Christian Democratic and Flemish Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams
Abbreviation	CD&V
President	Sammy Mahdi
Founded	1968; 56 years ago (1968) (CVP) 2001; 23 years ago (2001) (CD&V)
Preceded by	Christian Social Party
Headquarters	Wetstraat 89 1040 Brussels
Membership (2017)	48,791[1]
Ideology	Christian democracy[2][3][4]
Political position	Centre[5][6][7] to centre-right[8]
Regional affiliation	Christian Group[9]
European affiliation	European People's Party
International affiliation	Centrist Democrat International
European Parliament group	European People's Party
Francophone counterpart	Les Engagés (traditionally)
Germanophone counterpart	Christian Social Party
Colours	Orange
Chamber of Representatives	12 / 87 (Flemish seats)
Senate	5 / 35 (Flemish seats)
Flemish Parliament	19 / 124
Brussels Parliament	1 / 17 (Flemish seats)
European Parliament	2 / 12 (Flemish seats)
Flemish Provincial Councils	40 / 175
Benelux Parliament	2 / 21
Website
www.cdenv.be
Politics of Belgium Political parties Elections

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v t e

Christian Democratic and Flemish^[10][11] (Dutch: Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams, listen^ⓘ, CD&V) is a Flemish Christian-democratic political party in Belgium.^[2][3] The party has historical ties to both trade unionism (ACV) and trade associations (UNIZO) and the Farmer's League. Until 2001, the party was named the Christian People's Party (Christelijke Volkspartij, CVP).

It was traditionally the largest political party of Flanders, until it was overtaken by the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) in the 2010s. CD&V participated in most governments and has generally the largest number of mayors. Most Prime Ministers of Belgium and Ministers-President of Flanders have been CD&V politicians. Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council from 2009 to 2014, is one of the leading politicians of CD&V.

CD&V is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and Centrist Democrat International.

History

The history of the CD&V dates back to the 19th century. It originated in the 19th century Catholic Party. At the end of the century, the new fraction of Christian democrats shifted the focus of the party slightly to the left. In the interwar years the party was renamed Catholic Bloc. Then, the Christian Social Party (PSC-CVP) existed from 1945 until 1968. In 1968, the PSC-CVP was split into the French-speaking Christian Social Party (PSC, now Les Engagés) and Flemish Christian People's Party (Christelijke Volkspartij CVP).^[12][13] In 2001 the CVP changed its name to the CD&V.

The party was almost continually in power from its establishment until 1999, with the exception of 1954–1958. In 1999, the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) became the largest party in Belgium, and formed a majority purple government of liberals, social democrats and greens. The same happened in the Flemish Government, but with the addition of Flemish nationalists. In 2003 CD&V again lost the federal elections which continued the federal centre-left coalition, but this time without the Greens.

In 2004, Flemish elections were held and the CD&V once more became the largest political party by representation in the Flemish Parliament. Yves Leterme became Flemish minister-president. After successful local elections in 2006, the party became the largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives after the federal elections of 2007. The CD&V led the subsequent coalition talks, which repeatedly stalled (see 2007–2008 Belgian government formation). On the 20 March 2008, a new federal government was finally assembled, led by Yves Leterme. Kris Peeters subsequently became the next minister-president of Flanders. From 30 December 2008 till 25 November 2009, Herman Van Rompuy led his first cabinet before becoming the first permanent president of the European Council. Afterwards, Yves Leterme led his second government.

In June 2009, Flemish elections were held and the CD&V remained the largest party of Flanders. Kris Peeters stayed as Flemish minister-president. The party also remained the largest Flemish party in the European Parliament after the 2009 European elections.

In 2010, the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open VLD) decided to step out of the federal coalition, consequently ending the government. The federal elections of 2010 resulted in a major loss of historic proportions for CD&V, largely due to votes lost to the Flemish-nationalist New Flemish Alliance. In the campaign, former prime minister Yves Leterme took a subtle step aside as frontrunner of the party. The president of the party, Marianne Thyssen, had pre-electorally stated that she was a candidate to become Prime Minister.

