The Party was formed in 2005, with the objective of uniting various congressional supporters of President
Alvaro Uribe, also known as
Uribistas, into one political party, and to provide a political platform for the
2006 Colombian presidential elections. Most of its members defected from the
Colombian Liberal Party, yet it failed to unite all Uribistas: in particular the
Radical Change (Cambio Radical) refused to join. In 2006, the party took part in the
parliamentary elections, in which it won 30 out of 166 deputies and 20 out of 100 senators. Three years later, more than half of the congressmen from the
Radical Change Party changed their standing towards the Party of the U, which resulted in it becoming Colombia's largest political party. For the
2010 presidential elections, Party of the U chose former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos as a presidential candidate and Governor
Angelino Garzon as a vice presidential candidate.
Juan Manuel Santos was elected with 69% of the vote in the runoff. The Party also obtained 27 seats in the Senate in the 2010 congressional elections. In 2012, the
Uribistas and former President
Alvaro Uribe along with
Francisco Santos Calderon decided to form their own separate party, the
Democratic Center. This was the result of constant intervention and criticism from former President
Alvaro Uribe towards his presidential successor
Juan Manuel Santos. The announcement of peace negotiations with the
FARC and the
Colombian Government was a partial factor that led to the fragmentation. Nevertheless, the party did not suffer high-level defections towards the Democratic Center. It came first in the Senate elections, followed in second place by the Democratic Center led by Alvaro Uribe who then became a Senator. In 2014, President
Juan Manuel Santos was re-elected for a second term, in a close race against former cabinet colleague and ex-Finance Minister
Oscar Ivan Zuluaga of the
Democratic Center. In 2021, political leaders from multiple parties formed a coalition called the
Historic Pact for Colombia. After the election of President
Gustavo Petro in 2022, Party of the U allied with the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. ==Ideological platform==