New Left (Poland)

The New Left (Polish: Nowa Lewica, Polish pronunciation: [ˈnɔva lɛˈvi.t͡sa]; NL) is a social-democratic political party in Poland.^[7][8] It is positioned on the centre^[3] or centre-left of the political spectrum.^{[9][10][11][12]} Its leaders are Włodzimierz Czarzasty and Robert Biedroń.^[13]

New Left Nowa Lewica
Leaders	Włodzimierz Czarzasty Robert Biedroń
General Secretary	Marcin Kulasek
Founded	9 July 1991 (as Democratic Left Alliance) 9 October 2021 (as New Left)
Registered	27 January 2020 (2020-1-27)
Merger of	Democratic Left Alliance Spring
Headquarters	Złota 9, lok. 4 00-019 Warsaw
Youth wing	Młoda Lewica Federacja Młodych Socjaldemokratów
Membership (2023)	25,703[1]
Ideology	Social democracy Social liberalism[2] Progressivism Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre[3] to centre-left[4]
National affiliation	The Left Senate Pact 2023 (for 2023 Senate election)
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists
European Parliament group	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Colours	Purple   Bordeaux   Red[5][6]
Slogan	Serce mam po lewej 'My heart is on the left'
Sejm	18 / 460
Senate	7 / 100
European Parliament	3 / 53
Regional assemblies	8 / 552
City Presidents	9 / 107
Website
lewica.org.pl lewica2023.org lewica2024.org
Politics of Poland Political parties Elections

It was formed in 2021 as a merger of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and Spring, although the plans for the merger began in 2019.^[14] It is a part of The Left coalition. It holds pro-European views.^[10]

History

Spring and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) initially cooperated in 2019 during the October 2019 parliamentary election, as part of The Left alliance. After the election, the plan to merge the two parties was announced.^[15] As a consequence, in 2020, SLD changed its name to the New Left as the new party was to be based on the structures of the alliance. However, further plans concerning merger were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 11 June 2021, the Spring's general assembly voted in favour of dissolving the party in order to merge with the SLD.^[16]

In the 2023 Polish parliamentary election, The Left coalition is technically participating as the New Left party, whose list includes representatives of Left Together, Labour Union, Polish Socialist Party and Social Democracy of Poland.^[17][18] It joined the four-party coalition that nominated Donald Tusk as its candidate for prime minister. It received four seats in Tusk's cabinet, with Krzysztof Gawkowski as a deputy premier. It is the first time a left-wing party has been in government since the SLD's last government was defeated in 2005.^[19][20]

Structure

Leaders:

• Włodzimierz Czarzasty and Robert Biedroń

Vice-Leaders:

• Marek Dyduch
• Krzysztof Gawkowski
• Arkadiusz Iwaniak
• Anita Kucharska-Dziedzic
• Łukasz Komoniewski
• Wanda Nowicka
• Anna Mackiewicz
• Paulina Piechna-Wieckiewicz
• Małgorzata Moskwa-Wodnicka
• Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus
• Andrzej Szejna
• Krzysztof Śmiszek
• Dariusz Wieczorek

Secretary:

• Marcin Kulasek

Party leaders

No.	Image	Name	Tenure
1.		Włodzimierz Czarzasty	9 October 2021 – present
		Robert Biedroń

Election results

Sejm

Election	Leader	Popular vote	% of votes	Seats	+/−	Government	Ref
2023	Włodzimierz Czarzasty, Robert Biedroń	1,859,018 (#4)	8.61	19 / 460	New	PiS Minority (2023)	[21][22]
						KO–PL2050–PSL–NL (2023-present)
	As part of The Left coalition, which won 26 seats in total.[a]

Senate

Election	Leader	Popular vote	% of votes	Seats	+/−	Majority	Ref
2023	Włodzimierz Czarzasty, Robert Biedroń	1,131,639 (#4)	5.29	7 / 100	New	KO–TD–L	[23]
	As part of The Left coalition, which won 9 seats in total.[a]

European Parliament

Election	Leader	Popular vote	% of votes	Seats	+/−	Ref
2024	Włodzimierz Czarzasty, Robert Biedroń	741,071 (#5)	6.30	3 / 53	New	[24]
	As part of The Left coalition, which won 3 seats in total.

Regional Assemblies

Election	Leader	Popular vote	% of votes	Seats	+/−	Ref
2024	Włodzimierz Czarzasty, Robert Biedroń	911,430 (#5)	6.32	7 / 552	New	[25]
	As part of The Left coalition, which won 8 seats in total.

Notes

1. The officially registered as Nowa Lewica (New Left) party list also included candidates of other The Left coalition parties. The list belong to the wider Senate Pact for the Senate election.