The Christian Social People's Party ( lb, Chrëschtlech Sozial Vollekspartei, french: Parti populaire chrétien-social, german: Christlich Soziale Volkspartei), abbreviated to CSV or PCS, is the largest

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. The party follows a

Christian-democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

and

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

ideology and, like most parties in

, is strongly

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...

. The CSV is a member of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily ...

(EPP) and the

Centrist Democrat International The Centrist Democrat International ( es, Internacional Demócrata de Centro) is a Christian-democratic political international. Until 2001, it was known as the Christian Democrat International (CDI); before 1999, it was known as the Christian D ...

(CDI). The CSV has been the largest party in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon Res ...

since the party's formation, and currently holds 21 of 60 seats in the Chamber. Since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, every

Prime Minister of Luxembourg german: Premierminister von Luxemburg , insignia = Lesser CoA luxembourg.svg , insigniasize = 100px , insigniacaption = Lesser coat of arms of Luxembourg , insigniaalt = , flag ...

has been a member of the CSV, with only two exceptions:

Gaston Thorn Gaston Egmond Thorn (3 September 192826 August 2007) was a Luxembourg politician who served in a number of high-profile positions, both domestically and internationally. Amongst the posts that he held were the 19th Prime Minister of Luxembour ...

(1974–1979), and

Xavier Bettel Xavier Bettel (; born 3 March 1973) is a Luxembourger lawyer and politician serving as Prime Minister of Luxembourg since 2013. He was previously a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1999–2013) and Mayor of Luxembourg City (2011–2013). Be ...

(2013–). It holds two of

's six seats in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

, as it has for 20 of the 30 years for which

MEPs A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, it ...

have been directly elected. The party's

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

is since April 2021

Claude Wiseler Claude Wiseler (born 30 January 1960 in Luxembourg City) is a Luxembourgish politician. He has been a member of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV) since 1983, and served in the government led by Jean-Claude Juncker until 2013. He attended ...

. However, the leading figure from the party is the former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who served as the 21st Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and 12th President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also served as Finance Minister ...

, who previously governed in coalition with the

Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party The Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party ( lb, Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei, french: Parti ouvrier socialiste luxembourgeois, german: Luxemburger Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei), abbreviated to LSAP or POSL, is a social-democratic, pr ...

(LSAP) until the 2013 general election.

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 Pierre Dupong (1 November 1885 – 23 December 1953)Thewes, Guy"Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché depuis 1848." Service information et presse. Luxembourg: Imprimerie Centrale, 2011. was a Luxembourgish politician and statesman. He was the 16th ...

, Joseph Bech,

Pierre Frieden Pierre Frieden (28 October 1892 – 23 February 1959)Thewes, Guy"Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché depuis 1848." Service information et presse. Luxembourg: Imprimerie Centrale, 2011. was a Luxembourg politician and writer. He was the 17th ...

, and

Pierre Werner Pierre Werner (29 December 1913 – 24 June 2002) was a Luxembourgian politician in the Christian Social People's Party (CSV) who was the 18th Prime Minister from 1959 to 1974 and from 1979 to 1984. Training and early activities Pierre Werne ...

. Mostly in 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, when the Democratic Party's

became Prime Minister in coalition with the

(LSAP). In 1979, the party returned to government after its victory in the 1979 general election;

became PM. In 1984,

Jacques Santer Jacques Santer (born 18 May 1937) is a Luxembourg politician who served as the 9th President of the European Commission from 1995 to 1999. He served as Finance Minister of Luxembourg from 1979 until 1989, and the 20th Prime Minister of Luxe ...

became PM. He remained as such until 1995, when

became PM, with Santer meanwhile taking up the post of President of the European Commission. Following the 2013 general election, the party went into opposition for the second time in its history as the Democratic Party's

became Prime Minister in coalition with the LSAP and

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' *Greens of Andorra * Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina *Greens of Burkina * Greens (Greece) * Greens of Montenegro *Greens of Serbia *Gree ...

, 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. Despite remaining the largest party, the result of the 2018 general election represented the lowest public support in the party's history.

