Swiss People's Party
 |
|
| 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 |
| 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 | |
 |
|
| 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[update] 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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