KDU-ČSL

KDU-ČSL
AbbreviationKDU-ČSL
ChairmanJan Grolich
Deputy LeadersBenjamin Činčila
Monika Brzesková
Libuše Hubáčková [cs]
Václav Pláteník
František Talíř
Secretary GeneralPavel Hořava
Chamber of Deputies LeaderMarian Jurečka
Senate LeaderJosef Klement
MEP LeaderTomáš Zdechovský
FounderJan Šrámek
Founded3 January 1919; 107 years ago (1919-01-03)
Merger ofMSKSSM, KNKSM,
ČKSSKČ, KNKSČ, KSL
HeadquartersPalác Charitas, Karlovo náměstí 5, Prague
NewspaperHLAS křesťanské demokracie
Think tankInstitute for Christian Democratic Politics
Youth wingYoung Populars
Women's wingWomen's Association
Membership17,328
Ideology
Political positionCentre to centre-right
European affiliationEuropean People's Party
European Parliament groupEuropean People's Party Group
International affiliationCentrist Democrat International
Historical:
White International
Colors  Yellow
  Black
Chamber of Deputies
16 / 200
Senate
12 / 81
European Parliament
1 / 21
Regional councils
49 / 685
Governors of the regions
1 / 13
Local councils
2,722 / 61,677
Website
novi-lidovci.cz

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, led by Jan Grolich since April 2026. The party has taken part in most of the Czech government coalitions since 1990, and has been represented in every parliament except for the 6th Czech parliament (2010–2013). It currently forms part of the parliamentary opposition, having been elected on the lists of the Spolu electoral alliance.

History

After the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy, the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, and the formation of the First Czechoslovak Republic, Jan Šrámek helped unite a number of Catholic political parties to create the Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL) in 1919. The party remained continuously active throughout the twentieth century. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Šrámek served as head of the Czechoslovak government in exile in the United Kingdom. After 1945, ČSL was part of the national unity government, forming its most right-wing section. It was one of many parties brought together in the National Front, which was initially a tripartisme-style coalition meant to drive out the Nazis, but was permanently used by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) to control political and social activities in the country, especially after the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'etat.

Since the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the party has participated in almost every Czech government. In the June 2006 parliamentary 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 the party lost all of its seats. The party regained its parliamentary representation in the 2013 parliamentary 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.

In 2015, the KDU-ČSL leadership established a think tank, the Institute for Christian Democratic Politics (Institut pro křesťansko-demokratickou politiku), to promote Christian Democratic political ideas. The foundation's headquarters are located in the party's headquarters in Palác Charitas in Prague.

On 12 April 2017, KDU-ČSL signed an agreement with STAN to participate in 2017 parliamentary 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 its common abbreviation, KDU-ČSL, and Marek Výborný became the new party leader. After the death of his wife, Výborný announced his resignation in November 2019 for personal reasons.

On 24 April 2026, Jan Grolich was elected in a KDU-ČSL leadership election, with 233 out of 266 votes, as the only candidate.

Membership

KDU-ČSL had 27,662 members in 2015, 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.

19911992199920082012201320142015201620192026
95,43588,00060,00040,00033,00029,97628,54127,66226,42021,87017,328

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.

Names over time

Headquarters of KDU ČSL, Charitas Palace in Prague

Leaders

Current party leader and governor of South Moravian Region Jan Grolich

Symbols

KDU-ČSL had many symbols through history, with the current logo depicting a minimalist black wordmark 'Lidovci', intended to symbolize a 'thick line' behind the past and a modern restart for the party.

Logos

Election results

Czechoslovakia wide elections

Legislative elections

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

Devolved assembly elections

Czech assembly elections

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

Slovak assembly elections

Date Leader Votes Seats Position
# % # ± Size
1928 Martin Mičura 43,689 3.31
2 / 54
 Increase 2 8th –
1935 Martin Mičura 30,563 2.0
0 / 54
 Decrease 2 10th –

