Editing Cambrai (section)

===Political trends and results===
Overall, voting in Cambrai is little different from the national vote, but the abstention rate is often higher: For example, it was 34.86% in the 2005 referendum (against 30.63%); 22.07% in the first round of the 2007 presidential election (compared with 16.23%) and 38.13% in the first round of the legislative elections of 2002 (compared to 35.58%).

Cambresiens voters seem also more cautious with regard to the [[European Union]] and the French in general: The [[referendum]] on the ratification of the Treaty on European Union of 1992 was rejected by 53.35%, while at the national level it was approved by a narrow majority of 51.04%. In 2005, the draft law on the ratification of the [[Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe]] was rejected more widely in Cambrai (59.8% of voted "No") than at the national level (54.67%).

In the [[2007 French presidential election|presidential election of 2007]] the results of the second round were very close to national figures: 54.07% for [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] and 45.93% for [[Ségolène Royal]], against respectively 53.06% and 46.94% at the national level. In the first round [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]] achieved a slightly better result at Cambrai (13.28%) than France (10.44%), while [[François Bayrou]] was in a reversed situation (16.77% against 18.57%). [[Arlette Laguiller]] (2.02%) and [[Olivier Besancenot]] (4.77%) were the only other candidates to exceed 1.5%. In the second round of the [[2002 French presidential election|presidential election of 2002]] [[Jacques Chirac]] arrived largely in the lead in Cambrai as in the rest of the country but Jean-Marie Le Pen's result was higher (21.11% against 17.79%).

In the [[2007 French legislative election|legislative elections of 2007]], [[François-Xavier Villain]], the candidate related to the [[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]] and who was also the incumbent Mayor of Cambrai, achieved 57.42% in the first round (48.03% in the constituency). All the other candidates were below the national percentage of their party. For example, the [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist Party]] achieved 22.91% against 24.73%, the [[French Communist Party|Communist Party]] at 3.10% compared to 4.29% and the UDF at 6.21% against 7.61%. The decline of the [[National Front (France)|National Front]] was also more marked in Cambrai (4.14%) than elsewhere (4.24%). One finds a situation close to the [[2002 French legislative election|2002 elections]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_votre_service/elections/resultats/|title = Résultats électoraux en France|work = Minister of the Interior, de l'outre-mer et des collectivités territoriales|date = 6 April 2010|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111129115403/http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_votre_service/elections/resultats|archive-date = 29 November 2011}}</ref>

In the first round of the [[2012 French presidential election|presidential election of 2012]], the four candidates in the lead in Cambrai were [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] ([[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]], 28.29%), [[François Hollande]] ([[Socialist Party (France)|PS]], 27.56%), [[Marine Le Pen]] ([[National Front (France)|FN]], 20.81%) and [[Jean-Luc Mélenchon]] ([[Left Front (France)|Left Front]], 10.14%) with a turnout of 72.61%. In the second round, François Hollande was in the lead with 50.75% of the vote, with a participation rate of 73.09%.<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://elections.interieur.gouv.fr/PR2012/031/059/059122.html|title=Les résultats de l'élection présidentielle 2012 |work=Minister of the Interior}}</ref>