| Christian Social Party—Christian People's Party | |
| Native Name: | Christelijke Volkspartij Parti Social Chrétien |
| Leader1 Title: | Historical leaders |
| Leader1 Name: | Jean Duvieusart (first) Jean-Charles Snoy et d'Oppuers (last) |
| Predecessor: | Catholic Block |
| Successor: | Christelijke Volkspartij (CVP), Parti social chrétien (PSC) |
| Headquarters: | Brussels, Belgium |
| Ideology: | Christian democracy Pro-Europeanism |
| Position: | Centre[1] [2] |
| International: | Christian Democrat International |
| European: | Christian Democrat group |
| Colours: | Orange Black |
| Country: | Belgium |
The Christian Social Party (French: '''Parti Social Chrétien''', or PSC; Dutch; Flemish: '''Christelijke Volkspartij''', CVP) was a major centre-right political party in Belgium which existed from 1945 until 1968.
Established as the successor to the pre-war Catholic Block, the PSC-CVP was established after the Liberation of Belgium with an explicitly "deconfessionalised" orientation in the Christian Democratic tradition.[3] It remained the largest party in Belgian politics throughout much of its existence and was the last party in Belgian history to gain an outright majority in the 1950 elections. It provided a number of influential prime ministers and participated in most coalition governments in combination with the Belgian Socialist Party and the Liberal Party or its successor the Party for Freedom and Progress.
Amid rising regionalist tensions, the PSC-CVP's regional parties split along linguistic lines in 1968 to form the Francophone Christian Social Party (Parti Social Chrétien, PSC) and Flemish Christian People's Party (Christelijke Volkspartij, CVP).
At the end of World War II, on 18 - 19 August 1945 the Parti Social Chrétien-Christelijke Volkspartij (CVP-PSC) was founded under the presidency of August de Schryver as the successor to the Catholic Party.
In 1968, the party divided along linguistic lines, forming the Francophone Christian Social Party (Parti Social Chrétien) in Wallonia and the Flemish Christian People's Party (Christelijke Volkspartij) in Flanders.[4] [5]
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | 1,006,293 | 42.5 | 19 | 1st | |||
| 1949 | 2,190,895 | 43.6 | 13 | 1st | |||
| 1950 | 2,356,608 | 47.7 | 3 | 1st | |||
| 1954 | 2,123,408 | 41.2 | 13 | 1st | |||
| 1958 | 2,465,549 | 46.5 | 9 | 1st | |||
| 1961 | 2,182,642 | 41.5 | 8 | 1st | |||
| 1965 | 1,785,211 | 34.5 | 19 | 1st | |||
| 1968 | 1,643,785 | 31.8 | 8 | 1st |