Union of Centrists

The Union of Centrists (Template:Langx, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) is a centrist,<ref name=Nordsieck/> liberal<ref name=Nordsieck/> political party in Greece. The leader and founder of the party is the veteran anti-corruption activist Vassilis Leventis. It strongly supports Greece in remaining an integral part of the European Union.

History

The party was founded by Vassilis Leventis in 1992 under the title "Union of Centrists and Ecologists" (Template:Langx). The name was changed shortly after. The Union of Centrists claims to be the ideological continuation of the old party Centre Union. Previously Vassilis Leventis was a part of the PASOK party when it was launched, but Vassilis Leventis left and started the Union of Centrists because of disagreements.

The party strives to become "the political continuance of the centrist expression in Greece". Leventis aimed to become part of the Venizelist legacy of some Greek politicians of the past, such as Eleftherios Venizelos and George Papandreou (senior).

Electoral support

File:Antidiapl07.jpg A sample cover of the party's newspaper Antidiaploki.

Until 2015, the party's influence was marginal, with 1.79% of the total vote in the January 2015 Greek legislative election and no MPs being its highest achievement. In the September 2015 Greek legislative election the party cleared the 3% hurdle for representation in the Greek Parliament with nine MPs after it won 186,457 votes (3.43%).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Two MPs left the parliamentary group: Georgios Dimitrios Karras in November 2016 and Theodora Megaloeconomou in July 2017, the latter becoming a Syriza MP in January 2018. The party currently has five MPs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In the 2019 election, the party did not reach the 3% threshold and thus lost representation in the Hellenic Parliament.

Election results

Hellenic Parliament

Election	Hellenic Parliament					Rank	Government	Leader
	Votes	%	±pp	Seats won	+/−
1993	15,926	0.23%	New	Template:Infobox political party/seats	New	7th	Template:No	Vassilis Leventis
1996	48,659	0.72%	+0.49	Template:Infobox political party/seats	Template:Steady 0	7th	Template:No
2000	23,218	0.34%	–0.38	Template:Infobox political party/seats	Template:Steady 0	7th	Template:No
2004	19,510	0.26%	–0.12	Template:Infobox political party/seats	Template:Steady 0	7th	Template:No
2007	20,840	0.29%	+0.03	Template:Infobox political party/seats	Template:Steady 0	8th	Template:No
2009	18,296	0.27%	–0.02	Template:Infobox political party/seats	Template:Steady 0	11th	Template:No
May 2012	38,313	0.61%	+0.34	Template:Infobox political party/seats	Template:Steady 0	17th	Template:No
Jun 2012	17,145	0.28%	–0.33	Template:Infobox political party/seats	Template:Steady 0	14th	Template:No
Jan 2015	110,923	1.79%	+1.51	Template:Infobox political party/seats	Template:Steady 0	9th	Template:No
Sep 2015	186,644	3.44%	+1.65	Template:Infobox political party/seats	Template:Increase 9	6th	Template:No2
2019	70,178	1.24%	–2.20	Template:Infobox political party/seats	Template:Decrease 9	9th	Template:No
May 2023	22,449	0.38%	–0.86	Template:Infobox political party/seats	Template:Steady 0	16th	Template:No
Jun 2023	14,881	0.29%	–0.09	Template:Infobox political party/seats	Template:Steady 0	16th	Template:No

European Parliament

European Parliament
Election	Votes	%	±pp	Seats won	+/−	Rank	Leader	EP Group
1994	77,951	1.19%	New	Template:Composition bar	New	7th	Vassilis Leventis	−
1999	52,512	0.82%	−0.37	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady 0	9th
2004	34,511	0.56%	−0.26	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady 0	9th
2009	19,660	0.38%	−0.18	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady 0	14th
2014	36,879	0.64%	+0.26	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady 0	19th
2019	82,072	1.45%	+0.81	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady 0	10th
2024	10,933	0.27%	–1.18	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady 0	22nd

External links

• Template:Official website