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{{Short description|1977–1989 anti-apartheid party in South Africa}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox political party
| name = Progressive Federal Party
| abbreviation = PFP
| logo = Logo of the Progressive Federal Party.svg
| logo_size = 150px
| colorcode = {{party color|Progressive Federal Party}}
| leader = [[#Notable members|''See below'']]
| president =
| general_secretary =
| first_secretary =
| secretary_general =
| presidium =
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| ideology = [[Liberalism]] ([[Liberalism in South Africa|South African]])<br />[[Internal resistance to South African apartheid|Anti-apartheid]] <br /> [[Federalism in South Africa|Federalism]]
| position = [[Centre-left politics|Centre-left]]
| headquarters =
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| international =
| country = South Africa
| native_name = {{Native name|af|Progressiewe Federale Party}}
| native_name_lang = Afrikaans
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| founded = 1977 
| legalised = 
| dissolved = 1989 
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| predecessor = [[Progressive Reform Party (South Africa)|Progressive Reform Party]]
| merged = [[Democratic Party (South Africa)|Democratic Party]]
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{{Politics of South Africa}}
The '''Progressive Federal Party''' ('''PFP''') ({{langx|af|Progressiewe Federale Party}}) was a South African [[political party]] formed in 1977 through merger of the Progressive and Reform parties, eventually changing its name to the Progressive Federal Party. For its duration, it was the main parliamentary opposition to apartheid, instead advocating [[power-sharing]] in [[South Africa]] through a [[Federation|federal]] constitution. From the 1977 election until 1987 it was the official opposition of the country.

Its first leader was [[Colin Eglin]], who was succeeded by [[Frederik van Zyl Slabbert]] and then [[Zach de Beer]]. Another prominent member was [[Harry Schwarz]] who had led the Reform Party and was the chairman of the Federal Executive (1976–79), finance spokesman (1975–91) and defence spokesman (1975–84). He was regarded as the PFP's greatest parliamentary performer.<ref>{{cite book|last=Leon|first=Tony|year=2009|title=On the Contrary: Leading the Opposition in the New South Africa|publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers|isbn=978-1-86842-259-3}}</ref> Its best known parliamentarian was however [[Helen Suzman]], who was for many years the only member of the [[White South African|white]]s-only [[House of Assembly (South Africa)|House of Assembly]] to speak out unequivocally against the [[apartheid]] regime.

== Formation ==

The party was preceded by the [[Progressive Party (South Africa)|Progressive Party]] as the liberal opposition to the [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]]. While the main opposition [[United Party (South Africa)|United Party]] contained liberal factions, the PP had for many years been the only purely liberal party represented in parliament. A realignment began when liberal members of the UP left to found the [[Reform Party (South Africa)|Reform Party]] in 1975, which merged with the Progressives to form the [[Progressive Reform Party (South Africa)|Progressive Reform Party]] later the same year.<ref name=":1" />

In 1977, another group of United Party members left the by then rapidly declining party to form the Committee for a United Opposition, which then joined the Progressive Reform Party to form the Progressive Federal Party.<ref name=":1">[http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:11195/louw2.pdf Packing for Perth: The Growth of a Southern African Diaspora], Eric Louw, Gary Mersham, Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2001 303]</ref>

== History ==

South Africa's apartheid laws initially limited the party's membership to the country's whites, from which it drew support mainly from liberal [[South African English|English]] speakers. It opened up its membership to all races as soon as this became legal again, in 1984,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/opposition-progressive-federal-party-pfp-opens-its-membership-all-races|title=The opposition Progressive Federal Party (PFP) opens its membership to all races.|last=tinashe|date=11 November 2011|website=sahistory.org.za}}</ref> but the party remained predominantly white and English. It won seats in cities such as Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and Durban. It had very little support amongst Afrikaners, and the PFP was derided by right-wing whites, who claimed its initials stood for '[[South African Australians|Packing for Perth]]', because of the many white liberal supporters of the 'Progs', who were emigrating to [[Australia]].<ref name=":0">[https://books.google.com/books?id=3PNt46aB_sYC&dq=%22Packing+for+Perth%22+%22PFP%22&pg=PA82 ''Native Vs. Settler: Ethnic Conflict in Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland, and South Africa''], Thomas G. Mitchell, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, page 82</ref>

