The South Tyrolean People's Party (German: Südtiroler Volkspartei, SVP) is a regionalist and autonomist political party in South Tyrol, an autonomous province with a German-speaking majority in northern Italy.
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 SVP. An ethnic catch-all party, the SVP is aimed at representing South Tyrol's German-speaking population as well as Ladin speakers, is mainly Christian-democratic but nevertheless quite diverse, including conservatives, liberals and social democrats. The party gives special attention also to the interests of farmers, which make up a good deal of its electorate.
From 1948 to 2013 the party retained an absolute majority in the Provincial Council. Its best result was 67.8% in 1948, its worst 41.9% in 2018. The SVP had a long-lasting alliance with Christian Democracy (and 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. In 1998 the SVP formed a coalition with the Democrats of the Left, replaced by the Democratic Party in 2009. That coalition lasted ten years, until the party chose to team up with the local section of Lega Nord / Lega per Salvini Premier in 2019.
At the European level, the SVP is a member of the European People's Party (EPP).
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