The Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin announced his political retirement after his elimination at the first round of the 2002 presidential elections.

President Jacques Chirac was easily reelected, all the Republican parties having called to block far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The UMP campaigned against "cohabitation", which is blamed for causing confusion profitable to the far-right and far-left.

Jean-Pierre Raffarin, a relatively low-profile politician who said he would listen to "France at the bottom", was chosen as the party's candidate for Prime Minister.

Furthermore, the left-wing parties could not motivate their voters against an unrecognized and apparently uncontroversial politician like Raffarin.