Although the Gaullists retained their absolute majority, the results made it clear that Charles de Gaulle's position was weakening, as the French Communist Party and the Socialists achieved 40% representation in parliament.

François Mitterrand's unexpected result, as De Gaulle's challenger in the second round of the presidential election, allowed him to establish himself as the leader of the non-Communist Left.

Ahead of the election, minor redistricting occurred to account for the impending dissolution of the Seine and Seine-et-Oise departments in Ile-de-France, which contained Paris and its western suburbs, due to take place on 1 January 1968.

The centrist and right-wing opposition to de Gaulle gathered in the Democratic Centre led by Jean Lecanuet, the "third man" of 1965 presidential election.

The Independent Republicans (RI) leader and Economy minister Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was dismissed from the cabinet.