[3] The previous legislative elections in 1951 had been won by the Third Force, a coalition of center-left and center-right parties, but it was divided about denominational schools question and, when faced with the colonial problem, the governments had gradually moved towards the right.

A part of the Rally of the French People (RPF), the Gaullist party, joined the majority in opposing the leadership of Charles de Gaulle, who then retired.

The Poujadists won 51 seats versus predictions of six to eight, including a young Jean-Marie Le Pen,[4] and the press stated that they held the balance of power.

Media reception was mixed, with the result welcomed by communist supporters and condemned by papers such as The Times, Le Figaro,[5] and The Saturday Evening Post.

[3] At the beginning he was also supported by the Communists, but pressure from the pieds-noir in Algeria incited him into leading a very repressive policy against the Algerian nationalists.