The
Social Democratic Czechoslavonic party in Austria () was a political group founded on 7 April 1878 in
Austria-Hungary as a regional wing of the
Social Democratic Party of Austria. Founded in
Břevnov atop earlier social democratic initiatives, such as the
Ouls, it represented much of the
Kingdom of Bohemia in the Austrian parliament, and its significant role in the political life of the empire was one of the factors that led to the creation of an independent Czechoslovakia. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary at the end of
World War I, the party became one of the leading parties of the
first Czechoslovak Republic. Its members were split over whether to join the
Comintern, which in 1921 resulted in the fracturing of the party, with a large part of its membership then forming the new
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. During the occupation of the Czech lands by
Nazi Germany, the party was officially abolished, but its members organized resistance movements contrary to the laws of the German-controlled
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, both at home and abroad. After the
re-establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1945, the party returned to its pre-war structure and became a member of the
National Front which formed a new governing coalition. In 1948, after the
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia gained a parliamentary majority, the Czech Social Democratic Party was incorporated into the Communist Party. At the time of the
Prague Spring, a reformist movement in 1968, there were talks about allowing the recreation of a social democratic party, but
Soviet intervention put an end to such ideas. It was only after the
Velvet Revolution of 1989 that the party was recreated. Since the
dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which came into effect on 1 January 1993, the ČSSD has been one of the major political parties of the Czech Republic, and until October 2017 was always one of the two parties with the largest number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies. At the
1998 Czech parliamentary election, the party won the largest number of seats but failed to form a coalition government, so formed a minority government under its leader
Miloš Zeman. With only 74 seats out of 200, the government had
confidence and supply from the
Civic Democratic Party (ODS), under the so-called
Opposition Agreement. At the
2002 Czech parliamentary election, the party gained 70 of the 200 seats in the
Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. Its leader
Vladimír Špidla became
prime minister, heading a coalition with two small centre-right parties, the
Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU–ČSL) and the
Freedom Union – Democratic Union (US-DEU) until he was forced to resign in 2004 after the ČSSD lost in the
2004 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic. The next leader was
Stanislav Gross, serving as leader from 26 June 2004 to 26 April 2005 and as prime minister from 4 August 2004 to 25 April 2005. He resigned after a scandal when he was unable to explain the source of money used to buy his house. The successor of Gross as prime minister was
Jiří Paroubek, while
Bohuslav Sobotka became acting party leader from 26 April 2005 to 13 May 2006. Paroubek was then elected as the new party leader in the run-up to the
2006 Czech parliamentary election, at which the party won 32.3% of the vote and 74 out of 200 seats. The election at first caused a
stalemate, since the centre-right parties plus the
Green Party and the centre-left parties each had exactly 100 seats. The stalemate was broken when two ČSSD deputies,
Miloš Melčák and
Michal Pohanka, abstained during a
vote of confidence, allowing a coalition of the
Civic Democrats (ODS), the KDU-ČSL, and the Green Party to form a government, while the ČSSD went into opposition. (on the right) and the next former party leader and interior minister
Jan Hamáček At the
2010 Czech parliamentary election, the ČSSD gained 22.08% of the vote but remained the largest party, with 56 seats. Failing to form a governing coalition, it remained in opposition to a government coalition of the ODS, conservative
TOP 09 and conservative-liberal
Public Affairs parties. Paroubek resigned as leader on 7 June and was succeeded by Sobotka. It remained the largest party after the
2013 Czech parliamentary election, and in December of the same year formed a governing coalition with the populist
ANO 2011 and the centrist
Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party. The leader of ČSSD, Bohuslav Sobotka, became the new Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. The party suffered heavy losses in the
2017 Czech parliamentary election and was reduced to 15 seats, the worst result in its history. ČSSD suffered another defeat in the Prague Municipal, local and Senate elections in 2018. ČSSD lost 12 senators (only one managed to win re-election), all Prague deputies and more than half of their local councillors. In 2019 ČSSD lost all their representatives in the European Parliament. Some political commentators have interpreted the string of poor results as a sign of ČSSD losing their position in national politics. ČSSD suffered another defeat in 2020 Regional Elections and Senate elections, when they lost 10 senators (none re-elected) and 97 regional deputies. From 2018 to 2021, ČSSD had
Jan Hamáček as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior,
Jana Maláčová as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs,
Lubomír Zaorálek as Minister of Culture, and
Miroslav Toman as Minister of Agriculture.
