 A communist group existed through the duration of the Fourth Republic in the Council of the Republic, with 74 seats following senatorial elections on 8 December 1946, 17 seats following senatorial elections on 7 November 1948, 16 seats following senatorial elections on 18 May 1952, 14 seats following senatorial elections on 19 June 1955, and 16 seats following senatorial elections on 8 June 1958.In the Fifth Republic, Jacques Duclos served as the first leader of the communist group ("groupe communiste") in the Senate.After the death of Duclos on 25 April 1975, Marie-Thérèse Goutmann took over the presidency of the group on 20 May 1975, becoming the first woman to preside over a parliamentary group.