Christian Social People's Party (Egelion)

The Christian Social People's Party is a political party in Egelion.

History
The CSPP is the descendant of the Social Liberal Alliance founded iin by a group of university academics headed by Dr. Mary Tirone, Professor of Political Science at the University of Libertaria in Dul Kinea. Tirone and the rest of the academic community had become increasingly disappointed with the political scene in Egelion which at that time was dominated by Communists, liberal-rightists, nationalists, and the royalists, and they wished to introduce a political party into Egelion that was based on mainstream academic theory. In the SLA's first election it won only 5% of the vote nationwide but 25% of the vote in Dul Kinea, coming second, where Tirone was well known, being based there. Due to Egelion's then electoral system giving equal representation to the provinces this gave the SLA an inflated number of seats.

The SLA reached 9% of the vote in the 2796 election. It allied with the right-liberal Polaris Party in a government that had a majority of 1. The party leadership decided however that the SLA project had come to its natural end, that the party was essentially an elitist project and that to gain power it needed to transition into becoming a mass party. This led to a democratisation of the party's institutions, leading to a more populist edge and a changing of the party's name to 'Egelion People's Party'. As Egelion parties collapsed around it the EPP grew further, and with the collapse of the Polaris Party it gained an absolute majority of seats while Mary Tirone was successfully elected to the Presidency. The ensuing Egelion government of 2811-2815 was one of the most reforming in Egelion's history, introducing a guaranteed minimum income, free nursery care for children, a radically reshaped tax system and budget and reform to the nation's military policies. The EPP lost its majority (indeed it came behind the far-right Capitalist Party) at the ensuing election, but was able to continue in government, and Tirone was successfully re-elected thanks to the support of the Social Democratic and Labor Party's ancestor party, the Unity Party, and reforms continued including wide-ranging constitutional reform. Tirone herself stepped down, retiring to a life of solitude. However with the collapse of both the Communists and the Capitalists the EPP became the majority party once again. The EPP won five elections in a row, governing for a full 20 years as the majority party. Nonetheless for most of that period the EPP governed in governments of national unity with the SDLP. However, in reality, laws were decided only by the EPP leadership, and the SDLP's increased annoyance with this led them to put up an eighteen article bill called the 'SDLP support bill' outlining their requirements for continued support of the government. The EPP, of course, voted against the SDLP's demands, and began governing alone.

EPP hegemony could not continue forever however. With the arrival of the Egelion Democrats and the Egelion Leftist Front the EPP lost more than half its votes and therefore its majority, coming behind the ED. The EPP chose to go into opposition, despite the potential of a left-wing government, in order to reflect. It was decided that the party should become a party of the Christian Left, changing its name to the current name, Christian Social People's Party. At the next election the CSPP lost the Presidency (due to a SDLP/ELF alliance), but managed to form a left wing government with the SDLP and the ELF. In the most recent election the CSPP once again became the majority party, and regained the Presidency despite losing several seats to the Power Centrist Party. The CSPP hopes to build on these successes and consolidate itself as Egelion's dominant party once again.

Factions
The Left Cheek The clearly dominant faction of the party, headed by Egelion President Reverend Ian Jones. Christian Left and based on a progressive reading of the bible. Focuses on subsidiarity, environmentalism (stewardship of the Earth), democracy and the role of religion in public life. Progressive People A faction of secular Social Democrats who refuse to join the SDLP because they see the party as authoritarian, idealistic and/or unacceptably socialist. Tends to focus on social justice issues. Not very influential. Liberal People Social Liberals. Combine support for a strong welfare state with a liberal economy. Highly supportive of free markets. Small, but influential in economic policy, current Finance Minister Aaron James is the group's leader. Real Christians A tiny faction of Christian Democrats who wish to move the party towards the centre and centre-right. Reject the ED and the PCP due to their secular politics, but reject the leftism of the wider CSPP too. Mistrusted by the rest of the party.