[2] On 15 January 2008, de Rohan stood down as president of the group to assume the role of president of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces Committee,[3] and was succeeded the same day by the former member of the Radical Party Henri de Raincourt.

[4] De Raincourt subsequently stepped down on 6 July 2009, ahead of his appointment to the government,[5] with Gérard Longuet elected unopposed as his successor on 7 July, his only opponent – Eric Doligé – having withdrawn his candidacy before the vote.

[6] On 7 March 2011, Longuet departed from the presidency of the group after his appointment as Minister of Defense within the government,[7] with Jean-Claude Gaudin taking his place on 8 March uncontested; though Jean-Pierre Raffarin envisaged the possibility of presenting his candidature, he ultimately supported Gaudin for the post.

[8] The UMP group lost its relative majority in the 2011 renewal,[9][10] after which the left took control of the upper chamber for the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic.

[11] Though Gaudin remained in the Senate after the 2014 renewal, he did not wish to seek the presidency of the group, leaving it to an open contest instead.