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Schweizerische Volkspartei

Swiss People's Party /
Democratic Union of the Centre

Schweizerische Volkspartei (German)
Union Démocratique du Centre (French)
Unione Democratica di Centro (Italian)
Partida Populara Svizra (Romansh)
Leader Albert Rösti
Members in Federal Council Ueli Maurer
Guy Parmelin
Founded 22 September 1971
Merger of BGB and Democratic Party
Headquarters Brückfeldstrasse 18
CH-3001 Berne
Youth wing Young SVP
LGBT wing GaySVP
Membership  (2015) 90,000
Ideology Swiss nationalism
National conservatism

Right-wing populism
Economic liberalism
Agrarianism
Isolationism
Euroscepticism
Political position Right-wing
European affiliation None
International affiliation None
Colours      Dark Green
Slogan "Swiss quality, the party of the middle class"
Federal Council
2 / 7
National Council
65 / 200
Council of States
5 / 46
Cantonal executives
23 / 154
Cantonal legislatures
590 / 2,609
Election symbol
Swiss Peoples Party.png
Website
www.svp.ch

The Swiss People's Party (German: Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP; Romansh: Partida populara Svizra, PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (French: Union démocratique du centre, UDC; Italian: Unione Democratica di Centro, UDC), is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Albert Rösti, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 65 members of the National Council and 5 of the Council of States.

The SVP originated in 1971 as a merger of the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents (BGB) and the Democratic Party, while the BGB in turn had been founded in the context of the emerging local farmers' parties in the late 1910s. The SVP initially didn't witness any increased support beyond that of the BGB, retaining around 11% of the vote through the 1970s and 1980s. This changed however during the 1990s, when the party underwent deep structural and ideological changes under the influence of Christoph Blocher; the SVP then became the strongest party in Switzerland by the 2000s.

In line with the changes fostered by Blocher, the party started to focus increasingly on issues such as euroscepticism and opposition to mass immigration. As of 2015 the SVP has 54 seats in the Federal Assembly, and its vote share of 28.9% in the 2007 Federal Council election was the highest vote ever recorded for a single party in Switzerland until 2015, when it surpassed its own record with 29.4%. When Blocher failed to win re-election as a Federal Councillor in 2007, moderates within the party split off, forming the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP).


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