The Conservative People's Party (, SKL) was a
liberal-conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
and
Christian-democratic
Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics.
Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...
political party in Poland, which was active in 1997–2003 and 2007–2014. In 2014, the party was incorporated into
Poland Together.
History
The party was formed in January 1997 with the merger of some minor Christian-democratic party and a conservative faction of the liberal
Freedom Union, the latter led by
Jan Rokita. The party soon joined the centre-right
Solidarity Electoral Action
Solidarity Electoral Action (, AWS) was a coalition of political parties in Poland, active from 1996 to 2001. AWS was the political arm of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity trade union, whose leader Lech Wałęsa (also an AWS member ...
coalition and was subsequently part of it in the
1997 parliamentary election. The coalition won 33.8% of the vote and 201 seats in the
Sejm
The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...
, 14 of which were SKL members, notably including Rokita and
Bronislaw Komorowski.
Within the coalition, the SKL represented the more liberal wing. In the
2000 presidential election,
Marian Krzaklewski was the coalition's official candidate and won 15.6% of the vote, but a large chunk of the coalition, especially SKL members, had supported the independent candidate
Andrzej Olechowski,
[Bogdan Borowik, ''Partie konserwatywne w Polsce 1989–2001'', 2011, pp. 313-313] who won 17.3% of the vote.
In January 2001, when the Solidarity Electoral Action was re-organised as a federation, it was one of the four member parties, the other being the
Social Movement
A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...
, the
Christian National Union and the
Polish Christian Democratic Agreement. However, in March 2001, the SKL withdrew from the coalition and most of it would later join, indirectly or directly,
Civic Platform
The Civic Platform (, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a Centre-right politics, centre-right liberal conservative political party in Poland. Since ...
, which had been established in January 2001. In the
2001 parliamentary election, the SKL participated within Civic Platform's electoral slates.
In 2002, what remained of the SKL was merged with the Polish Christian Democratic Agreement, while Rokita was Civic Platform's leader in the Sejm from 2003 to 2005. In 2004, the SKL and the Social Movement were replaced by the
Centre Party. The Conservative People's Party was revived in 2007 and lasted until 2014, when it became part of
Poland Together.
Party presidents
*
Jacek Janiszewski (1997–1998)
*
Mirosław Styczeń (1998–2000)
*
Jan Rokita (2000–2002)
*
Artur Balazs (2002–2006, 2007–2009)
*
Marek Zagórski (2009–2014)
Latest Sejm members
In the
2001 parliamentary election, SKL politicians entered the
Sejm
The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...
as candidates of the Civic Platform Electoral Committee (
Civic Platform
The Civic Platform (, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a Centre-right politics, centre-right liberal conservative political party in Poland. Since ...
+ Conservative People's Party +
Real Politics Union). Several SKL members including its leaders
Jan Rokita and
Bronislaw Komorowski decided to join directly the newly created Civice Platform, while those who refused to join it formed a separate parliamentary caucus:
*
Dorota Arciszewska-Mielewczyk,
Gdynia
Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...
*
Artur Balazs,
Szczecin
Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...
*
Zbigniew Chrzanowski,
Siedlce
Siedlce () ( ) is a city in the Masovian Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants ().
The city is situated between two small rivers, the Muchawka and the Helenka, and lies along the European route E30, around east of Warsaw. It is ...
*
Ireneusz Niewiarowski,
Konin
Konin () is a city in central Poland, on the Warta River. It is the capital of Konin County and is located within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. In 2021 the population of the city was 71,427, making it the fourth-largest city in Greater Poland af ...
*
Krzysztof Oksiuta,
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
*
Małgorzata Rohde,
Koszalin
Koszalin (; ; , ) is a city in northwestern Poland, in Western Pomerania. It is located south of the Baltic Sea coast, and intersected by the river Dzierżęcinka. Koszalin is also a county-status city and capital of Koszalin County of West Pomera ...
*
Andrzej Wojtyła,
Kalisz
Kalisz () is a city in central Poland, and the second-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 97,905 residents (December 2021). It is the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of Gr ...
*
Marek Zagórski,
Białystok
Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area.
Biał ...
Election results
Sejm
Senat
Presidential
References
{{Authority control
1997 establishments in Poland
2014 disestablishments in Poland
Agrarian parties in Poland
Catholic political parties
Centre-right parties in Europe
Christian democratic parties in Europe
Conservative parties in Poland
Defunct political parties in Poland
Political parties disestablished in 2014
Political parties established in 1997