The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is a centre-left, social-democratic, South African political party, formed by a prominent former National Party leader, Roelf Meyer (who has since resigned from the UDM), a former African National Congress and Transkei homeland leader, General Bantu Holomisa, and a former ANC Executive Committee member, John Taylor.

Roelf Meyer left the National Party on 17 May 1997, along with fellow politicians Nilo Botha, Takis Christodoulou, Kobus du Plessis, and Annelizé van Wyk, some of whom had resigned their seats in the Gauteng Legislature.

At a three-day strategic planning conference in May 1997, it was decided that a political movement should be established capable of unifying people around shared values across racial, historical, ideological and social dividing lines.

The TC was jointly chaired by Kobus du Plessis (NMP) and Joel Mafenya (NCF) and its first meeting took place at the Carlton Hotel on 22 June 1997.

Almost 1,000[5][6] former African National Congress members joined the party after the ANC recalled President Mbeki and replaced him with Kgalema Motlanthe.

Nevertheless, the election would continue the downward trend of the UDM, with the party retaining only four MPs with 0.8% of the vote and losing its representation in all provinces except the Eastern Cape, where it was pushed into fourth place.

In the 2014 general elections, UDM support remained at very low levels in eight of the provinces, and it failed to re-establish itself nationally, but made a convincing rebound in the Eastern Cape, where it overtook COPE to become the third-largest party.