Christian People's Party (, abbreviation CVP) was the name of a political party in the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

in the 1965. This was not a full-fledged party, but a unique electoral alliance between the Centre Party and the (SVP). The CVP was formed on July 17, 1965, through the alliance of the Centre Party and members of the Saarland Christian People's Party that were opposed to the merger of their party into the in 1959 and formed the SVP instead. The centre (which previously briefly used the name "Christian People's Party" in the 1920s) and the Saarland CVP were united before, also as a "Christian People's Party", from July 1956 to April 1957. The roots of the party limited its appeal primarily to Catholics disenchanted with the (lack of) Christian agenda in CDU. CVP vision was to become a framework for Christian parties positioned to the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

of the CDU that will not restrict the independence of the parties aligned under this umbrella. The (ultimately unsuccessful) plan was to include into CVP also the German Party, the

South Schleswig Voters' Association The South Schleswig Voters' AssociationOther translations include ''South Schleswig Voter Alliance'', ''South Schleswig Voters' Committee'', ''South Schleswig Voter Federation'', ''South Schleswig Voters Group'', ''South Schleswig Voters League'', ...

, the

Bavaria Party The Bavaria Party (, BP) is an autonomist, regionalist and conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The cen ...

, and the , some of which had already been involved with Centre through the . The CVP took part in the

1965 West German federal election Federal elections were held in West Germany on 19 September 1965 to elect the members of the 5th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU remained the largest faction, while the Social Democratic Party remained the largest single party in the Bundestag, winning ...

, but only in

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

and

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, due to the relatively small membership and financial support. In Saarland the party got at least 1.4% of the votes, with just 0.1% in North Rhine-Westphalia. Due to this disappointment, the Centre dropped the CVP yet again, but the regional party continued to work under the name Saarland People's Party/Christian People's Party (SVP/CVP). In June 1965 in Saarland state elections SVP/CVP got two mandates with 5.2% of the vote (30,570 votes), which was more than half as much as the SVP share in 1960 elections. Elections of 1970 saw the vote dropping to 0.8% (5,773 votes). With all seats in the Saar state parliament lost, party activity was stopped in 1970.

References

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* * * * Defunct political parties in Germany Political parties established in 1965 Political parties disestablished in 1970 1965 establishments in West Germany Catholic political parties 1970 disestablishments in West Germany Christian democratic parties in Germany {{Germany-stub