Nord's 10th constituency

10th constituency of the North

French National Assembly constituency
Nord's 10th Constituency shown within Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Deputy	Gérald Darmanin UMP
Department	Nord
Canton	Tourcoing-Nord, Tourcoing-Nord-Est
Voters	80,361

Nord's tenth 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 two cantons (Tourcoing-Nord, and Tourcoing-Nord-Est), which together constitute part of the town of Tourcoing. (The southern part of the town of Tourcoing is part of Nord's 9th constituency.)

Deputies

Election		Member[1]	Party
1986		Proportional representation - no election by constituency
	1988	Jean-Pierre Balduyck	PS
	1993	Christian Vanneste	RPR
	1997	Jean-Pierre Balduyck	PS
	2002	Christian Vanneste	UMP
	2007		CNIP
	2012	Gérald Darmanin	UMP

Election results

2012

Following repeated homophobic statements by incumbent MP Christian Vanneste, the Union for a Popular Movement once more withdrew its endorsement of him (as it had done in 2007), but this time (unlike 2007) stood a candidate against him. Vanneste stood as the candidate of the Rally for France, a minor party of which he was the president since March 2012.^[2][3][4]

Vanneste was eliminated in the first round of the vote, finishing fourth with 13.18%. The Socialist and UMP candidates were qualified for the runoff, receiving respectively 30.69% and 25.06% of the vote.^[5]

Legislative Election 2012: Nord 10th - 2nd round
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UMP	Gérald Darmanin	19,585	54,88
	PS	Zina Dahmani	16,100	45,12
Turnout
	UMP gain from Miscellaneous right		Swing

2007

Christian Vanneste, the incumbent MP for the Union for a Popular Movement, lost the endorsement of his party after making repeated homophobic remarks. He had said in particular that homosexuality was an "acquired habit" which could be lost through "reeducation"; that homosexuality was "sectarian", inherently "narcissistic" and a "threat to the survival of humanity"; and that all homosexuals were "heterophobic" Such comments are rare in France, and drew widespread condemnation. The UMP did not allow him to stand as its candidate, but it did not stand a candidate against him. Vanneste stood as the candidate of the National Centre of Independents and Peasants, an associate party of the UMP. After his successful reelection, he was fully reintegrated into the UMP, and sat as one of its members in Parliament.^[3][6]

Legislative Election 2007: Nord 10th - 2nd round[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	CNIP	Christian Vanneste	21 720	58.56	+2.15
	PS	Najat Azmy	15 367	41.44	-2.15
Turnout			38 949	49.67	-4.62
	CNIP gain from UMP		Swing	+2.15

2002

Legislative Election 2002: Nord 10th - 2nd round[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UMP	Christian Vanneste	21 806	56.41
	PS	Jean-Pierre Balduyck	16 852	43.59
Turnout			40 215	54.29
	UMP gain from PS		Swing

References

1. "Notices et portraits des députés de la Ve République, website of the National Assembly
2. "Christian Vanneste officialise sa candidature dans le Nord pour les législatives", Le Nouvel Observateur, 16 May 2012
3. "Là où l'ex-UMP Vanneste affronte l'UMP", Libération, 24 May 2012
4. "Christian Vanneste élu à la tête du RPF", AFP, 22 March 2012
5. "Résultats du 1er tour - 10 juin 2012 dans la 10ème circonscription du Nord", Le Monde
6. "Vanneste, dix ans de combats contre le "lobby gay"", Le Journal du Dimanche, 15 February 2012
7. Official results (2007), website of the French government
8. Official results (2002), website of the French government

Sources

• Official results of French elections from 1998: "Résultats électoraux officiels en France" (in French).