The Union of Centrists (, ) was a centrist, liberal political party in Greece, it was founded by Vasilis Leventis. It strongly supported Greece in remaining an integral part of the European Union.
History The party was founded by Vasilis Leventis in 1992 under the title "Union of Centrists and Ecologists" (). The name was changed shortly after. The Union of Centrists claims to be the ideological continuation of the old party Centre Union. Previously Vasilis Leventis was a part of the PASOK party when it was launched, but 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 Georgios Papandreou.
Electoral support
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%). 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 no MPs.
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 New 7th Vassilis Leventis 1996 48,659 0.72% +0.49 0 7th 2000 23,218 0.34% –0.38 0 7th 2004 19,510 0.26% –0.12 0 7th 2007 20,840 0.29% +0.03 0 8th 2009 18,296 0.27% –0.02 0 11th May 2012 38,313 0.61% +0.34 0 17th Jun 2012 17,145 0.28% –0.33 0 14th Jan 2015 110,923 1.79% +1.51 0 9th Sep 2015 186,644 3.44% +1.65 9 6th 2019 70,178 1.24% –2.20 9 9th May 2023 22,449 0.38% –0.86 0 16th Jun 2023 14,881 0.29% –0.09 0 16th
European Parliament European Parliament Election Votes % ±pp Seats won +/− Rank Leader EP Group 1994 77,951 1.19% New New 7th Vassilis Leventis − 1999 52,512 0.82% −0.37 0 9th 2004 34,511 0.56% −0.26 0 9th 2009 19,660 0.38% −0.18 0 14th 2014 36,879 0.64% +0.26 0 19th 2019 82,072 1.45% +0.81 0 10th 2024 10,933 0.27% –1.18 0 22nd
References