[5] The current president is Farid Zahran, and his vice presidents of the party are Dr. Ehab Elkharat, Dr. Freddy Elbaiady, Dr. Maha Abdelnaser, Mahmoud Samy, Amira Saber, and Khaled Rashed Notable founding members include Mohamed Abou El-Ghar, film maker Daoud Abdel Sayed,[2] activist Amr Hamzawy, Mervat Tallawy, former UN under-secretary and executive secretary of ESCWA, and Hazem Al Beblawi, former executive secretary of the ESCWA,[6][7] and later interim prime minister of Egypt under President Adly Mansour.

[13] Following the removal of Mohamed Morsi from office in July 2013, a founding member of the Social Democratic Party named Ziad Bahaa El-Din was reportedly offered the post of Prime Minister.

[14] Younes Makhioun, chairman of the Nour Party, objected to Bahaa El-Din's appointment and to the involvement of Mohamed ElBaradei, because both of them belong to the same political coalition (the National Salvation Front).

Farid Zahran has come out to combat inflation, reduce debt, as well as "limiting the ownership of the state-owned bodies to only major strategic projects, such as: the Suez Canal Authority, iron and steel, the aluminum complex, and the electricity, water and sewage companies."

The ESDP emphasized social justice and aimed to address economic disparities in Egyptian society, as well as a strong government and military (but abolishing the army immunity from parliamentary oversight).