South Tyrolean People's Party

The '''South Tyrolean People's Party (, SVP''') is a regionalist and mostly Christian-democratic political party in South Tyrol, an autonomous province with a German-speaking majority in northern Italy. Dieter Steger has been party leader since 2024, while party member Arno Kompatscher has been governor of South Tyrol since 2014.

Founded on 8 May 1945, the SVP has roots in the Deutscher Verband, a confederation of German-speaking parties formed in 1919 after the annexation of South Tyrol by Italy, which shared many of the same leading figures as the early SVP. An ethnic catch-all party, the SVP is aimed at representing South Tyrol's German-speaking population, as well as Ladin speakers. It is mainly Christian-democratic, but nevertheless quite diverse, including conservatives, liberals and social democrats. The party also gives special attention to the interests of farmers, which make up a good deal of its electorate, especially in Alpine valleys.

From 1948 to 2013, the party retained an absolute majority in the Landtag of South Tyrol (Provincial Council). Its best result was 67.8% in the 1948 provincial election, its worst 34.5% in the 2023 provincial election. The SVP had a long-lasting alliance with Christian Democracy (plus the Italian Democratic Socialist Party or the Italian Socialist Party) and, since 1994, with some of its successor parties, including the Italian People's Party and the Democratic Union of Alto Adige, as well as the Democratic Party of the Left and, later, the Democrats of the Left and the Democratic Party. That coalition 25 years, until the party chose to team up with Lega Alto Adige Südtirol, local section of Lega Nord / Lega, in 2019. The coalition was enlarged to the Brothers of Italy, Die Freiheitlichen and The Civic List after the 2023 provincial election.

The SVP has a sister party in Trentino, the Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party (PATT). In the Italian Parliament the SVP teams up with other regionalist parties, notably including the Valdostan Union from Aosta Valley, while at the European level it is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and has recently formed electoral pacts with Forza Italia, Italy's main EPP member. Provided by Wikipedia