Extra-parliamentary party since 2021 In the
2021 election the party fell short of the 5% threshold and subsequently lost all of its seats in the Chamber of Deputies. This came as a shock to much of the party membership, who were reportedly optimistic about party results even as predictions showed party losing its representation. Party chair Jan Hamáček resigned on the election day, as some high-ranking members blamed
ANO for the loss. Later that year, Mayor of the
Nové Město na Moravě Michal Šmarda defeated former Minister of Labor
Jana Maláčová in the leadership contest, vowing to return the party to Parliament. He also said he does not want to repeat the cooperation with ANO, as he reckoned that it will not exist when the next parliamentary election is held.
Relaunch At its 2023, the party elected to change its name to just
Social Democracy, and adopt a new visual identity with a new logo. Šmarda was reelected as chairman, claiming that the party will be an alternative to both a
Spolu-led government and an ANO-led opposition. He also says he sees the party back at a 30% vote share in four years and at 10% in the next parliamentary election, claiming that under his leadership, SOCDEM will not form a government with ANO, ODS,
TOP 09,
SPD or
KSČM. For the
2023 Czech presidential election, the party nominated a trade union leader
Josef Středula, though he dropped out shortly before the election. Šmarda refused to support any other candidate, but called on his fellow party members to vote against
Andrej Babiš,
Jaroslav Bašta and
Karel Diviš. Former party leader
Lubomír Zaorálek was selected as the party's lead candidate for the
2024 European Parliament election. The party had chosen to run independently, after coalition talks with the
Greens failed, but opted to invite
Budoucnost members on its list. SOCDEM received 1.86% of the vote share at the election, failing to enter the European Parliament for the second consecutive time, and finishing 9th overall. Šmarda, describing the result as his personal failure, called for a new leadership election, blaming the party disunity for the result.
Under Jana Maláčová After the unsuccessful election, Jana Maláčová was elected chairwoman of the party, defeating former Minister for Human Rights
Jiří Dienstbier Jr.. Maláčová called for the party to shift to the left and called for a Czech version of the French
New Ecological and Social People's Union alliance. Doing so, she refused to work with
KSČM, causing a stir among some party members. Later, former ministers Jan Petříček,
Petra Buzková and former party leader
Jan Hamáček had left the party in protest. Shortly after being elected, Maláčová began talks with the
Stačilo! alliance, seeking cooperation for the
2025 Czech parliamentary election, citing the success of the French
NUPES. This resulted in further protests from party members as well as the
Young Social Democrats, which warned against another mass departure of members if SOCDEM collaborates with Stačilo!. In February 2025, Maláčová announced that the talks had broken down, saying that Stačilo! was "not left-wing enough" and that it focused on anti-system politics rather than on social-economical issues. The party has added that it is still open to cooperation with other subjects. On 7 April 2025, former MEP
Libor Rouček left the party in protest against SOCDEM leaders secret negotiations with
ANO for places on ANO's candidate lists for the 2025 Czech parliamentary election. On 25 June 2025, SOCDEM leaders released a press release where they invited Stačilo! to cooperate for the 2025 Czech parliamentary election again. Former Minister for Human Rights Jiří Dienstbier Jr., Senator Petr Vícha, former MP Václav Votava, former MEP
Miroslav Poche and governor of Pardubice Region
Martin Netolický left the party in protest. Former Czech president, PM and ČSSD chairman
Miloš Zeman commented cooperation between SOCDEM and Stačilo! as "sensible solution". On 17 July 2025, both Stačilo! and SOCDEM agreed on cooperation for the 2025 Czech parliamentary election. Former SOCDEM leader Michal Šmarda announced that he will leave the party in protest. The party used to hold
pro-European views until early 2020s. However, in August 2025, the party pledged to promote and follow the program of Stačilo!, which includes reconsideration and a referendum on the Czech Republic's withdrawal from NATO and the European Union. Maláčová stated that she sees no contradictions between the programs of SOCDEM and Stačilo!, arguing that their programs are "98% similar" and that SOCDEM "has long supported a general referendum, including on foreign policy issues". Czech political scientists Tomáš Cirhan and Mattia Collin wrote that since entering cooperation with Stačilo!, SOCDEM has shifted "towards a less pro-European stance and a more favourable position on Russia", and became increasingly divided in terms of stances in GAL-TAN dimension (progressive and traditional values on social issues). Stačilo! failed to reach 5% threshold to get in parliament, thus SOCDEM failed to gain any deputies. On 6 October 2025, Máláčová announced that SOCDEM leaders would resign at an extraordinary congress.
Under Jiří Nedvěd On 13 December 2025, Jiří Nedvěd was elected in a SOCDEM leadership election, with 69 out of 133 votes, defeating Petr Pavlík and Petr Hůla. Former Minister for Human Rights and Equal Opportunities
Jan Chvojka, former Minister of Regional Development Radko Martínek, former Chairman of the SOCDEM Prague organization Petr Pavlík, the mayor of
Náchod Jan Birke and the former PM and European Commissioner
Vladimír Špidla left the party in protest. == Organization ==