Czech Republic wide elections

Legislative elections

Date Leader Votes Seats Position
# % # ± Size
1996 Josef Lux 489,349 8.08
18 / 200
 Increase 3 4thIncrease ODS–KDU-ČSL–ODA
1998 Josef Lux 537,013 8.99
20 / 200
 Increase 2 4th Opposition
2002 Cyril Svoboda 680,670 14.27
22 / 200
 Increase 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
 Decrease 18 4th ODS–KDU-ČSL–SZ
2010 Cyril Svoboda 229,717 4.39
0 / 200
 Decrease 13 6thDecrease No seats
2013 Pavel Bělobrádek 336.970 6.78
14 / 200
 Increase 14 7thDecrease ČSSD–ANO–KDU-ČSL
2017 Pavel Bělobrádek 293,643 5.80
10 / 200
 Decrease 4 7th Opposition
2021 Marian Jurečka 1,493,701 27.79
23 / 200
 Increase 13 2nd Spolu – PirStan
Part of Spolu coalition, which won 71 seats in total
2025 Marek Výborný 1,313,346 23.4
16 / 200
 Decrease 7 2nd Opposition
Part of Spolu coalition, which won 52 seats in total

Senate elections

Election First round Second round Seats gained Total seats
Votes % No. Votes % No.
1996 274,3169.94th247,81910.73rd
13 / 81
13 / 81
1998 255,78526.62nd166,48331.02nd
5 / 27
13 / 81
2000 121,35514.14th137,51524.42nd
8 / 27
2002 58,8588.84th47,0495.74th
1 / 27
2004 97,95613.53rd54,50111.43rd
3 / 27
2006 125,38811.84th59,60310.43rd
4 / 27
10 / 81
2008 82,8707.9-42,2255.13-
0 / 27
7 / 81
2010 87,1827.64th42,9906.324th
2 / 27
6 / 81
2012 61,0066.944th14,9952.924th
1 / 27
3 / 81
2014 84,3288.215th77,10316.272nd
5 / 27
8 / 81
2016 74,7098.485th78,44818.502nd
6 / 27
14 / 81
2018 99,3839.124th34,8338.335th
2 / 27
15 / 81
2020 82,8148.304th65,39714.473rd
3 / 27
13 / 81
2022 120,97210.873rd74,69615.573rd
7 / 27
14 / 81
2024 46,5185.864th15,6354.005th
2 / 27
14 / 81
2026 90,5867.854th26,2825.554th
3 / 27
12 / 81

Presidential

Indirect Election Candidate First round result Second round result Third round result
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 First round result Second round result
Votes %Votes Result Votes %Votes Result
2013 Zuzana Roithová 255,045 4.95 6th 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
Danuše Nerudová 777,080 13.93 3rd place supported Petr Pavel
Pavel Fischer 376,705 6.75 4th place supported Petr Pavel

European Parliament

Election List leader Votes % Seats +/– EP Group
2004 Zuzana Roithová 223,383 9.57 (#4)
2 / 24
 New EPP-ED
2009 180,451 7.64 (#4)
2 / 22
 Steady 0 EPP
2014 Pavel Svoboda 150,792 9.95 (#5)
3 / 22
 Increase 1
2019 171,723 7.24 (#6)
2 / 21
 Decrease 1
2024 Alexandr Vondra 661,250 22.27 (#2)
1 / 21
 Decrease 1

Local elections

Year Vote Vote % Seats
1990 8,845,562 11,5 8,083
1994 9,260,542 Increase 7.23 Decrease 7,616Decrease
1998 7,206,346Decrease 11.18Increase 7,119Decrease
2002 7,728,402Increase 9.58Decrease 6,013Decrease
2006 6,263,980Decrease 5.76Decrease 5,049Decrease
2010 4,938,960Decrease 5.47Decrease 3,738Decrease
2014 4,865,956Decrease 4.91Decrease 3,792Increase
2018 5,599,336Increase 5.02Increase 3,633Decrease
2022 5,457,419Decrease 5.08Increase 3,252Decrease
2026 5,206,682Decrease 4.68Decrease 2,722Decrease

Regional elections

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

2020 Czech regional election results

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

Further reading

Notes

  1. ↑ The whole Senate was elected. Only one third of Senate was elected in all subsequent elections.
  2. ↑ Participated as part of Four-Coalition
  3. ↑ The SPOLU coalition supported 3 independent candidates for this election.
  4. ↑ Run as part of the SPOLU coalition.

