The party system in Saint-Petersburg is to a great extent a replica of the party system of the Russian Federation. The only important difference is that during the first ten post-Soviet years the influence of democratic parties and groups was stronger in St. Petersburg compared to Russia's average. All major Russian political parties and movements have branches in Saint-Petersburg. Political careers of several leaders of federal political parties (United Russia, Party of Life and the Union of Right Forces), began in St.Petersburg.
Saint-Petersburg together with Moscow was the centre of democratic movement in late 1980s. Democrats under leadership of Anatoly Sobchak established control over the city in 1991 and led the process of reforms of city’s economic and political life. Democratic political parties and groups became less popular and politically weak in the second half of 1990s, and lost their influence on regional politics totally since December 2002 elections to the Legislative assembly of St. Petersburg and 2003 elections to the State Duma.
Right and liberal political groups during late 1990s lost their influence in Saint-Petersburg. The reason was growing disappointment of citizens in the reforms, which were associated with the right political forces. Another reason was the weakness of private sector of the economy, which could have been interested in co-operation with democratic parties and movements.
Political movement United Russia, created by the Kremlin in 1999 for Parliamentary elections in December 1999, got excellent results both in Russia and in Saint-Petersburg. For the majority of voters the party is closely associated with Vladimir Putin, who publicly supported United Russia before the 2003 Parliamentary elections. The 2003 Parliamentary elections were triumphal for the party in St.Petersburg. Six out of eight deputies of the State Duma, elected in St.Petersburg, are members of the United Russia (Aleksander Morozov, Sergey Popov, Petr Shelishch, Andrey Shevelev, Valentina Ivanova, and Andrey Benin).
The Union of the Right Forces in Saint-Petersburg consists of several hundreds active members, both professional politicians like MP Grigory Tomchin and member of the Legislative Assembly Yuri Gladkov, and businessmen like Stanislav Eremeev and Alexander Lurie. According to some opinion polls, the Union today has the support of around 5 % of electorate in the city. The Union of Right Forces (SPS) is one of few political organisations in Saint-Petersburg, which have its faction, (together with Yabloko Party) at the Legislative Assembly of Saint-Petersburg. The liberal program of the SPS regional faction "Saint-Petersburg – European City" was approved in April 2002 (http://www.pitersps.ru/sps_doc.html) The Political Council of the party in Saint-Petersburg consists of federal and regional politicians, scholars and representatives of the business community of Saint-Petersburg.
In mid-90s the strongest position among political parties in Saint-Petersburg was held by political movement Yabloko. But in late 1990s the influence of Yabloko both in Russia and in Saint-Petersburg declined. Yabloko still has an active faction in the Legislative Assembly as well as 300-400 active party members, working in all sectors of political and social life of Saint-Petersburg. But an attempt to get control over the Legislative Assembly and establish itself as the leading political party in the city has failed.
During late 1990s the plans for unification of the Union of Right Forces and Yabloko were widely discussed both at the federal level and particularly in Saint-Petersburg. The idea, however, was not implemented, and that have probably marked the final collapse of idea of single and powerful democratic party.
The growing political movement in Saint-Petersburg is The Party of Life. This party views the democratic intelligentsia of Saint-Petersburg as its main electoral base. The leaders of The Party of Life are studying the experience of the Baltic neighbours, and consider the EU countries and three Baltic states as the most important political and economic partners for Saint-Petersburg and Western part of the Russian Federation. The Saint-Petersburg branch of the party was established in July 2002. There were 3 500 members of the party in Saint-Petersburg in November 2004.
The Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) under leadership of maverick Vladimir Zhirinovsky was very popular in Saint-Petersburg in early 1990s. Parliamentary elections in December 2003 gave this party a new boost both in Russia, and in Saint-Petersburg.
Since early 1990s the leftist political forces have been traditionally weak in Saint-Petersburg, despite the fact that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) has the biggest number of supporters and members in Saint-Petersburg compared to any other political party or movement.
The fragmented nature of the political system of Saint-Petersburg is demonstrated by the fact that many members of the Legislative assembly of Saint-Petersburg (27 of 50) were elected as independent politicians and joined political factions at the Legislative Assembly only at a later stage. Two out of eight deputies of the State Duma, who have been elected from Saint-Petersburg, are independent politicians (Gennady Seleznev and Oksana Dmitrieva).