Centre Party (Norway)

The Centre Party (Norwegian: Senterpartiet, Sp) is an agrariancentristpolitical party in Norway, founded in 1920. The Centre Party's policy is not based on any of the major ideologies of the 19th and 20th century, but has a focus on maintaining decentralised economic development and political decision-making.

From its founding until 2000, the party had joined only non-socialist governments, but in 2005 changed its allegiance and joined the Red-Green Coalition government led by the Labour Party.

Since 1972, the Centre Party has maintained a principled opposition to Norwegian membership in the European Union, as well as wanting Norway to withdraw from the European Economic Area and the Schengen Agreement.

History

The party was founded at the national convention of the Norsk Landmandsforbund during 17 to 19 June 1920, when it was decided by the association to run for the 1921 parliamentary election. In 1922 the association was renamed to the Norwegian Agrarian Association, and the political activity of the group was separated as the Farmers' Party (Bondepartiet).

Centre Party

Centre Party or Center Party may refer to:

Active parties

Historical parties

See also

Centre Party (Germany)

The German Centre Party (German: Deutsche Zentrumspartei or just Zentrum) is a lay Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. In English it is often called the Catholic Centre Party. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church. It soon won a quarter of the seats in the Reichstag (Imperial Parliament), and its middle position on most issues allowed it to play a decisive role in the formation of majorities.

After World War II, the party was refounded, but could not rise again to its former importance, as most of its members joined the new Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The Centre Party was represented in the German parliament until 1957. It exists as a marginal party, mainly based in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Origins

The Centre Party belongs to the political spectrum of "Political Catholicism" that, emerging in the early 19th century after the turmoil of the Napoleonic wars, had changed the political face of Germany. Many Catholics found themselves in Protestant dominated states.