# KDU-ČSL

KDU-ČSL (In Czech, the initials of the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party; Czech: Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová), often shortened to lidovci ("the populars"), is a Christian democratic political party in the Czech Republic. The party has taken part in almost every Czech government since 1990. In the June 2006 legislative election, KDU-ČSL won 7.2% of the vote and 13 out of 200 seats. However, in the 2010 election, its vote share dropped to 4.4% and they lost all of its seats. The party regained its parliamentary standing in the 2013 legislative election, winning 14 seats in the new parliament, thus becoming the first party ever to return to the Chamber of Deputies after previously dropping out.

## History

After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Šrámek served as head of Czechoslovak government in exile (in the United Kingdom). After 1945, ČSL was part of the national unity government, forming its most right-wing section.
On 12 April 2017, KDU-ČSL signed an agreement with STAN to participate in 2017 legislative election as a coalition. Coalition needed to get more 10% of votes get over threshold. The coalition disintegrated before the election, thus the party went into the elections standalone, receiving 5.8% of votes.
In March 2019 the party was officially renamed to KDU-ČSL, its common abbreviation and Marek Výborný became a new party leader. After the death of his wife announced Marek Výborný in November 2019 his resignation for personal reasons.

### Membership

KDU-ČSL had 27,662 Members in 2015 which is the second largest member base of any party in the Czech Republic. The number has been decreasing since the 1990s when the party had 100,000 Members. It is caused by high average age of members.
| 1991 | 1992 | 1999 | 2008 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2019 |
| 95,435 | 88,000 | 60,000 | 40,000 | 33,000 | 29,976 | 28,541 | 27,662 | 26,420 | 21,870 |

### Party strongholds

KDU-ČSL is known to have very strong electoral core concentrated primarily in South Moravia. The party has very stable electoral support thanks to the rural voters in Moravia and has managed to gain seats in the Chamber of Deputies during every election cycle in the Czech Republic since 1990 with the exception of 2010.

## Leaders

* Jan Šrámek (1922–1948)
* Alois Petr (1948–1951)
* Josef Plojhar (1951–1968)
* Antonín Pospíšil (1968–1973)
* Rostislav Petera (1973–1980)
* František Toman (1980–1981)
* Zbyněk Žalman (1981–1989)
* Josef Bartončík (1989–1990)
* Josef Lux (1990–1998)
* Jan Kasal (1999–2001)
* Cyril Svoboda (2001–2003)
* Miroslav Kalousek (2003–2006)
* Jan Kasal (2006)
* Jiří Čunek (2006–2009)
* Cyril Svoboda (2009–2010)
* Michaela Šojdrová (2010)
* Pavel Bělobrádek (2010–2019)
* Marek Výborný (2019–2020)
* Marian Jurečka (2020–2024)
* Marek Výborný (Since 2024)

## Name of the party over time

* 1919–1992 The Czechoslovak People's Party (Československá strana lidová) – merger of Moravian-Silesian Christian Social Party in Moravia, Catholic-National Conservative Party in Moravia, Czech Christian Social Party in the Kingdom of Bohemia and Catholic-National Conservative Party in Bohemia, Conservative People's Party.
* 1992–2019 The Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová)
* Since 2019 KDU-ČSL - after renaming to party' abbreviation.

## Symbols

KDU-ČSL had many symbols through history, with the current logo depicting a Christian cross on a linden leaf.

### Logos

* Party symbol, 1930s
* Party logo, 1945–1992
* Party logo, 1992–2006
* Party logo, 2006–2012
* Current logo, since 2012
* Electoral logo, 2024

