Union of Centrists
{{More citations needed|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox political party
| country = Greece
| colorcode = {{party color|Union of Centrists}}
| name = Union of Centrists
| native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|el|Ένωση Κεντρώων}}}}
Énosi Kentróon
| abbreviation = ΕΚ
| logo = Union of Centrists logo.png
| logo_size = 245px
| leader = Vassilis Leventis
| slogan =
| foundation = 2 March 1992
| newspaper = Antidiaploki
| headquarters = 28 Karolou St.
122 42 Athens
| ideology = Venizelism{{cite web|url=http://parties-and-elections.eu/greece.html|title=Greece|last=Nordsieck|first=Wolfram|date=2019|website=Parties and Elections in Europe}}
Social liberalism[https://vouliwatch.gr/parties/enosi-kentroon Vouliwatch - Ένωση Κεντρώων]
Pro-Europeanism
| position = Centre
| european = {{Nowrap|European Democratic Party}}
| membership_year =
| membership =
| youth_wing = Youth Union of Centrists
| colours = {{Color box|{{party color|Union of Centrists}}|border=darkgray}} Orange
| seats1_title = Parliament
| seats1 = {{Composition bar|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}}
| seats2_title = European Parliament
| seats2 = {{Composition bar|0|21|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}}
| website = {{URL|https://enosi-kentroon.gr|enosi-kentroon.gr}}
}}
The Union of Centrists ({{langx|el|Ένωση Κεντρώων|Énosi Kentróon}}, {{IPA|el|ˈenosi cenˈdro.on|IPA}}) is a centrist, liberal 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" ({{langx|el|Ένωση Κεντρώων και Οικολόγων}}). 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
| align=right |
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%).{{cite news|url=http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/09/03/greek-elections-new-poll-shows-slight-new-democracy-lead-over-syriza/|title=Greek Elections: New Poll Shows Slight New Democracy Lead Over SYRIZA| work=GreekReporter|date=3 September 2015}} 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.{{cite news|url=http://thegreekobserver.com/politics/article/14447/centrists-union-mp-megaloeconomou-becomes-independent/|title=Centrists Union MP Megaloeconomou becomes independent| work=The Greek Observer |date=10 July 2017}}{{cite news|url=http://int.ert.gr/centrists-union-mp-karras-becomes-independent/|title=Centrists Union MP Karras becomes independent| work=ERT |date=30 November 2016}}
In the 2019 election, the party did not reach the 3% threshold and thus lost representation in the Hellenic Parliament.
Election results
= Hellenic Parliament =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; line-height:16px;" |
| rowspan="2" style="width:75px;"| Election
! colspan="5"| Hellenic Parliament ! rowspan="2" style="width:30px;"| Rank ! rowspan="2" style="width:125px;"| Government ! rowspan="2"| Leader |
|---|
| style="width:75px;"| Votes
! style="width:45px;"| % ! style="width:45px;"| ±pp ! style="width:100px;"| Seats won ! style="width:40px;"| +/− |
| 1993
| 15,926 | 0.23% | New | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | New | 7th | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} | rowspan="13" |Vassilis Leventis |
| 1996
| 48,659 | 0.72% | +0.49 | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 7th | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |
| 2000
| 23,218 | 0.34% | –0.38 | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 7th | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |
| 2004
| 19,510 | 0.26% | –0.12 | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 7th | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |
| 2007
| 20,840 | 0.29% | +0.03 | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 8th | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |
| 2009
| 18,296 | 0.27% | –0.02 | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 11th | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |
| May 2012
| 38,313 | 0.61% | +0.34 | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 17th | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |
| Jun 2012
| 17,145 | 0.28% | –0.33 | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 14th | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |
| Jan 2015
| 110,923 | 1.79% | +1.51 | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 9th | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |
| Sep 2015
| 186,644 | 3.44% | +1.65 | {{Infobox political party/seats|9|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | {{increase}} 9 | 6th | {{no2|Opposition}} |
| 2019
| 70,178 | 1.24% | –2.20 | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | {{decrease}} 9 | 9th | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |
| May 2023
| 22,449 | 0.38% | –0.86 | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 16th | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |
| Jun 2023
| 14,881 | 0.29% | –0.09 | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|300|hex={{party color|Union of Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 16th | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |
= European Parliament =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:100%; line-height:16px;" |
| colspan="9"|European Parliament |
|---|
| width="60" | Election
! width="75" | Votes ! width="45" | % ! width="45" | ±pp ! width="100" | Seats won ! width="30" | +/− ! width="30" | Rank ! Leader ! EP Group |
| 1994
| 77,951 | 1.19% | New | {{Composition bar|0|21|hex={{party color|Union_of_Centrists}}}} | New | 7th | rowspan="7" | Vassilis Leventis | rowspan="7" | − |
| 1999
| 52,512 | 0.82% | −0.37 | {{Composition bar|0|21|hex={{party color|Union_of_Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 9th |
| 2004
| 34,511 | 0.56% | −0.26 | {{Composition bar|0|21|hex={{party color|Union_of_Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 9th |
| 2009
| 19,660 | 0.38% | −0.18 | {{Composition bar|0|21|hex={{party color|Union_of_Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 14th |
| 2014
| 36,879 | 0.64% | +0.26 | {{Composition bar|0|21|hex={{party color|Union_of_Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 19th |
| 2019
| 82,072 | 1.45% | +0.81 | {{Composition bar|0|21|hex={{party color|Union_of_Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 10th |
| 2024
| 10,933 | 0.27% | –1.18 | {{Composition bar|0|21|hex={{party color|Union_of_Centrists}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | 22nd |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://enosi-kentroon.gr}}
{{Greek political parties}}
{{Liberalism in Greece}}
Category:Centrist parties in Greece
Category:Conservative liberal parties
Category:European Democratic Party
Category:Liberal parties in Greece
Category:Political parties established in 1992