Umbrella for Democratic Change
Abbreviation	UDC
President	Duma Boko
Vice-president	Ndaba Gaolathe
Founder	Duma Boko
Founded	November 2012
Headquarters	Gaborone
Ideology	Social democracy[1][2][3][4] Populism[5] Factions: Christian left Social liberalism Democratic socialism Pan-Africanism
Political position	Centre-left toleft-wing
Colours	Navy blue  Orange (in 2014)
Slogan	Decent Jobs Decent Lives
Coalition Partners	AP BNF BPP
National Assembly	36 / 61
Pan-African Parliament	0 / 5
Politics of Botswana Political parties Elections

TheUmbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) is acentre-left^[6][7][8] toleft-wing^[9]alliance of political parties inBotswana. Since the2024 Botswana general election, the UDC has been the governing alliance of political parties.^[10]

The UDC has campaigned on a progressive platform, advocating for a welfare state, wealth redistribution, renewable energy and democratic reforms, particularly in the electoral and judicial spheres.^[11][12] Since it was created as a political coalition with the primary aim of representing an alternative to theBotswana Democratic Party government, it has remained an ideologically pluralistic formation, though most of its member parties (both past and present) are positioned on theleft-wing orcentre-left of the political spectrum and is generally considered asocial democratic alliance. Some analysts have labeled the alliance and its discourse as "left-wing populism" or "democratic socialist." UDC members, including UDC LeaderDuma Boko himself, have expressed opposition to bothcapitalism andsocialism, advocating instead for a "Third Way."^[13]

Since its founding, the UDC's core voter base has varied in composition with shifts in the voting behavior of anti-BDP voters. However, the coalition has generally maintained strong support among the urban population—especially in theGaborone metropolitan area—as well as among youth and the educated middle class.^[14] In the2019 election, through its alliance withIan Khama, heir to theBaNgwato throne, the UDC gained substantial support from voters in theCentral District, a stronghold of the tribe. Much of this support was retained in the2024 election.

The UDC was founded in November 2012 by members from various opposition parties, including theBPP andBMD. They rallied together in the run-up to the2014 elections by theBotswana National Front (BNF), theBotswana Movement for Democracy and theBotswana People's Party with the aim of uniting the opposition in the2014 elections. In February 2017, theBotswana Congress Party, which contested the 2014 elections independently, joined the coalition. The coalition is currently led byDuma Boko from the BNF and plans to contest the 2019 general election jointly, standing a single opposition candidate in each constituency against the rulingBotswana Democratic Party.^[15]

The organisation of the opposition parties presented an unprecedented challenge to the longtime-ruling BDP, but the BDP was victorious in elections held on 24 October 2014. Their vote share, which garnered 37 seats, allowed them to maintain a majority in the National Assembly, although it won fewer seats than it had in previous elections.^[16]

The UDC won 17 seats and the Botswana Congress Party won three seats.^[16]Ian Khama was easily reelected by the legislative body to another term as president.^{[citation needed]}

In October 2018, the BMD was expelled from the coalition after it refused to forgo contesting constituencies that had originally been allocated to it.^[17][18]

After the2019 Botswana general election,Duma Boko charged there were "massive electoral discrepancies" and said he wanted to challenge the election in court. Official results show the BDP winning 38 of 57 constituencies.^[19]

At the2024 election, held on 30 October 2024, the UDC emerged as the majority party.^[20]

Election	Party leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Result
2014	Duma Boko	207,113	30.01%	17 / 57	11	2nd	Opposition
2019		277,071	35.88%	15 / 57	3[a]	2nd	Opposition
2024		310,862	37.22%	36 / 61	28	1st	Government

• Duma Boko
• Elliot Moshoke

• Political party alliances in Botswana
• Political parties established in 2012
• 2012 establishments in Botswana
• Social democratic parties in Africa
• Social democratic parties
• Third Way

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