The French Socialist Party (PS) was established by the conversion of the Section francaise de l’internationale ouvriere (SFIO) in to the PS in 1969. However it wasn’t until 1971 at the Epinay-sur-seine conference, when Francois Mitterrand emerged as leader that it began its transformation into France’s leading political party. In order to understand the transition that took place within the socialist ranks in the 1980’s in France it is necessary to have an idea of the history of the left (RBB, 2000). During the Fourth Republic the Socialists (SFIO) adopted an anti communist stance, due to the influence of the