Election results

Chamber of Deputies

ImageSize = width:475 height:150 PlotArea = width:450 height:125 left:25 bottom:20 AlignBars = justify Colors = id:CSV value:rgb(0.999,0.5,0) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:30 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:0 PlotData= bar:Seats color:CSV width:23 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:1945 color:CSV from:start till:25 text:25 align:center bar:1948 color:CSV from:start till:22 text:22 align:center bar:1951 color:CSV from:start till:21 text:21 align:center bar:1954 color:CSV from:start till:26 text:26 align:center bar:1959 color:CSV from:start till:21 text:21 align:center bar:1964 color:CSV from:start till:22 text:22 align:center bar:1968 color:CSV from:start till:21 text:21 align:center bar:1974 color:CSV from:start till:18 text:18 align:center bar:1979 color:CSV from:start till:24 text:24 align:center bar:1984 color:CSV from:start till:25 text:25 align:center bar:1989 color:CSV from:start till:22 text:22 align:center bar:1994 color:CSV from:start till:21 text:21 align:center bar:1999 color:CSV from:start till:19 text:19 align:center bar:2004 color:CSV from:start till:24 text:24 align:center bar:2009 color:CSV from:start till:26 text:26 align:center bar:2013 color:CSV from:start till:23 text:23 align:center bar:2018 color:CSV from:start till:21 text:21 align:center ImageSize = width:475 height:150 PlotArea = width:450 height:125 left:25 bottom:20 AlignBars = justify Colors = id:CSV value:rgb(0.999,0.5,0) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:500 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:50 start:0 PlotData= bar:Vote% color:CSV width:23 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:1945 color:CSV from:start till:447 text:44.7 align:center bar:1948 color:CSV from:start till:363 text:36.3 align:center bar:1951 color:CSV from:start till:421 text:42.1 align:center bar:1954 color:CSV from:start till:424 text:42.4 align:center bar:1959 color:CSV from:start till:369 text:36.9 align:center bar:1964 color:CSV from:start till:333 text:33.3 align:center bar:1968 color:CSV from:start till:352 text:35.2 align:center bar:1974 color:CSV from:start till:276 text:27.6 align:center bar:1979 color:CSV from:start till:345 text:34.5 align:center bar:1984 color:CSV from:start till:349 text:34.9 align:center bar:1989 color:CSV from:start till:324 text:32.4 align:center bar:1994 color:CSV from:start till:303 text:30.3 align:center bar:1999 color:CSV from:start till:301 text:30.1 align:center bar:2004 color:CSV from:start till:361 text:36.1 align:center bar:2009 color:CSV from:start till:380 text:38.0 align:center bar:2013 color:CSV from:start till:336 text:33.6 align:center bar:2018 color:CSV from:start till:283 text:28.3 align:center

European Parliament

Party office-holders

Presidents

* Émile Reuter (1945–1964) * Tony Biever (1964–1965) *

Jean Dupong Jean Dupong (18 May 1922 – 6 December 2007) was a Luxembourgish politician. A member of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), Dupong held a number of positions in government and within the party. Dupong was first elected to the Chamber of ...

(1965–1972) * Nicolas Mosar (1972–1974) *

(1974–1982) *

Jean Spautz Jean Spautz (born 9 September 1930 in Schifflange) is a politician in Luxembourg, and a Member of the European Parliament for the Christian Social People's Party, part of the European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a E ...

(1982–1990) *

(1990–1995) *

Erna Hennicot-Schoepges Erna Hennicot-Schoepges (born 24 July 1941 in Dudelange) is a Luxembourgish politician for the Christian Social People's Party. She was until 2009 a Member of the European Parliament, sitting as a CSV member of the European People's Party. Erna ...

(1995–2003) *

François Biltgen François Biltgen (born 28 September 1958 in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg) is a Luxembourgish politician who has served as Minister for Justice, Minister for Communications and the Media, Minister for Religious Affairs, Minister for the Civil Se ...

(2003–2009) *

Michel Wolter Michel Wolter (born 13 September 1962 in Luxembourg City) is a Luxembourgian politician. He was the youngest-ever member of the Chamber of Deputies when elected in 1984, and served as Minister for the Interior from 1995 to 2004. He is also a b ...

(2009–2014) *

Marc Spautz Marc Spautz (born 10 April 1963, in Esch-sur-Alzette) is a Luxembourgian politician. He is a member of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), sitting in the national legislature, the Chamber of Deputies, and the communal council of Schifflang ...

(2014–2019) * Frank Engel (2019–2021) *

(2021–present)

General Secretaries

* Nicolas Hommel (1944–1946) * Lambert Schaus (1945–1952) *

Pierre Grégoire Pierre Grégoire (9 November 1907 – 8 April 1991) was a Luxembourgish politician in the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), journalist, and writer. Before turning to politics full-time, he wrote for the ''Luxemburger Wort'' newspaper. Befo ...

(1952–1960) * Nicolas Mosar (1960–1972) *

(1972–1974) * Jean Weber (1974–1977) * Jean-Pierre Kraemer (1977–1984) *

Willy Bourg Guillaume 'Willy' Bourg (22 February 1934 – 21 February 2003; ) was a Luxembourgish politician. He was a member of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), and sat in the Chamber of Deputies for eighteen years. Growing up in Beggen, Bourg st ...

(1984–1990) * Camille Dimmer (1990–1995) *

(1995–2000) * Jean-Louis Schiltz (2000–2006) * Marco Schank (2006–2009) *

(2009–2012) * Laurent Zeimet (2012–2019) * Félix Eischen (2019–2021) *

Christophe Hansen Christophe Hansen (born 21 February 1982 in Wiltz, Luxembourg) is a Luxembourgish politician belonging to the Christian Social People's Party ( CSV), of which he is Secretary-General. Since September 2018, Hansen has been a Member of the Europe ...

(2021–present)

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

* Tony Biever (1959–1974) *

(1974–1979) * Nicolas Mosar (1979–1984) * François Colling (1984–1995) * Lucien Weiler (1996–2004) *

(2004–2009) * Jean-Louis Schiltz (2009–2011) * Lucien Thiel (2011)+ *

(2011–2013) * Gilles Roth (2013) *

(2014–2018) * Martine Hansen (2018–present) + Died in office

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1944 establishments in Luxembourg Political parties established in 1944 Catholic political parties Centre-right parties in Europe Christian democratic parties in Europe Member parties of the European People's Party Political parties in Luxembourg Conservative parties in Luxembourg