Christian Social People's Party

This article is about the Luxembourgish political party. For the defunct Liechtensteiner political party, see Christian-Social People's Party (Liechtenstein).

Christian Social People's Party
President	Marc Spautz
General Secretary	Laurent Zeimet
Founded	1944 (1944)
Headquarters	4 rue de l'Eau Luxembourg
Youth wing	Christian Social Youth
Ideology	Christian democracy
Political position	Centre-right
European affiliation	European People's Party
International affiliation	Centrist Democrat International
European Parliament group	European People's Party
Colours	Orange, Grey
Chamber of Deputies	23 / 60
European Parliament	3 / 6
Website
www.csv.lu
Politics of Luxembourg Political parties Elections

The Christian Social People's Party (Luxembourgish: Chrëschtlech Sozial Vollekspartei, French: Parti populaire chrétien social, German: Christlich Soziale Volkspartei), abbreviated to CSV or PCS, is the largest political party in Luxembourg. The party follows a Christian-democratic ideology and, like most parties in Luxembourg, the CSV is strongly pro-European. The CSV is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and the Centrist Democrat International (CDI).

The CSV has been the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies since the party's formation, and currently holds 23 of 60 seats in the Chamber. Since the Second World War, every Prime Minister of Luxembourg has been a member of the CSV, with only two exceptions: Gaston Thorn (1974–1979), and Xavier Bettel (2013-). It holds three of Luxembourg's six seats in the European Parliament, as it has for 20 of the 30 years for which MEPs have been directly elected.

The President is Michel Wolter. However, the leading figure from the party is the former Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, who previously governed in coalition with the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) until the 2013 general election in Luxembourg.

History

The earliest roots of the CSV date back to the foundation of the Party of the Right on 16 January 1914.

In 1944, the Party of the Right was officially transformed into the CSV. The first elections after the Second World War took place in 1945; the party won 25 out of 51 seats, missing an absolute majority by a single seat.

From 1945 to 1974, the party was in government and gave Luxembourg the following Prime Ministers: Pierre Dupong, Joseph Bech, Pierre Frieden, and Pierre Werner. Mostly in a coalition with the Democratic Party (DP), it gave Luxembourg a certain economic and social stability.

In the 1950s, the party structure underwent a certain democratisation: the party's youth section (founded in 1953) and women's section received representation in the party's central organs.

The party went into opposition for the first time in 1974, as the Democratic Party's Gaston Thorn became Prime Minister in coalition with the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP). In 1979, the party returned to government after its victory in the 1979 general election; Pierre Werner became PM.

In 1984, Jacques Santer became PM. He remained as such until 1995, when Jean-Claude Juncker became PM, with Santer meanwhile taking up the post of President of the European Commission

Following the 2013 general election, for the second time in its history the party went into opposition, as the Democratic Party's Xavier Bettel became Prime Minister in coalition with the LSAP and The Greens, making it the first time in Luxembourg's history that a three-party coalition government had been formed. This also marked the first time that The Greens were part of a governmental coalition.

Election results

Below are charts of the results that the Christian Social People's Party has secured in the Chamber of Deputies at each election. Timelines showing the number of seats and percentage of votes won are on the right.

Year	Vote %	Place	Seats	Place	Cabinet
1945	44.7	1st	25	1st	Yes
1948	36.3	2nd	22	1st	Yes
1951	42.1	1st	21	1st	Yes
1954	42.4	1st	26	1st	Yes
1959	36.9	1st	21	1st	Yes
1964	33.3	2nd	22	1st	Yes
1968	35.2	1st	21	1st	Yes
1974	27.6	2nd	18	1st	No
1979	34.5	1st	24	1st	Yes
1984	34.9	1st	25	1st	Yes
1989	32.4	1st	22	1st	Yes
1994	30.3	1st	21	1st	Yes
1999	30.1	1st	19	1st	Yes
2004	36.1	1st	24	1st	Yes
2009	38.0	1st	26	1st	Yes
2013	33.6	1st	23	1st	No

Party Office-holders

Presidents

• Émile Reuter (1945–1964)
• Tony Biever (1964–1965)
• Jean Dupong (1965–1972)
• Nicolas Mosar (1972–1974)
• Jacques Santer (1974–1982)
• Jean Spautz (1982–1990)
• Jean-Claude Juncker (1990–1995)
• Erna Hennicot-Schoepges (1995–2003)
• François Biltgen (2003–2009)
• Michel Wolter (2009–2014)
• Marc Spautz (2014–present day)

General Secretaries

• Nicolas Hommel (1944-1946)
• Lambert Schaus (1945-1952)
• Pierre Grégoire (1952-1960)
• Nicolas Mosar (1960-1972)
• Jacques Santer (1972-1974)
• Jean Weber (1974-1977)
• Jean-Pierre Kraemer (1977–1984)
• Willy Bourg (1984–1990)
• Camille Dimmer (1990–1995)
• Claude Wiseler (1995–2000)
• Jean-Louis Schiltz (2000–2006)
• Marco Schank (2006–2009)
• Marc Spautz ( 2009 – 2012)
• Laurent Zeimet (2012–present day)

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Presidents of Christian Social People's Party in the Chamber of Deputies

• Tony Biever (1959–1974)
• Pierre Werner (1974–1979)
• Nicolas Mosar (1979–1984)
• François Colling (1984–1995)
• Lucien Weiler (? – 2004)
• Michel Wolter (2004 – 2009)
• Jean-Louis Schiltz (2009 – 2011)
• Lucien Thiel (2011)+
• Marc Spautz (2011 -2013)
• Gilles Roth (2013)
• Claude Wiseler (2014–Present)

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

+ Died in office

Further reading

• Schaus, Émile (1974). Ursprung und Leistung einer Partei: Rechtspartei und Christlich-Soziale Volkspartei 1914-1974. Luxembourg : Sankt-Paulus-Druckerei.
• Trausch, Gilbert, ed. (2008). CSV Spiegelbild eines Landes und seiner Politik? Geschichte der Christlich-Sozialen Volkspartei Luxemburgs im 20. Jahrhundert. Luxembourg: Éditions Saint-Paul.

See also

• List of political parties in Luxembourg

External links

• Christian Social People's Party official website