## Election results
### Czechoslovakia wide elections
#### Legislative elections

| Date | Leader | Votes | Votes | Seats | Seats | Seats | Position |
| Date | Leader | # | % | # | ± | Size | Position |
| 1920 | Collective leadership | 699,728 | 11.3 | 33 / 281 | 33 | 2nd | Opposition |
| 1925 | Jan Šrámek | 691,238 | 9.7 | 31 / 300 | 2 | 3rd | Coalition |
| 1929 | Jan Šrámek | 623,340 | 8.4 | 25 / 300 | 6 | 5th | Coalition |
| 1935 | Jan Šrámek | 615,804 | 7.5 | 22 / 300 | 3 | 6th | Coalition |
| 1946 | Jan Šrámek | 1,111,009 | 15.7 | 46 / 300 | 24 | 3rd | Coalition |
| 1948 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 23 / 300 | 23 | 4th | Bloc |
| 1954 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 20 / 368 | 3 | 3rd | Bloc |
| 1960 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 16 / 300 | 4 | 4th | Bloc |
| 1964 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 20 / 300 | 4 | 4th | Bloc |
| 1971 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 8 / 200 | 12 | 4th | Bloc |
| 1976 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 11 / 200 | 3 | 4th | Bloc |
| 1981 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 12 / 200 | 1 | 3rd | Bloc |
| 1986 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 11 / 200 | 1 | 4th | Bloc |
| 1990 | Josef Bartončík | 629,359 | 5.9 | 9 / 150 | 2 | 5th | Support |
| 1992 | Josef Lux | 388,122 | 4.0 | 7 / 150 | 2 | 7th | Coalition |

### Devolved assembly elections
#### Czech assembly elections

| Date | Leader | Votes | Votes | Seats | Seats | Seats | Position |
| Date | Leader | # | % | # | ± | Size | Position |
| 1968 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 25 / 200 | 25 | 3rd | Bloc |
| 1971 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 15 / 200 | 10 | 2nd | Bloc |
| 1976 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 14 / 200 | 1 | 3rd | Bloc |
| 1981 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 14 / 200 | 0 | 2nd | Bloc |
| 1986 | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | as part of National Front | 14 / 200 | 0 | 2nd | Bloc |
| 1990 | Josef Bartončík | 607,134 | 8.42 | 20 / 200 | 6 | 4th | Coalition |
| 1992 | Josef Lux | 406,341 | 6.28 | 15 / 200 | 5 | 5th | Coalition |

#### Slovak assembly elections

| Date | Leader | Votes | Votes | Seats | Seats | Seats | Position |
| Date | Leader | # | % | # | ± | Size | Position |
| 1928 | Martin Mičura | 43,689 | 3.31 | 2 / 54 | 2 | 8th | – |
| 1935 | Martin Mičura | – | 3.0 | 1 / 54 | 1 | 8th | – |

### Czech Republic wide elections
#### Legislative elections

| Date | Leader | Votes | Votes | Seats | Seats | Seats | Position |
| Date | Leader | # | % | # | ± | Size | Position |
| 1996 | Josef Lux | 489,349 | 8.08 | 18 / 200 | 3 | 4th | ODS–KDU-ČSL–ODA |
| 1998 | Josef Lux | 537,013 | 8.99 | 20 / 200 | 2 | 4th | Opposition |
| 2002 | Cyril Svoboda | 680,670 | 14.27 | 22 / 200 | 11 | 4th | ČSSD–KDU-ČSL–US-DEU |
| Part of Coalition, which won 31 seats in total |||||||
| 2006 | Miroslav Kalousek | 386,706 | 7.23 | 13 / 200 | 18 | 4th | ODS–KDU-ČSL–SZ |
| 2010 | Cyril Svoboda | 229,717 | 4.39 | 0 / 200 | 13 | 6th | No seats |
| 2013 | Pavel Bělobrádek | 336.970 | 6.78 | 14 / 200 | 14 | 7th | ČSSD–ANO–KDU-ČSL |
| 2017 | Pavel Bělobrádek | 293,643 | 5.80 | 10 / 200 | 4 | 7th | Opposition |
| 2021 | Marian Jurečka | 1,493,701 | 27.79 | 23 / 200 | 13 | 2nd | SPOLU – PirStan |
| Part of Spolu coalition, which won 71 seats in total |||||||