The PFP would become the official opposition in the 1977 election, winning 17 seats. Colin Eglin, who had also led the earlier Progressive Party, was initially the leader of the PFP. But over the weekend of 3 September 1979, on the behest of [[Gordon Waddell]], the PFP would hold a special congress in [[Johannesburg]] to elect a new leader, citing such reasons as Eglin's "uninspired" parliamentary performance, which allowed the ruling Nationalists to recover from the [[Muldergate Scandal|Muldergate slush fund scandal]]; his "indiscreet" contacts with black US politicians Don McHenry and [[Andrew Young|Andy Young]], whom many white South Africans regarded as enemies of the country; and the party's severe defeats in three recent Parliamentary by-elections.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/121408165/|title=South Africa Opposition Leader falls|last=Alexander|first=Douglas|date=1979-07-31|work=The Age|access-date=2017-05-19}}</ref> [[Frederik van Zyl Slabbert]] succeeded Eglin in 1979.{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}}

The PFP strengthened its opposition status in 1981 by increasing its representation to 27 seats.<ref name=":0" />

It was ousted as the official opposition by the far-right [[Conservative Party (South Africa)|Conservative Party]] in the whites-only parliamentary elections held on 6 May 1987.{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}}

This electoral blow led many of the PFP's leaders to question the value of participating in the whites-only parliament, and some of its MPs left to form the New Democratic Movement (NDM).{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}}

In 1989, the PFP and NDM merged with another small white reformist party, the [[Independent Party (South Africa)|Independent Party]] (IP), to form the [[Democratic Party (South Africa)|Democratic Party]] (DP).

==Notable members==
'''Leaders of the Progressive Federal Party:'''

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=2|
! Entered office
! Left office
|-
! 1
| [[Colin Eglin]]
| 1977
| 1979
|-
! 2
| [[Frederik van Zyl Slabbert]]
| 1979
| 1986
|-
! 3
| [[Colin Eglin]]
| 1986
| 1988
|-
! 4
| [[Zach de Beer]]
| 1988
| 1989
|}

==Election results==
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!Election
!Leader
!Votes
!%
!Seats
|-
| [[South African general election, 1977|1977]]
|[[Colin Eglin]]
| 177,705 #2
| 16.95%
| {{Composition bar|17|178|hex={{party color|Democratic Party (South Africa)}}}}
|-
| [[South African general election, 1981|1981]]
|[[Frederik van Zyl Slabbert]]
| 265,297 #2
| 19.65%
| {{Composition bar|26|178|hex={{party color|Democratic Party (South Africa)}}}}
|-
| [[South African general election, 1987|1987]]
|[[Colin Eglin]]
| 288,574 #3
| 14.14%
| {{Composition bar|19|178|hex={{party color|Democratic Party (South Africa)}}}}
|}

==See also==
*[[Federalism]]
*[[Liberalism]]
*[[Contributions to liberal theory]]
*[[Liberalism worldwide]]
*[[List of liberal parties]]
*[[Liberal democracy]]
*[[Liberalism in South Africa]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Liberalism in South Africa}}
{{Politics of South Africa navbox}}
{{Political history of South Africa}}

{{Commons category|Progressive Federal Party}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Political parties established in 1977]]
[[Category:Defunct liberal political parties|South Africa 1977]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in South Africa]]
[[Category:Liberal parties in South Africa]]
[[Category:Organisations associated with apartheid]]
[[Category:Anti-apartheid organisations]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1989]]

Progressive Federal Party - Revision history

imported>Mercer17: /* Election results */