The 1945 local elections in the Pas-de-Calais: a political system transformed?

In 1945, more than 150 candidates belonging in the majority to the left and having often taken part in the Resistance fought over the 46 seats of "conseillers generaux" of the Pas-de-Calais. Along the electoral campaign, the communists insisted on the necessity of a serious cleansing, the SFIO on its role in the Resistance, the MRP on its character of new party and the Radicals as well as the Moderates on the need to return to free-market economy. The first round of the elections is marked by a victory of the socialists, a thrust of the communists and of the MRP, a sharp decline of the right-wing parties and the radicals. The second round confirms the thorough success of the SFIO. The majority change that takes place then is important: it is accompanied by a deep renovation of the department's political class and it opens a period of hitherto uninterrupted socialist domination over the Pas-de-Calais' "Conseil general".