2012 French legislative election in the context of French legislative constituencies for citizens abroad

France is divided into 577 constituencies (circonscriptions) for the election of deputies to the lower legislative House, the National Assembly (539 in Metropolitan France, 27 in the overseas departments and territories, and 11 for French residents overseas). Deputies are elected in a two round system to a term fixed to a maximum of five years.

In 2010, a new set of constituency boundaries was adopted, with the dual purpose of ensuring a more equal number of voters per constituency, and of providing seats in the National Assembly to representatives of French citizens resident outside France. 33 constituencies were abolished, and 33 new ones created. Of the latter, 17 are in metropolitan France, five are in overseas France, while the rest of the world was divided into 11 constituencies for French residents overseas. These new constituencies were contested for the first time in the National Assembly elections of June 2012.

Legislative constituencies for French people domiciled outside France (French: Circonscriptions législatives des Français établis hors de France) are eleven constituencies, returning one member each to the French National Assembly, elected by French people living outside France. As of 2024, the constituencies represent almost 1.7 million French voters in total.

They were created by the 2010 redistricting of French legislative constituencies, the aim of which was to enable expatriates to be represented as such, rather than vote remotely for a constituency on French territory, as was the case previously. Their creation does not increase the overall number of seats in the Assembly, which remains stable at 577, since it is compensated for by a redrawing of boundaries which reduces the number of seats in France itself to 566. These measures were implemented for the 2012 legislative election. There have also been senators representing overseas citizens since 1982; they are elected indirectly, by the Assembly of French Citizens Abroad.

The 15th legislature of the French Fifth Republic (French: XV législature de la Cinquième République française) was the French Parliament that was in office from 27 June 2017 (following the legislative elections on 11 and 18 June 2017) until 21 June 2022. The party of President Emmanuel Macron, La République En Marche! (LREM), obtained an absolute majority of 308 deputies, alongside its ally, the Democratic Movement (MoDem), which secured 42 seats. The newly installed deputies elected François de Rugy as President of the National Assembly when the National Assembly first convened on 27 June. The legislative election saw a record level of renewal, with only a quarter of the deputies elected in 2012 also elected in 2017, as well as a significant increase in the representation of women and youth. With seven planned parliamentary groups, it would be the most fragmented National Assembly since 1958.