The Centre Union () is a political party in Poland. It was founded on 12 July 2026 and emerged from Centre Poland (), a political association which in turn emerged from the Centre (), a parliamentary group in the Sejm and Senate of Poland that was created on 18 February 2026 by 15 lower house members and three senators who left the Poland 2050 party as a result of power struggle within the party after its leadership election. It is led by Paulina Hennig-Kloska, who served as deputy leader of Poland 2050, and narrowly lost the leadership election to Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz. It is ideologically centrist, economically liberal, pro-European, and supports the ruling October 15 Coalition.
Background Centrum was created by former lower house members and senators of the Poland 2050 party, which was elected to the Sejm and Senate in the 2023 Polish parliamentary election (winning 33 seats in the Sejm) as a part of the Third Way coalition, and became part of the ruling 15 October Coalition. The party's leader and Marshal of the Sejm at the time, Szymon Hołownia, ran in the 2025 Polish presidential election, in which he won 4.99% of the popular vote, a result that was considered a failure for the party. Hołownia's popularity in the party also declined after media revealed his secret meeting with Jarosław Kaczyński, the chairman of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice.
After Hołownia's failure in the presidential election, the Third Way coalition was dissolved in June 2025, and in December 2025, he announced his intention to step down as the leader of Poland 2050. As a result, a leadership election was called, taking place in January 2026. Hołownia's resignation exposed divisions and organisational weaknesses within the party. Initially, a large group of politicians from Poland 2050 ran for the leadership, but ultimately two politicians fought in the run-off: Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, Minister of Funds and Regional Policy, and Paulina Hennig-Kloska, Minister of Climate and Environment. All first-round candidates, such as Joanna Mucha, Michał Kobosko, and Ryszard Petru, endorsed Hennig-Kloska, while Hołownia planned a smooth transition of power to Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz.
The leadership election exposed internal divisions and conflicts within the party. The second round of the election was invalidated, and was called again in a few weeks. In the repeated second round, Pełczyńska-Nałęcz narrowly won. Despite assurances of the party's politicians that the end of the leadership election would put an end to internal conflicts, the party grew further divided after Pełczyńska-Nałęcz's election. Attempts to manipulate the electoral process as well as leaks from the party's internal communication channels were exposed and widely circulated in the media. After her election, Pełczyńska-Nałęcz employed her daughter to help manage the party's social media, which was denounced as nepotism. The party had become increasingly divided between two camps — the supporters of Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, and supporters of Hennig-Kloska.
The direct cause of the split in the party became the "muzzle resolution" (), which was adopted during the party's National Council meeting shortly after Pełczyńska-Nałęcz's election. The resolution, intended to calm tensions within the party, forbade any changes to the party's leadership and structures, and suspended disciplinary proceedings until the National Convention that scheduled for 21 March. Its implementation was deemed a response to the attempts of Hennig-Kloska's supporters to remove Paweł Śliz, the leader of Poland 2050 parliamentary club, and his deputy Bartosz Romowicz, from their positions. The resolution caused outrage in the party, and Hennig-Kloska denounced it as a sign of "one-person decision-making" by Pełczyńska-Nałęcz.
History + Founding members of Centre Member Parliamentary position PL2050 position Paulina Hennig-Kloska Member of the Sejm Deputy chair Sławomir Ćwik Member of the Sejm Deputy chair Rafał Kasprzyk Member of the Sejm Deputy chair Izabela Bodnar Member of the Sejm Not a party member Elżbieta Burkiewicz Member of the Sejm National Council member Żaneta Cwalina-Śliwowska Member of the Sejm Not a party member Grzegorz Fedorowicz Member of the Senate National Council member Rafał Komarewicz Member of the Sejm — Aleksandra Leo Member of the Sejm — Piotr Masłowski Member of the Senate National Council member Barbara Okuła Member of the Sejm National Council member Barbara Oliwiecka Member of the Sejm National Council member Ryszard Petru Member of the Sejm — Norbert Pietrykowski Member of the Sejm — Marcin Skonieczka Member of the Sejm National Council member Mirosław Suchoń Member of the Sejm — Ewa Szymanowska Member of the Sejm — Jacek Trela Member of the Senate National Council member Split On 14 February 2026, lower house member Żaneta Cwalina-Śliwowska became the first Poland 2050 member to leave the party, followed shortly thereafter by the MEP Michał Kobosko and former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs . They were also followed by the Deputy Minister of National Defense Paweł Zalewski, and Joanna Mucha, former Deputy Minister of Education and Science. Deserting and wavering Poland 2050 MPs also contemplated joining the Civic Coalition or the Polish People's Party. Ultimately, on 17 February, Hennig-Kloska and her supporters made a decision to leave Poland 2050 and create a rival political formation. The next day, on 18 February, a total of 18 party members, led by Hennig-Kloska, announced that they left Poland 2050 and created Centrum. Hennig-Kloska declared that the parliamentary circle will also become a political party. Centrum presented its own logo - letter 'C' in blue to green gradient.