#### Senate elections

| Election | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Seats gained |
| Election | Votes | % | Places$^*$ | Votes | % | Places$^*$ | Seats gained |
| 1996$^{**}$ | 274,316 | 9.9 | 4th | 247,819 | 10.7 | 3rd | 13 / 81 |
| 1998$^{***}$ | 255,785 | 26.6 | 2nd | 166,483 | 31.0 | 2nd | 5 / 27 |
| 2000 | 121,355 | 14.1 | 4th | 137,515 | 24.4 | 2nd | 8 / 27 |
| 2002 | 58,858 | 8.8 | 4th | 47,049 | 5.7 | 4th | 1 / 27 |
| 2004 | 97,956 | 13.5 | 3rd | 54,501 | 11.4 | 3rd | 3 / 27 |
| 2006 | 125,388 | 11.8 | 4th | 59,603 | 10.4 | 3rd | 4 / 27 |
| 2008 | 82,870 | 7.9 | - | 42,225 | 5.13 | - | 0 / 27 |
| 2010 | 87,182 | 7.6 | 4th | 42,990 | 6.32 | 4th | 2 / 27 |
| 2012 | 61,006 | 6.94 | 4th | 14,995 | 2.92 | 4th | 1 / 27 |
| 2014 | 84,328 | 8.21 | 5th | 77,103 | 16.27 | 2nd | 4 / 27 |
| 2016 | 74,709 | 8.48 | 5th | 78,448 | 18.50 | 2nd | 6 / 27 |
| 2018 | 99,383 | 9.12 | 4th | 34,833 | 8.33 | 5th | 2 / 27 |
| 2020 | 82,814 | 8.30 | 4th | 65,397 | 14.47 | 3rd | 3 / 27 |
| 2022 | 120,972 | 10.87 | 3rd | 74,696 | 15.57 | 3rd | 7 / 27 |
| 2024 | 46,518 | 5.86 | 4th | 15,635 | 4.00 | 5th | 2 / 27 |
$^*$ Places are by number of votes gained. $^{**}$ The whole Senate was elected. Only one third of Senate was elected in all subsequent elections. $^{***}$Participated as Part of Four-Coalition

#### Presidential

| Indirect Election | Candidate | Candidate | First round result | First round result | First round result | Second round result | Second round result | Second round result | Third round result | Third round result | Third round result |
| Indirect Election | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | %Votes | Result | Votes | %Votes | Result | Votes | %Votes | Result |
| 1993 | | Václav Havel | 109 | 63.37 | Won | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1998 | | Václav Havel | 130 | 70.65 | Runner-up | 146 | 52.3 | Won | — | — | — |
| 2003 | | (Petr Pithart) Jan Sokol | 128 | 46.55 | Runner-up | 129 | 48.13 | Runner-up | 124 | 46.6 | Lost |
| 2008 | | Václav Klaus | 141 | 50.90 | Runner-up | 141 | 52.81 | Runner-up | 141 | 55.95 | Won |
| Direct Election | Candidate | Candidate | First round result | First round result | First round result | Second round result | Second round result | Second round result |
| Direct Election | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | %Votes | Result | Votes | %Votes | Result |
| 2013 | | Zuzana Roithová | 255,045 | 4.95 | 6th | supported Karel Schwarzenberg | supported Karel Schwarzenberg | supported Karel Schwarzenberg |
| 2018 | | Jiří Drahoš | 1,369,601 | 26.60 | Runner-up | 2,701,206 | 48.63 | Lost |
| 2023 | | Petr Pavel | 1,975,056 | 35.40 | Runner-up | 3,358,926 | 58.33 | Won |
| 2023 | | Danuše Nerudová | 777,080 | 13.93 | 3rd place | supported Petr Pavel | supported Petr Pavel | supported Petr Pavel |
| 2023 | | Pavel Fischer | 376,705 | 6.75 | 4th place | supported Petr Pavel | supported Petr Pavel | supported Petr Pavel |
* ↑ The SPOLU coalition supported 3 independent candidates for this election.

