idem.Blog

Background: Dutch political parties

2023-10-05

@Hagen Schlotzhauer
is the founder of Insight Democracy. Following an education in Dutch law, he has has been a political analyst for years.

Following the deadline of 28 August, a grand total of 70 political parties have been registered at the Election Council (Kiesraad). Just before the deadline, a major new parties has been added: Nieuw Sociaal Contract - NSC (New Social Contract), the new political party by popular outsider Pieter Omtzigt. With so many political parties, how are you supposed to have an insight into Dutch democracy? The following will make it possible by giving a short description of the parties, also indicating which are not worth paying attention to as they have no chance of making it into the parliament.

The parties have been split into the traditional pillars of Dutch politics (liberalism, socialism and Christianity). However, more recently established parties can’t be categorised according to these traditional labels and have been split off into a fourth pillar: populism. None of these categorisations are meant to be a valuation. A number of left-wing parties (SP, DENK, BIJ1) could be considered populist but do fit into the more traditional structures. Additionally, these descriptions are short texts aiming at making the politics as objectively accessible to non-Dutch as possible. However, in doing so decisions had to be made about what to leave out. A more in-depth analysis of their election manifestos will be published once these are available.

Liberals

	Current seats: 34	Est. 1948
Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie	(VVD)	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
The VVD are conservative liberals on the centre-right. One of the big three, they are also one of the oldest currently active political parties. Under the leadership of Mark Rutte, they have led all 4 governments from 2010 to 2023. Furthermore, they have been part of 19 out of 31 governments since World War II and all but one government since 1994. It is fair to say they have shaped Dutch politics considerably. Staying mostly true to their roots of free market ideals, they have adapted to populist pressures regarding migration, the environment, and social issues.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	rechtsstaat, bedrijven, studenten	rule of law, businesses, students
	Current seats: 24	Est. 1966
Democraten 66	(D66)	Democrats 66
The is the other main liberal party, combining social-liberalism with a progressive character on the centre. Initially the party was created in the 60s to champion citizen’s influence and control of government through more referendums, direct elections of the executive, and abolishment of the senate. They are for more European integration and free international trade. However, they have recently faced internal criticism for having abandoned more direct democracy through binding referendums and their radical pro-EU integration policies for more national politics.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	onderwijs, kinderen, europa	education, children, europe
	Current seats: 2	Est. 2018
Volt Nederland	(Volt)	Volt Netherlands
Part of the pan-European Volt Europa movement, Volt seeks to provide a social-liberal alternative to both the VVD and especially D66 on the centre-left. They are progressive and seek to combine market liberalism, social progressiveness, and evidence-based policy-making. They seek solutions at the European level, supporting a federal Europe. However, they are struggling in a political field with strong liberal parties and a generally pro-EU political field.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	europa, europese, studenten	europe, european, students

Christians

	Current seats: 14	Est. 1980
Christen-Democratisch Appèl	(CDA)	Christian Democratic Appeal
The CDA is another party with a long tradition and can be considered as one of the big three of Dutch politics, on the centre-right. While only established in 1980, it was created from a merger between the catholic party (est. 1945), the mostly reformed anti-revolutionary party (est. 1879), and the protestant party (est. 1908). This new, broad umbrella party for Christians unified the Dutch right wing. The CDA or its predecessors have participated in almost all governments since 1918, only being part of the opposition between 1994-2002 and 2012-2017. The party seeks to combine social-conservatism, fairness and solidarity, based on their Christian beliefs. It's influence and power has greatly diminished, due to the rise of other parties on the right and internal strive, such as the power-struggle with Pieter Omtzigt.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	samenleving, boeren, regio	society, farmers, region
	Current seats: 5	Est. 2000
ChristenUnie	(CU)	Christian Union
The Christian Union is a protestant party, which can be considered centre-left or centre-right, depending on the issue. It is an alternative to the CDA, with a stronger reformed character, as their predecessors refused to work with catholics in the CDA. They base their economic, ecological, and migration policies on their theological principles of charity and stewardship. Similarly, their social policies are based more heavily on the bible, which means they have strong stances on abortion, marriage, and euthanasia. They emphasise their Christian character more strongly than the CDA, but refuse to compromise on principles such as family reunification. This has led to the fall of the Dutch government.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	zorg, samenleving, boeren	healthcare, society, farmers
	Current seats: 3	Est. 1918
Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij	(SGP)	Reformed Political Party
The oldest currently active political party is the SGP on the right wing. It is composed of conservative Calvinists and seeks to create a theology in the Netherlands. They have opposed women's suffrage until 1989, when their standpoint was changed to incentivise women to choose not to vote. In 2010, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands forced the SGP to open its candidate list to women, who were not allowed to hold office in the party until then. They are eurosceptic and strictly social-conservative.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	EU, leven, boeren	EU, living, farmers

