In the vote, he received 134 votes against 173 votes for Larcher.The left won a Senate majority in the September 2011 Senate election, and Bel was elected as President of the Senate on 1 October 2011.
He received 179 votes against 134 votes for the right's candidate, outgoing Senate President Larcher; a centrist, Valerie Letard, received 29 votes.