1885 French legislative election

Legislative elections were held in France on 4 and 18 October 1885. Following the deaths of Napoléon, Prince Imperial and the Comte de Chambord, the monarchists and Bonapartists formed a conservative electoral alliance under the leadership of the Baron de Mackau. In the first round of the election, the conservatives won 176 seats, whereas the Opportunist Republicans - partly because radical and moderate Republicans ran against each other, underestimating the danger from the right - only won 127. However, in the second round the radical and moderate Republicans agreed that the worse-placed Republican candidates would withdraw, and Republicans won 244 seats to the conservatives' 25, leading to a Republican victory.

1885 French legislative election

4–18 October 1885
All 584 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 293 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Henri Brisson Armand de Mackau Party Opportunist Republicans Moderates Monarchists Seats won 200 83 73
Prime Minister before election Henri Brisson Republican Union Elected Prime Minister Henri Brisson Democratic Union

Henri Brisson remained prime minister immediately after the elections, but resigned in December following his defeat in the presidential election to the incumbent, Jules Grévy. Brisson was replaced by Charles de Freycinet.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Opportunist Republicans			200
	Moderates			83
	Monarchists			73
	Bonapartists			65
	Conservatives			63
	Radical Socialists			60
	Independent Radicals			40
Total				584
Total votes		7,929,503	–
Registered voters/turnout		10,278,979	77.14
Source: Rois et Presidents