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Poland 2050
Political party in Poland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Szymon Hołownia's Poland 2050 (Polish: Polska 2050 Szymona Hołowni, PL2050) is a centre-right political party in Poland.
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It was founded as a social movement in 2020, shortly after that year's presidential election, and was officially registered as a political party in April 2021. In the years prior to the 2023 Polish parliamentary election, eight MPs defected to Poland 2050 in the Sejm. After its first national electoral test, the party finished in third place. Poland 2050 joined a ruling coalition, with its leader Szymon Hołownia being chosen as Marshal of the Sejm. It is ideologically Christian democratic, liberal-conservative and socially conservative.
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History
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Founding
The first indication that Szymon Hołownia planned to establish a social movement appeared in February 2020, when he led a campaign for the 2020 presidential election.[5][6] Hołownia officially announced the formation of a new movement on 30 June 2020, two days after the first round of elections, in which he was placed 3rd with a result of less than 14% of votes.[7][8] The organisation was registered on 24 August 2020, and five days later it was officially introduced.[9] According to Szymon Hołownia, 20,000 people joined the movement.[10]
On 29 September 2020, Szymon Hołownia announced the creation of a political party associated with the movement, led by Michał Kobosko, whose registration (under the name "Poland 2050 by Szymon Hołownia") was filed with the District Court in Warsaw on 3 November 2020.[11]
In November 2020, the party gained its first MP in the Sejm: Hanna Gill-Piątek from the Spring party.[12] By the end of the year, the party got between 10 and 20 percent in opinion polls, which made it the third most popular party in Poland. By the end of the year, Gill-Piątek and Jacek Kozlowski became the party's Deputy Chair.[13]
On 8 January 2021, the party gained another representative in the Sejm (Joanna Mucha) and its first Senator (Jacek Bury). Both these members initially were members of Civic Platform, which was the main party of the Civic Coalition.[14] On the same day, members of the Elk City Council and the Elk Poviat Council, including its chair Andrzej Wiszowaty, who were members of the local party Dobro Wspólne created the Poland 2020 Local Councillors club.[15]
In February 2021, yet another member of the Civic Coalition (Paulina Hennig-Kloska of the Modern party) joined ranks of Poland 2050 in the Sejm.[16] This allowed the movement to create its own Sejm circle. In March, another MP joined the party, the Independent politician and famous journalist Tomasz Zimoch.[17]
On 7 April 2021, Szymon Hołownia's Poland 2050 officially registered as a political party.[18] Thirteen days later another member of Modern, Mirosław Suchoń, joined Poland 2050.[19] On 20 May 2021, a former member of the government and Agreement, Wojciech Maksymowicz, joined the party and its group in Sejm, after he was attacked by the government media of performing medical research using aborted fetuses.[20] On 28 October 2021 Paweł Zalewski, an MP expelled from Civic Platform due to his conservative stances joined PL2050.[21]
Poland 2050, through MEP Róża Thun, officially joined the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament on 10 November 2021.[22]
First elections (2023-2025)
Vertical lines left to right: performance of party in 2020, 2023, 2024 (local), 2024 (European Parliament), 2025.
Horizontal lines indicate coalition (8%) and party (5%) threshold.
Poland 2050 contested the 2023 parliamentary election on 15 October 2023 with the Polish People's Party and other small parties (Agreement, Centre for Poland, Union of European Democrats) in the Third Way (Polish: Trzecia Droga, TD) alliance, where the alliance overperformed polls, earning 14.4% of the vote, 7.2% of which for PL2050. PL2050, as well as PSL, joined a coalition with the Civic Coalition and New Left, creating the Third Cabinet of Donald Tusk, with Hołownia elected as Marshal of the Sejm. The alliance then performed in the April 2024 local elections, earning 14.3% of the vote, but only increasing its vote share by 2.2 pp relative to the 2018 local elections, where the PSL already gained 12.1% by itself. In June, the alliance suffered a defeat in the 2024 European Parliament election, gaining only 6.9% of the vote, well below polling predictions and only about half the result of the Confederation, despite polls having shown the two in close competition.