#### European Parliament

| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
| 2004 | Zuzana Roithová | 223,383 | 9.57 (#4) | 2 / 24 | New | EPP-ED |
| 2009 | Zuzana Roithová | 180,451 | 7.64 (#4) | 2 / 22 | 0 | EPP |
| 2014 | Pavel Svoboda | 150,792 | 9.95 (#5) | 3 / 22 | 1 | EPP |
| 2019 | Pavel Svoboda | 171,723 | 7.24 (#6) | 2 / 21 | 1 | EPP |
| 2024 | Alexandr Vondra | 661,250 | 22.27 (#2) | 1 / 21 | 1 | EPP |
* ↑ Run as part of the SPOLU coalition.

#### Local elections

| Year | Vote | Vote % | Seats |
| 1990 | 8,845,562 | 11,5 | 8,083 |
| 1994 | 9,260,542 | 7.23 | 7,616 |
| 1998 | 7,206,346 | 11.18 | 7,119 |
| 2002 | 7,728,402 | 9.58 | 6,013 |
| 2006 | 6,263,980 | 5.76 | 5,049 |
| 2010 | 4,938,960 | 5.47 | 3,738 |
| 2014 | 4,865,956 | 4.91 | 3,792 |
| 2018 | 5,599,336 | 5.02 | 3,633 |

#### Regional elections

| Year | Vote | Vote % | Seats | Places |
| 2000 | 537,012 | 22.86 | 72 / 675 | 2nd |
| 2004 | 226,016 | 10.67 | 84 / 675 | 4th |
| 2008 | 193,911 | 6.65 | 56 / 675 | 4th |
| 2012 | 261,724 | 9.87 | 61 / 675 | 4th |
| 2016 | 159,610 | 6.30 | 61 / 675 | 5th |
| 2020 | 252,598 | 9.12 | 53 / 675 | 5th |

#### 2020 Czech regional election results

| Region | Coalition partner | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | Seats | Seats | Seats | Governance |
| Region | Coalition partner | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # | ± | Position | Governance |
| Central Bohemian | STAN | 92,903 | 22.21 | 2 / 65 | 2 | 5th | STAN–ODS–Pirates–TOP 09+Greens-Voice |
| South Bohemian | TOP 09 | 20,798 | 10.45 | 4 / 55 | | 6th | ODS–KDU-ČSL+TOP 09–ČSSD–JIH12 |
| Plzeň | ADS and Non-Partisians | 7,588 | 4.36 | — | 2 | 11th | ODS+TOP 09–STAN–Pirates |
| Karlovy Vary | ODS | 5,870 | 7.35 | 2 / 45 | 1 | 8th | STAN+TOP 09-Pirates-ODS+KDU ČSL-Local movements |
| Ústí nad Labem | ODS | 24,739 | 12.37 | 1 / 55 | 1 | 8th | ANO–ODS–TOP 09+Greens |
| Liberec | TOP 09 | 5,328 | 3.83 | — | | 7th | Mayors for Liberec Region–Pirates–ODS |
| Hradec Králové | VPM and Non-Partisians | 14,738 | 8.32 | 4 / 45 | | 5th | ODS+STAN+VČ–KDU-ČSL–Pirates–TOP 09+HDK |
| Pardubice | SNK-ED and Non-Partisians | 22,280 | 13.41 | 4 / 45 | 1 | 5th | ČSSD–ODS+TOP 09–KDU-ČSL–STAN |
| Vysočina | — | 19,082 | 11.96 | 6 / 45 | 1 | 3rd | ODS+STO–Pirates–KDU-ČSL–ČSSD–STAN |
| South Moravian | — | 56,423 | 15.54 | 11 / 65 | | 2nd | KDU-ČSL–Pirates–ODS–STAN |
| Olomouc | TOP 09 and Greens | 34,519 | 18.43 | 6 / 55 | 1 | 4th | STAN+Pirates–KDU-ČSL+TOP 09–ODS |
| Zlín | — | 35,782 | 18.62 | 9 / 45 | 3 | 2nd | ANO–Pirates–ODS–ČSSD |
| Moravian-Silesian | — | 30,190 | 9.57 | 7 / 65 | 1 | 4th | ANO–ODS+TOP 09–KDU-ČSL–ČSSD |