On 6 December 2011, the Di Rupo Government was formed, with the CD&V as the largest Flemish party.

During the local elections in 2012, CD&V managed to remain the largest Flemish party on the local level. It remained in the coalition of all five Flemish provinces and in three quarters of the municipalities. Almost half of these municipalities were subsequently led by CD&V mayors.

Ideology

CD&V follows the principle of Christian democracy and describes itself as a broad movement that bases its ideology on "solidarity and justice".^[14] It describes its core philosophy as ensuring socio-economic policies made by government create a good quality of life for Flemish citizens through investing in cultural education and maintaining the family unit. CD&V also supports stricter penalties for sexual crimes and opposes legalization of hard drugs. The party also supports reform of the Belgian state by giving visibility to Flemish voters and creating a unified police zone in Brussels.^[15]

Members holding notable public offices

European politics

Federal politics

Chamber of Representatives
Name	Notes	Name	Notes
Servais Verherstraeten	Faction leader	Jef Van den Bergh
Nahima Lanjri		Koen Geens
Els Van Hoof		Steven Matheï	Replaces Wouter Beke, who became Flemish Minister
Nawal Farih		Jan Briers
Leen Dierick		Nathalie Muylle
Hendrik Bogaert		Franky Demon

Senate
Type	Name	Notes
Co-opted Senator	Baroness Sabine de Bethune	Faction leader
Community Senator	Peter Van Rompuy	Son of Herman Van Rompuy
Community Senator	Karin Brouwers
Community Senator	Orry Van de Wauwer
Community Senator	Martine Fournier

Regional politics

Flemish Parliament
Name	Notes	Name	Notes
Peter Van Rompuy	Fraction Leader	Karin Brouwers	Community Senator
Katrien Partyka	Mayor of Tienen	Jo Brouns	Mayor of Kinrooi
Lode Ceyssens	Mayor of Oudsbergen	Vera Jans
Orry Van de Wauwer	Community Senator	Tinne Rombouts
Katrien Schryvers		Koen Van den Heuvel	Mayor of Puurs-Sint-Amands
Joke Schauvliege		Stijn De Roo	Replaces Vincent Van Peteghem, who became Federal Minister
Robrecht Bothuyne		Maaike De Rudder	Mayor of Sint-Gillis-Waas
Martine Fournier	Community Senator	Brecht Warnez	Replace Hilde Crevits, who became Flemish Minister
Bart Dochy	Mayor of Ledegem	Loes Vandromme
Kurt Vanryckeghem	Mayor of Waregem

Electoral results

Chamber of Representatives

Results for the Chamber of Representatives, in percentages for the Kingdom of Belgium. From 1971 tot 1999: CVP figures. 2003: CD&V figures. 2007: CD&V/N-VA figures. From 2010 onwards: CD&V figures.

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/-	Government
1971	967,701	18.3	47 / 212		Coalition
1974	1,222,646	23.2	50 / 212	3	Coalition
1977	1,460,757	26.2	56 / 212	6	Coalition
1978	1,447,112	26.1	57 / 212	1	Coalition
1981	1,165,239	19.3	43 / 212	14	Coalition
1985	1,291,244	21.3	49 / 212	6	Coalition
1987	1,195,363	19.4	43 / 212	6	Coalition
1991	1,036,165	16.8	39 / 212	4	Coalition
1995	1,042,933	17.2	29 / 150	10	Coalition
1999	875,967	14.1	22 / 150	7	Opposition
2003	870,749	13.3	21 / 150	1	Opposition
2007[a]	1,234,950	18.5	25 / 150	4	Coalition
2010	707,986	10.9	17 / 150	8	Coalition
2014	783,060	11.6	18 / 150	1	Coalition
2019	602,520	8.9	12 / 150	6	Coalition