 2002 until his death in 2011, known for his colourful clothes and love of heavy metal music.[2]

19th constituency of the North

French National Assembly constituency
Nord's 19th constituency shown within Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Deputy	Sébastien Chenu RN
Department	Nord
Cantons	Bouchain, Denain, Valenciennes-Sud (part).
Registered voters	79,055

Deputies

This was a consistently left-wing constituency until 2017. It was long held by the French Communist Party prior to the redistricting in 1986.

Election		Member[3]	Party
1986		Proportional representation - no election by constituency
	1988	Gustave Ansart	PCF
	1990 (following Ansart's death)	René Carpentier	PCF
	1993
	1997	Patrick Leroy	PCF
	2002	Patrick Roy	PS
	2007
	2011 (following Roy's death)	Marie-Claude Marchand	PS
	2012	Anne-Lise Dufour-Tonini	PS
	2017	Sébastien Chenu	FN

Election results

2017

Candidate		Label	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Sébastien Chenu	FN	11,839	33.21	16,013	55.35
	Sabine Hebbar	MoDem	6,443	18.08	12,920	44.65
	Anne-Lise Dufour-Tonini	PS	5,019	14.08
	Julien Poix	FI	4,573	12.83
	Pascal Jean	PCF	3,480	9.76
	Olivier Capron	LR	2,472	6.94
	Xavier Blottière	ECO	639	1.79
	Marlène Wrobel	EXG	439	1.23
	Serge Thomès	EXD	336	0.94
	Sébastien Dufour	DIV	243	0.68
	Saïda Bamoune	DVG	161	0.45
Votes			35,644	100.00	28,933	100.00
Valid votes			35,644	97.74	28,933	90.20
Blank votes			607	1.66	2,176	6.78
Null votes			219	0.60	967	3.01
Turnout			36,470	46.11	32,076	40.56
Abstentions			42,631	53.89	47,011	59.44
Registered voters			79,101		79,087
Source: Ministry of the Interior

2012

Legislative Election 2012: Nord's 19th constituency

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PS	Anne-Lise Dufour-Tonini	13,756	32.84
	FG	Michel Lefebvre*	10,137	24.20
	FN	Catherine Rouvier	8,215	19.61
	UMP	Olivier Capron	6,185	14.76
	DVG	Marie-Claude Marchand	1,067	2.55
	Others	N/A	2,530
Turnout			41,890	52.99
2nd round result
	PS	Anne-Lise Dufour-Tonini	19,873	100.00
Turnout			19,873	25.14
	PS hold

* Withdrew before the 2nd round

2007

The constituency was one of just two (the other being Seine-Saint-Denis' 7th constituency) in which there was only one candidate in the second round, thus guaranteeing his re-election. The law provides that candidates obtaining the votes of at least 12.5% of registered voters in the first round advance to the second round. The parties of the mainstream left had a nationwide agreement whereby if two of them advanced to the second round, the second-placed would automatically withdraw. Primarily, this was to avoid dividing the left-wing or centre-left electorate in constituencies where a right-wing, centre-right or far-right candidate had also reached the second round. In the North's 19th constituency, however, as in 2002, the Socialist and Communist candidates were the only ones to reach the second round, respectively in first and second place. Communist candidate and former MP Patrick Leroy again honoured the agreement and withdrew, enabling Patrick Roy to be re-elected in a walkover.[4] 24.4% of voters nonetheless cast a blank ballot.[5]

2007

Legislative Election 2007: Nord's 19th constituency[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PS	Patrick Roy	14,648	32.82
	PCF	Patrick Leroy*	9,514	21.32
	UMP	Fatiha Rahaoui	6,344	14.21
	DVD	Jean-Claude Kikos	5,313	11.90
	FN	Serge Thomes	3,247	7.28
	MoDem	Antonio Notarianni	1,236	2.77
	Others	N/A	4,329
Turnout			45,643	56.88
2nd round result
	PS	Patrick Roy	22,870	100.00
Turnout			30,252	37.70
	PS hold

* Withdrew before the 2nd round

2002

The constituency was one of just three (the others being Paris' 16th constituency and Nord's 16th constituency) in which there was only one candidate in the second round, thus guaranteeing his re-election. The law provides that candidates obtaining the votes of at least 12.5% of registered voters in the first round advance to the second round. The parties of the mainstream left had a nationwide agreement whereby if two of them advanced to the second round, the second-placed would automatically withdraw. Primarily, this was to avoid dividing the left-wing or centre-left electorate in constituencies where a right-wing, centre-right or far-right candidate had also reached the second round. In the North's 19th constituency, however, incumbent Communist MP Patrick Leroy and his Socialist challenger Patrick Roy were the only ones to reach the second round, respectively in second and first and place; Roy pipped Leroy to first place by fewer than 200 votes (0.43%). Leroy honoured the agreement and withdrew, enabling Roy and the Socialists to take the constituency in a walkover.[6][7]

Legislative Election 2002: Nord's 19th constituency

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PS	Patrick Roy	11,649	25.85
	PCF	Patrick Leroy*	11,455	25.42
	UMP	Jean-Claude Kikos	8,356	18.54
	FN	Serge Thomes	7,691	17.07
	CPNT	Daniel Boda	1,182	2.62
	UDF	Maryse van Caneghem	1,059	2.35
	Others	N/A	3,673
Turnout			46,107	59.12
2nd round result
	PS	Patrick Roy	20,973	100.00
Turnout			28,925	37.09
	PS gain from PCF

1997

Legislative Election 1997: Nord's 19th constituency

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PCF	Patrick Leroy	17,340	33.22
	PS	Michel François*	11,607	22.23
	FN	Serge Thomes	9,208	17.64
	RPR	Bernard Godin	7,778	14.90
	LO	Josiane Dubois	2,001	3.83
	DVD	Philippe Nenert	1,153	2.21
	Others	N/A	3,115
Turnout			54,687	72.09
2nd round result
	PCF	Patrick Leroy	31,575	100.00
Turnout			43,975	57.98
	PCF hold

* Withdrew before the 2nd round

References

1. Loi n° 86-1197 du 24 novembre 1986 relative à la délimitation des circonscriptions pour l'élection des députés
2. "Metallica et le hard rock s'invitent à l'Assemblée nationale", Le Post, 19 April 2009
3. "Notices et portraits des députés de la Ve République, website of the National Assembly
4. "Législatives : 49,58% de participation à 17h", L'Express, 17 June 2007
5. Official results: 2007, French government website
6. "Dix triangulaires au second tour des législatives", L'Express, 12 June 2002
7. Official results: 2002, French government website