References

  1. 1 2 Novotný, Jáchym (24 April 2026). "Novým šéfem lidovců je Grolich. Prvním místopředsedou byl zvolen Činčila". ČT24 (in Czech). Czech Television. Czech News Agency. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  2. ↑ Terry, Chris (20 February 2014). "Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-CSL)". The Democratic Society. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018.
  3. ↑ "Czech KDU-CSL congress re-elects Belobradek party chairman". České Noviny (in Czech). 23 May 2015. Archived from the original on 14 October 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ "Politická strana KDU-ČSL". iDNES.cz. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  6. ↑ Schmarcz, Martin (16 August 2025). "Lidovci zradili svou misi: Od konzervativních hrdinů k liberálním impotentům". Info.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  7. ↑ Trojan, František (18 October 2024). "Lidovci pokračují středem. Čunek neuspěl, Výborný se vrací jako předseda". Respekt. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  8. ↑ "Czech president appoints coalition leader Petr Fiala as new PM". Al Jazeera. 28 November 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  9. ↑ "Q&A: Czech election". BBC News. BBC. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  10. ↑
  11. ↑
  12. 1 2 Machová, Martina (24 April 2026). "Musíme udělat tlustou čáru za poučováním lidí, jak mají žít. Hejtman Grolich chce prorazit s "novými lidovci"". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). Economia. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  13. ↑ "Stanovy". KDU-ČSL (in Czech). Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  14. ↑ Nordsieck, Wolfram (15 September 2019). "Czechia". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  15. ↑ Magone, José (2010). Contemporary European Politics: A Comparative Introduction. Routledge. p. 456. ISBN 978-0-203-84639-1.
  16. ↑ "KDU-ČSL - Who We are". en.kdu.cz. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  17. ↑ Alte, Rüdiger (2003). Die Auenpolitik der Tschechoslowakei und die Entwicklung der internationalen Beziehungen 1946-1947. Oldenbourg Verlag. p. 45. ISBN 978-3-486-56617-8.
  18. ↑ "Czech Republic - Stalinization". countrystudies.us. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  19. ↑ Velinger, Jan (26 October 2013). "Social Democrats win election but result is poorer than expected". Radio Prague. Retrieved 26 October 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  20. ↑ Koubova, Karolina (8 November 2021). "Vláda musí říct, kde vybere peníze, na kom dokáže ušetřit peníze, upozorňuje politolog Eichler". Cesky Rozhlas. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  21. ↑ "Institut pro křesťansko-demokratickou politiku, z.ú., ⇒ IČO: 04600240 - Obchodní rejstřík". Peníze.cz (in Czech).
  22. ↑ "Lidovci a Starostové podepsali koaliční smlouvu, za premiéra chtějí Bělobrádka". ČT24 (in Czech). Czech Television. 12 April 2017.
  23. ↑ "Koalice nebude. Vedení KDU-ČSL vyzvalo STAN, ať vstoupí na jejich kandidátky". Lidové noviny (in Czech). Mafra. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  24. ↑ "Lidovci zvolili vedení a upravili název strany na zkratku KDU-ČSL". České Noviny (in Czech). Czech News Agency. 30 March 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  25. ↑ Kenety, Brian (18 November 2019). "Christian Democrat Leader May Resign in the Wake of Wife's Death". Radio Prague. Czech Radio. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  26. ↑ Cigánek, Lukáš (24 April 2026). "Nový šéf lidovců: Děláme tlustou čáru. Už žádné moralizování ani „kam vítr, tam plášť"". CNN Prima News (in Czech). Prima F.T.V. Czech News Agency. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  27. ↑ Martínek, Jan (12 April 2015). "Stranám utíkají i vymírají členové po tisících". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  28. ↑ "Členům KSČM je v průměru 70 let, zjistila si strana". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Czech News Agency. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  29. ↑ Martinek, Jan (12 April 2015). "Stranám utíkají i vymírají členové po tisících". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  30. ↑ "Základny tradičních politických stran klesají, mnohé partaje proto sbírají registrované příznivce". Euro Zprávy (in Czech). INCORP MEDIA GROUP. Czech News Agency. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  31. ↑ Kopecký, Josef; Zvolánek, Jan; Formáčková, Lucie (30 May 2019). "Sjezd KDU-ČSL rozhoduje o budoucnosti Čunka i celé strany". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Mafra. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  32. ↑ Šídlo, Jindřich (15 January 2008). "Lidovci jsou pro Klause". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). Economia. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  33. ↑ Czech Statistical Office
  34. ↑ Kašpar, Mirko (14 December 2020). "Přehledně: Všechny kraje už mají vedení. Starostové a ODS získali čtyři hejtmany". Aktualne.cz (in Czech). Economia. Retrieved 15 September 2024.