Christian Social People's Party

The Christian Social People's Party (, , , CSV or PCS) is the largest political party in Luxembourg. The party follows a Christian democratic and conservative ideology and has been described as centre-right. Furthermore, akin to most parties in Luxembourg, it is strongly pro-European. The CSV is a member of the Christian Group, European People's Party, and the Centrist Democrat International.

The CSV has been the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies since the party's formation, and currently holds 21 of 60 seats in the Chamber. Since the Second World War, every Prime Minister of Luxembourg has been a member of the CSV, with only two exceptions: Gaston Thorn (1974–1979), and Xavier Bettel (2013–2023). It holds two of Luxembourg's six seats in the European Parliament, as it has for 14 of the 44 years for which MEPs have been directly elected.

The party's President has been Prime Minister Luc Frieden since March 2024. A leading figure from the party is the former prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, who previously governed in coalition with the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (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 December 1944, the Party of the Right was officially transformed into the Luxembourg Christian Social People's Party. "Luxembourg" was dropped from the name by late March 1945. 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, Joseph Bech, Pierre Frieden, and Pierre Werner. 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 Gaston Thorn became Prime Minister in coalition with the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP). In 1979, the party returned to government after its victory in the 1979 general election; Pierre Werner became PM.

In 1984, Jacques Santer became PM. He remained as such until 1995, when Jean-Claude Juncker 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 Xavier Bettel became Prime Minister in coalition with the LSAP and The Greens. Despite remaining the largest party, the result of the 2018 general election represented the lowest public support in the party's history.

As of 2023, CSV is against making Luxembourgish an official language in the european insititutions, citing that French and German already being official languages is enough for the needs of Luxembourg.

Election results Chamber of Deputies Election List leader Votes % Seats +/– Status Up Total 1945 Pierre Dupong 907,601 44.7 (#1) New 1948 386,972 36.3 (#1) 2 1951 425,545 42.1 (#1) 1 1954Joseph Bech 1,003,406 45.2 (#1) 5 1959Pierre Frieden 896,840 38.9 (#1) 5 1964Pierre Werner 883,079 35.7 (#1) 1 1968 915,944 37.5 (#1) 1 1974 836,990 29.9 (#1) 3 1979 1,049,390 36.4 (#1) 6 1984Jacques Santer 1,148,085 36.7 (#1) 1 1989 977,521 32.4 (#1) 3 1994 887,651 30.3 (#1) 1 1999 Jean-Claude Juncker 870,985 30.1 (#1) 2 2004 1,103,825 36.1 (#1) 5 2009 1,129,368 38.0 (#1) 2 2013 1,103,636 33.7 (#1) 3 2018 Claude Wiseler 999,381 28.3 (#1) 2 2023 Luc Frieden 1,099,427 29.2 (#1)

European Parliament Election List leader Votes % Seats +/– EP Group 1979 Pierre Werner 352,296 36.13 (#1) New EPP 1984 Jacques Santer 345,586 34.90 (#1) 1989 346,621 34.87 (#1) 1994 Jean-Claude Juncker 319,462 31.50 (#1) 1 1999 321,021 31.67 (#1) EPP-ED 2004 404,823 37.14 (#1) 1 2009 Viviane Reding 353,094 31.36 (#1) EPP 2014 441,578 37.66 (#1) 2019 Christophe Hansen 264,665 21.10 (#2) 1 2024 317,334 22.91 (#1)

Party office-holders

Presidents Émile Reuter (1945–1964) Tony Biever (1964–1965) Jean Dupong (1965–1972) Nicolas Mosar (1972–1974) Jacques Santer (1974–1982) Jean Spautz (1982–1990) Jean-Claude Juncker (1990–1995) Erna Hennicot-Schoepges (1995–2003) François Biltgen (2003–2009) Michel Wolter (2009–2014) Marc Spautz (2014–2019) Frank Engel (2019–2021) Claude Wiseler (2021–2023) Elisabeth Margue (2022–2024) Luc Frieden (2024–present)

General Secretaries Nicolas Hommel (1944–1946) Lambert Schaus (1945–1952) Pierre Grégoire (1952–1960) Nicolas Mosar (1960–1972) Jacques Santer (1972–1974) Jean Weber (1974–1977) Jean-Pierre Kraemer (1977–1984) Willy Bourg (1984–1990) Camille Dimmer (1990–1995) Claude Wiseler (1995–2000) Jean-Louis Schiltz (2000–2006) Marco Schank (2006–2009) Marc Spautz (2009–2012) Laurent Zeimet (2012–2019) Félix Eischen (2019–2021) Christophe Hansen (2021–2023) Stéphanie Weydert (2022–2024)

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

Tony Biever (1959–1974) Pierre Werner (1974–1979) Nicolas Mosar (1979–1984) François Colling (1984–1995) Lucien Weiler (1996–2004) Michel Wolter (2004–2009) Jean-Louis Schiltz (2009–2011) Lucien Thiel (2011)+ Marc Spautz (2011–2013) Gilles Roth (2013) Claude Wiseler (2014–2018) Martine Hansen (2018–2023) Marc Spautz (2023–present) + Died in office

Christian Social People's Party

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