Apart from Hennig-Kloska, members of the Centrum at the time of its creation were lower house members Mirosław Suchoń, Aleksandra Leo, Ryszard Petru, Marcin Skonieczka, Norbert Pietrykowski, Ewa Szymanowska, Sławomir Ćwik, Rafał Kasprzyk, Elżbieta Burkiewicz, Żaneta Cwalina-Śliwowska, Rafał Komarewicz, Izabela Bodnar, Barbara Okuła, Barbara Oliwiecka, as well three senators from Poland 2050 — Piotr Masłowski, Grzegorz Fedorowicz, and Jacek Trela. Centrum has also been endorsed by MEP Michał Kobosko, who stated: "As a member of the centrist-liberal Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, I wholeheartedly and confidently support the actions of my colleagues, members of parliament and senators of the newly formed Centrum Parliamentary Club."
Hennig-Kloska stated that Centrum will support the ruling 15 October Coalition that Poland 2050 is a part of. The creation of the parliamentary circle was condemned by Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, who stated that its members have failed to accept "the choice of the democratic majority" of the party members. Szymon Hołownia, the former party leader, also condemned Centrum, stating that he feels betrayed by its members and that he regrets resigning as the leader of the party. He argued that the reason for defections was hatred towards Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, and that Centrum members will become "Civic Coalition's electoral list fillers". Shortly after the formation of Centrum was declared, Marshal of the Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty confirmed that he has received the parliamentary circle's application and that its existence has become a fact. Registration On 19 February, Centrum was formally registered as a parliamentary club and was listed on the Sejm's website. Centrum declared that it will also become a political association and a political party, and its members stated that it would be a "party for entrepreneurs". On 20 February, Aleksandra Leo announced that Centrum is being registered as a political association, and that it will also become a political party, of a liberal and pro-business profile. Centrum Polska also entered talks with New Poland, a centrist party founded in 2025; both sides expressed their willingness to form an electoral coalition, and to form a joint Senate group.
On 23 February, , the voivode of the Lublin Voivodeship and member of Poland 2050, had left his party. Shortly beforehand, 30 activists from Poland 2050 in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship had left the party and declared their willingness to join Centrum. On 24 February, Centrum prepared documents needed to register a political party that it would submit the next day, on 25 February. The association is to be liberal and business-oriented. It also organized a meeting which was attended by 90 people, two-thirds being former Poland 2050 activists. Political association On 24 February, Centre held its first club meeting, where they elected Mirosław Suchoń as the chairman of the parliamentary club, Ewa Szymanowska as secretary and Norbert Pietrykowski as disciplinary officer. On 27 February, Centrum declared that it had founded a political association. It held a general meeting of the founding members, established a resolution, and elected the board. Hennig-Kloska was unanimously elected the president of the association, and stated that the association was founded in view to eventually establish a political party. On 2 March 2026, the association was registered as Centrum Polska and had 100 members, consisting of Centrum MPs and local Poland 2050 who defected to the association. Rafał Kasprzyk was nominated as a board member responsible for building the association's structures.
Centrum Polska announced that it is planning to transform itself into a political party, but will focus on active involvement and recruitment of party members first. Hennig-Kloska stated that a political association is the most convenient and safest form to legally gather members. The association declared that it remains in the ruling coalition, and will not seek the position of deputy speaer or deputy prime minister in the cabinet. The creation of the association facilitiated further defection of Poland 2050 activists to Centrum Polska. In the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Centrum Polska had claimed 99% of Poland 2050's active members. In April 2026, prominent Poland 2050 activists in the Lublin Voivodeship left the party to join the Centrum association. These included Honorata Słomiany, the Poland 2050's former mayor candidate in Włodawa, Rafał Maksywoicz, former secretary of the party's structures in the Lublin Voideship, and the Lublin City Council member Magdalena Szczygieł-Mitrus.
On 18 March 2026, three of the Centrum senators: Grzegorz Fedorowicz, Piotr Masłowski, and Jacek Trela, along with the independent senator Mirosław Różański, joined ranks with the three senators of New Poland: Andrzej Dziuba, Zygmunt Frankiewicz, and Wadim Tyszkiewicz, to create a new Senate group New Poland – Centre (). Grzegorz Fedorowicz became the leader of the group. Andrzej Dziuba became the deputy leader. Members of the group stated that the cooperation between New Poland and Centrum is an "ideological alliance" rather than a technical one, united by common goals. They also stated that both New Poland and Centrum could pursue closer cooperation should Centrum become a political party. New Poland - Centre announced two bills that it wishes to present — first is a bill proposed by Andrzej Dziuba that would allow Social Welfare Homes (, DPS) to cover part of maintenance costs from the estate of deceased residents. The second bill is being worked on Mirosław Różański, and aims to reform the Polish military. Members of the group confirmed that New Poland - Centre will remain in the ruling coalition and its Senate-related alliance, the Senate Pact 2023.