After the election in late 2023, the Third Way alliance consistently gained around 15% in opinion polls. However, its polling numbers began declining, with them only getting around 10% in 2024 and by 2025, in some polls it even failed to cross the 8% election threshold for coalitions. Hołownia was declared the TD's candidate for the 2025 presidential election, announcing his canidacy on 13 November 2024,[23] and getting endorsed by the Polish People's Party on 14 December.[24] A small party in the alliance, the Union of European Democrats, would endorse Rafał Trzaskowski of the Civic Coalition over Hołownia.[25] During the campaign, it was rumored that the Polish People's Party had been distancing itself from PL2050.[26]
Crisis in the party (2025)
The party was weakened after the 2025 presidential election on 1 June, with the party leader, Szymon Hołownia, gaining only 4.99% of the vote, greatly underperforming expectations.[27] The Third Way alliance broke apart two weeks later on 17 June.[28]
Following the election, election denialists, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk[29] attempted to have Szymon Hołownia block or postpone the inauguration of Karol Nawrocki as president of Poland by calling an indefinite break during the National Assembly (the joint session of the Sejm and Senat), during Nawrocki's inauguration, after which the Marshal of the Sejm would serve as acting president.[30] Following Hołownia's refusal of the idea, pro-government outlets like Gazeta Wyborcza accused Hołownia of treason against the Constitution.[31] Hołownia was further criticized by his coalition partners after a meeting with opposition leaders in Adam Bielan's house on 4 July, being accused of plotting the downfall of the coalition.[32] Polls indicated that 66% of Poles saw the meeting negatively, and 61% believed Hołownia was considering a coalition with Law and Justice,[33] 76% thought Hołownia's party would collapse,[34] and that Hołownia himself reached 80% disapproval, with even 70% of supporters of his own party disapproving of him.[35]
Hołownia's position within the party weakened, with some party members losing confidence in him,[36] and posełs Tomasz Zimoch and Izabela Bodnar,[37][38] as well as regional leader Jacek Bury, left the party.[39] According to RMF FM, several Poland 2050 posełs began procedures to change their party affiliation to PL2050's former partner, the Polish People's Party in October 2025.[40]
On 27 September, Hołownia announced his retirement from politics and that he would step down as party leader in January.[41] Since September 2025, the party has increasingly clashed with the governing coalition. On 30 September, the party endorsed Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz to enter the Third Cabinet of Donald Tusk as a Deputy Prime Minister. This was controversial in the party, with many party members preferring her internal rival, Paulina Hennig-Kloska. Regardless, Pełczyńska Nałęcz narrowly won both the votes in the party's parliamentary club (getting 16 votes to 14 for Hennig-Kloska) and the National Council (22 to 19).[42] The vote solidified the split between factions supportive of cooperation with Tusk (including Hennig-Kloska) and those seeking a confrontation with the Prime Minister (with Pełczyńska-Nałęcz).[43] The recommendation was also not within the coalition agreement signed by PL2050 and its allies, and Hołownia presented it as a condition for his agreed upon stepping down as "Sejm Marshal in rotation" for succession by Włodzimierz Czarzasty of the New Left.[44]
Leadership election (2026)
On 27 September, Hołownia announced that he would step down as party leader in January 2026, when the next leadership election would happen,[41] and applied for the role of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.[45] An SW Research poll showed that 45.3% of Poles were against Hołownia's efforts for the UN position, while 17.6% were in favor.[46]
Ryszard Petru, founder of party Modern, which entered the Sejm in 2015, declared he would be contesting the leadership election.[47]
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Ideology and position
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Upon its foundation, the party was described by various sources to be positioned in the centre,[52] or the centre-right,[58] of the political spectrum. Its policies spanned from the centre-left to the centre-right.[59] It was also seen as a catch-all party.[60] However, by 2025, the party is consistently placed in the centre-right.[4] The party also adheres to economic liberalism "in continuity with the reforms of Balcerowicz".[61]
PL2050 was seen to pursue green policies[65] whilst combining elements of Christian democracy, liberalism, and social democracy.[66][67] However, after 2023 the party distanced itself from environmentalist causes and dropped its key green postulates.[68] The party has also been also described by some as conservative,[69] moderate-conservative,[70] and neo–Christian democratic.[71] It supports Poland's membership in the European Union.[72]
Environmental policies
It believes that by 2050 at the latest, Poland should achieve carbon neutrality.[73] They have also stated support for the European Green Deal.[74] Hołownia announced during the presidential campaign in 2020 that "miners should be protected, and not the mines". He declared that his presidency "will be the green presidency" and that "the natural environment is one of the priorities".[73]
In March 2021, the "Poland on the Green Trail" program was presented.[75] Its main objectives are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030, move away from coal by 2040 and achieve carbon neutrality in 2050. It has also proposed that the minister responsible for energy transformation should have the rank of deputy prime minister and head the Committee of the Council of Ministers for decarbonization of the economy. A "green light" procedure would be introduced into the government's legislative process, which would block laws that increase emissions and have a negative impact on the climate.[75]
While described as environmentalist in 2023,[78] the party greatly toned down its rhetoric and proposals once coming to power.[68] The party distanced itself from the European Green Deal, stating that it is unacceptable in its current form.[79] It also dropped its proposal to introduce taxation on combustion cars. Political commentators noted that the pressure created by the 2024 Polish farmers' protests as well as the conservatism of Polish People's Party contributed towards the decision of Poland 2050 to distance itself from environmentalist causes.[68] Clean Energy Wire wrote that "the shift of the Poland 2050 party, which started off with a progressive climate strategy... is particularly remarkable" and that "the rhetoric of the party’s leader Szymon Hołownia is striking in this regard, as it is highly reminiscent of far-right populists".[80]
Domestic policies
The party aims for the Senate to become a "self-government chamber" in which, apart from elected senators, representatives of local governments at various levels would be represented: voivodeship marshals, city presidents, village heads and mayors.[81][82] It is also against the centralization of Poland. Hołownia announced that he would act for the independence of judges and the independence of courts and the separation of the functions of the minister of justice and prosecutor general.[83][84] The movement calls for a relief for judges and the creation of "courts of first contact".[85] Hołownia supports the liquidation of the Church Fund.[86]
Foreign policy
It supports the European Union, and strengthening relations with France and Germany.[87] Hołownia stated that "Poland should not look for enemies in foreign policy, but allies".[88]
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Structure
Chairman:
First Vice-Chairman:
Second Vice-Chairman:
Vice-Chairmen:
Party leaders
Notable members
- Szymon Hołownia – the founder and leader of the movement
- Michał Kobosko – member of the European Parliament
- Joanna Mucha – member of the Sejm
- Paulina Hennig-Kloska – member of the Sejm
- Paweł Zalewski – member of the Sejm
- Mirosław Suchoń – member of the Sejm
- Michał Gramatyka – member of the Sejm
- Róża Thun – member of the European Parliament
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Election results
Presidential
Sejm
Senate
European Parliament
Regional assemblies
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References
Notes
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