The Labour Party ( pl, Stronnictwo Pracy, SP) is a minor political party in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. It was formally called the Christian-Democratic Labour Faction ''( pl, Chrześcijańsko-Demokratyczne Stronnictwo Pracy, ChDSP)'' between 1989 and 2000.

History

The party was established in February 1989 as an alternative to the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...

– Solidarity political duopoly. It had its roots in the Christian Democratic Political Theory Club, which had been established the year before by members of the Association for the Promulgation of Catholic Social Science.Frances Millard (2009) ''Democratic Elections in Poland, 1991-2007'', Routledge, p39 It was initially known as the Christian Democratic Labour Party (''Chrześcijańsko-Demokratyczne Stronnictwo Pracy'', ChDSP), and claimed to be the successor to the Labor Party that was dissolved after

World War II 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 opposin ...

. It was initially headed by Władysław Siła-Nowicki, and it was hoped that his prestige would help popularise the party.Tim Bale & Aleks Szczerbiak (2006
Why is there no Christian Democracy in Poland (and why does this matter)?
SEI Working Paper, Sussex European Institute Two members were elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

on the

Solidarity Citizens' Committee The Solidarity Citizens' Committee (''Komitet Obywatelski "Solidarność"'', KO "S"), also known as Citizens' Electoral Committee (''Obywatelski Komitet Wyborczy'') and previously named the Citizens' Committee with Lech Wałęsa (''Komitet Obywate ...

list in the 1989 parliamentary elections; Marek Rusakiewicz became a member of the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

and Walerian Piotrowski was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. However, the party failed to gain significant support, and never attracted more than 2,000 members. It split over whether to support Siła-Nowicki or Solidarity leader

Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democratica ...

in the 1990 presidential elections, with the Wałęsa-supporting faction breaking away to form the Christian Democratic Party "Union".Piotr Wróbel (2014) ''Historical Dictionary of Poland 1945-1996'', Routledge, p49 The remaining members of the ChDSP subsequently contested the 1991 parliamentary elections as part of the

Christian Democracy 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 ...

alliance that won five seats.

Stefan Pastuszewski Stefan Marian Pastuszewski (born 19 August 1949 in Bydgoszcz, Poland) is a Polish poet, journalist and politician, former Member of Polish Sejm (1991–93), Vice-President of Bydgoszcz (1994-98), Member of Bydgoszcz City Council who represente ...

was the party's sole MP. The party joined the

Centre Agreement Porozumienie Centrum (PC; en, Centre Agreement) was a Polish Christian democratic political party. The party rose in 1990. Its chairman was Jarosław Kaczyński. In its programme, the PC opposed socialism and was anti-communist. In 1997 PC join ...

for the 1993 parliamentary election. However, the alliance failed to win any seats. In 1994 it merged with the small Christian Democracy party, and was renamed Christian Democracy-the Labour Party (''Chrześcijańksa Demokracja-Stronnictwo Pracy'', ChD-SP). It was part of the

Solidarity Electoral Action Solidarity Electoral Action ( pl, Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność, AWS) was a political coalition in Poland from 1996 to 2001. From 1997 to 2001, its official name was ''Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność Prawicy'' (AWSP) or Electoral Action Solidarity ...

alliance that won the 1997 elections; the ChD-SP held one of its 201 seats in the

, taken by

Witold Nieduszyński Witold may refer to: *Vytautas the Great (ca. 1350–1430), ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania *Witold (given name) Witold is a masculine Polish given name. This name derives from the Lithuanian “Vytautas” composed of two elements: “vyt ...

. In 2000 the party became the Labour Party. It was part of the

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...

list for the 2001 elections, but failed to win a seat. It was part of the All-Poland Citizen Committee for the 2004 European Parliament elections, but it received 0.6% of the vote and failed to win a seat. Prior to the 2005 elections the party split, with some members leaving to form the All-Poland Civic Coalition and others founded

Ancestral Home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

. The Labour Party contested the elections alone, but received just 1,019 votes and failed to win a seat. The other two parties both received more votes, but also failed to win a seat.

References

{{Authority control Political parties in Poland Political parties established in 1989 1989 establishments in Poland Labour parties Christian democratic parties in Europe