The history of people living in the area now known as Lesotho goes back as many as 400 years. Present Lesotho emerged as a single polity under King Moshoeshoe I in 1822. Under Moshoeshoe I, Basotho joined other clans in their struggle against the Lifaqane associated with famine and the reign of Shaka Zulu from 1818 to 1828.
Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili is a former Mosotho politician who was the fourth prime minister of Lesotho from May 1998 to June 2012 and again from March 2015 to June 2017. He led the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) to a near-total victory in the 1998 election, and under his leadership the party also won majorities in the 2002 and 2007 elections. While serving as Prime Minister, Mosisili was also Minister of Defence.
The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) is a political party in Lesotho.
Thomas Motsoahae Thabane is a Mosotho politician who was the fifth Prime Minister of Lesotho from 2012 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2020. He founded the All Basotho Convention (ABC) in 2006 and led the party until 2022.
The Basotho National Party is a political party in Lesotho, founded in 1959 in colonial Basutoland as the Basutoland National Party by Leabua Jonathan. He was Prime Minister from the 1965 general election until the 1986 coup d'état.
The Basutoland Congress Party is a pan-Africanist and left-wing political party in Lesotho.
The Lesotho People's Congress is a political party in Lesotho. It was formed as a split from the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) by that party's Lesiba faction after Deputy Prime Minister Kelebone Maope resigned from the government in September 2001, and it was registered on October 8, 2001. Maope became the leader of the LPC; another leading member of the LCD, Shakhane Mokhehle, also became a leading member of the LPC. It gained 27 seats in the National Assembly through defections from the LCD. The new party closely identified itself with former prime minister Ntsu Mokhehle, the founder of the LCD, and used an image of his head as its party symbol. The LCD sought to prevent the LPC from using his head as its symbol, but on December 6 the High Court ruled in favor of the LPC. In the parliamentary election for the National Assembly held on 25 May 2002, the party won 5.8% of popular votes and 5 out of 120 seats. Maope was the only LPC candidate to win a constituency, but the party won four other seats through proportional representation. Maope and Shakhane Mokhehle did not include themselves on the party's list of candidates for proportional representation, expecting to win constituencies, but Mokhehle lost his constituency by nine votes, and therefore did not get a seat in the National Assembly.
The Lesotho Workers' Party is a political party in Lesotho. In the 25 May 2002 parliamentary election, the party won 1.4% of popular votes and one out of 120 seats in the National Assembly. In the 17 February 2007 parliamentary election, the party won 10 seats through proportional representation. It is allied with the All Basotho Convention.
The Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP) is a royalist political party in Lesotho.
The National Independent Party is a political party in Lesotho.
The Basotho Batho Democratic Party (BBDP) is a political party in Lesotho. It was formed and registered in 2006.
General elections were held in Lesotho on 26 May 2012. The incumbent Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili's newly formed Democratic Congress won a majority of single-member seats. He also won his seat by the second-largest margin of victory. However, they only had a plurality in the overall tally and coalition talks are taking place.
The Democratic Congress is a political party in Lesotho that split from the Lesotho Congress for Democracy. It is led by Mathibeli Mokhothu.
General elections were held in Lesotho on 28 February 2015 for all 120 seats of the National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Lesotho, more than two years ahead of schedule due to the 2014 political crisis. Following mediation facilitated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), King Letsie III on the advice of the incumbent Prime Minister Tom Thabane, dissolved the Eighth Parliament and called a snap election.
The Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL) is a political party in Lesotho.
The Movement for Economic Change is a political party in Lesotho.
General elections were held in Lesotho on 7 October 2022 to elect all 120 members of the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament.
Revolution for Prosperity is a social liberal political party in Lesotho led by millionaire businessman Sam Matekane.
The Basotho Action Party is a political party in Lesotho established on 23 April 2021 by former Justice Minister and All Basotho Convention Deputy Leader Nqosa Mahao.
The Socialist Revolutionaries is a political party in Lesotho founded in October 2017 by Teboho Mojapela, a former member of the ABC. The party was registered on 28 January 2018.
