The Centre (political party)

The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (CVP) was founded in 1912 as the Catholic Conservative Party of Switzerland, becoming the Conservative-Christian-Social People's Party in 1957. In 1970, the name changed to the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland.[4] Over time, the party's dependence on Catholic and rural voters resulted in a deterioration of its vote share nationally, but most especially in urban areas. In the four largest cantons of Zürich, Bern, Vaud and Aargau, the CVP held only three of 94 seats in the National Council.[4] It later ceded one of its two seats on the Federal Council to the SVP in accordance with the Magic formula used to derive party strength on the nation's executive.[5] From the 1995 election to the 2019 election, the CVP's vote share decreased from 16.8% to 11.4%.[6] After the 2003 election, Ruth Metzler of the CVP, was replaced by Christoph Blocher of the Swiss People's Party on the Federal Council, leaving the CVP with only one seat in the country's executive.[7]

The Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP) was founded on 1 November 2008 after moderate members of the Swiss People's Party (SVP), who supported the election of Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf over SVP leader Christoph Blocher to the Federal Council, were expelled by the national SVP and formed the new party.[8][9] It remained a regional party with strength in Bern, Glarus and Grisons, but little support elsewhere in the country.[10][11]

The parties had discussed a political alliance similar to that of the CDU/CSU in Germany from 2012 to 2014, but those negotiations failed. BDP President Martin Landolt openly discussed a merger after the 2019 elections when both parties saw their share of the vote drop from 2015.[12] The parties agreed to a merger in September 2020 and both ratified the merger during 2020.[13][14][15][16] The primary opposition to the change was among members who did not want to drop the "Christian" affiliation for the party.[4] Cantonal parties were not required to adopt the new name if they do not wish to do so.[6] However, the parties will be asked to make a decision on the name within five years of the national change. The party in the Canton of Valais rejected the change, voting to remain as the CVP.[17] The CVP of Aargau, however, moved forward before the national party and contested the November 2020 elections to the Grand Council of Aargau as "CVP – Die Mitte".[18]

In the 2019 Swiss federal election, the CVP tallied 11.6% of the vote for the National Council with 25 members, while the BDP won 2.4% and had three members. For elections to the Council of States, the CVP had 13 members. Combined, The Centre has 28 members in the National Council, placing it in a tie for fourth-largest in the lower house. It retains its status as the largest party in the upper house.

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