Neo – The Social-liberal Centre (German: Neo – Die sozialliberale Mitte; French: NEO – Le Centre social-libéral), known before 2023 as the Christian-social People's Party of Upper Valais (German: Christlichsoziale Volkspartei Oberwallis CSPO) is a Christian-social political party in the German-speaking areas of the Swiss canton of Valais (Upper Valais), associated federally with The Centre.
History
The party was founded on 14 November 1949, mainly by Wolfgang Loretan [fr], to counter the rise of labour-oriented christian-social movements.[1]
In March 2023, following the merger of the CVP and BDP, the party renamed itself Neo, being the last of the three cantonal parties associated with The Centre to remove the word "Christian".[2]
Political orientation
Neo is one of three cantonal branches of The Centre in Valais, the other two being The Centre of Lower Valais and The Centre of Upper Valais. Neo caucuses with The Centre nationally, but it is independent at the cantonal level, its members of the Grand Council sitting as their own group.[3]
Electoral results
Federal elections
The party had one member of the National Council from 1951 until 2003, then had one elected again in 2007 and 2015. It rarely ran for the Council of States, often supporting the PDC/CVP candidates instead. It has not had a member of the Council of States since 2015 and of the National Council since 2019.[4]
Cantonal elections
In the 2021 cantonal elections, the party lost two seats but still has eight members in the Grand Council, and is the second-largest parliamentary group from Upper Valais.[5]