Socialists

	Current seats: 9	Est. 1971
Socialistische Partij	(SP)	Socialist Party
The SP is a far-left socialist party and has occupied an opposition role since its establishment in the 70s. The party has communist roots and remains to the left of the social democrats, even though their views have become more moderate towards democratic socialism. It has abandoned previous principles, such as a maximum wage or leaving NATO. Nonetheless, they continue to criticise capitalism and want to move away from it. They are eurosceptic, as they consider the EU a neo-conservative project. The SP considers itself a left-wing populist party.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	zorg, europa, oekraïne	healthcare, europe, ukraine
	Current seats: 9	Est. 1946
Partij van de Arbeid	(PvdA)	Labour Party
The PvdA was historically one of the big three parties in the Netherlands, on the centre-left. It participated in around half of the Dutch governments since World War II. The party is a traditional social democratic party, which, similar to other Western European states, adopted a more liberal Third Way economic and social programme. The party can be compared to the UK Labour Party and the German SPD. Similar to these parties it has had a bit of an identity crisis, culminating in a historic loss during the 2017 and 2021 elections. It has also adopted a number of environmental positions. Due to their loss and their increasingly similar positions, the PvdA and GL have decided to campaign together on the same manifesto and with a shared candidate list.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	pensioen, werk, kinderopvang	pensions, labour, childcare
	Current seats: 3	Est. 1918
GroenLinks	(GL)	GreenLeft
GroenLinks is the environmentalist party of the Netherlands. However, the name as well as the parties that merged to create GL (two socialist and two progressive left-wing Christian parties) emphasise the clear left-wing nature of the party. Next to green and social policies, the party seeks to increase the influence and control of citizens on politics through direct elections of the executive and referendums. Following its best result in 2017, the elections in 2021 were disappointing. During the government formation, the PvdA and GL negotiated together indicating that they would not want to govern without the other party in government. In 2023, the two parties decided to campaign together on the same manifesto and with a shared candidate list.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	EU, bedrijven, energie	EU, businesses, energy
	Current seats: 6	Est. 2002
Partij voor de Dieren	(PvdD)	Party for the Animals
The PvdD was created in response to what was considered animal unfriendly policies. This party was initially conceived as a one-issue-party seeking to influence the policies of other political parties. Since 2011, the party has grown considerably and has since become a more established party on the political left of the Netherlands. Next to animal rights issues it has adopted progressive positions on social issues and is eurosceptic as they consider EU policies to be animal unfriendly and EU procedures to be undemocratic.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	NVWA, slachthuizen, veehouderij	Food and Product Safety Authority, slaughterhouses, livestock farming
	Current seats: 3	Est. 2015
Politieke Beweging Denk	(DENK)	Political Movement Denk
DENK is a centre-left pro-minority party seeking to stand up for minorities in an increasingly polarised debate in the Netherlands surrounding migration, asylum, and integration. As such, they are a party specifically aimed at identity politics. They stand for a tolerant multicultural society. However, their positions are at the same time conservative regarding a number of social issues. Studies have shown that almost half of Dutch people with a Turkish background vote DENK and a third of Dutch people with a Moroccan background. Yet, those with a left-leaning background have mostly remained loyal to the PvdA or GL. The party is strongly pro-Turkey and pro-Palestina.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	euro, ouders, boeren	euro, parents, farmers
	Current seats: 1	Est. 2016
BIJ1	(BIJ1)
Splitting from DENK, famous TV-personality Sylvana Simons (BIJ1) established BIJ1. The party has the same origins of left-wing anti-racism but considered DENK to be too socially conservative. Instead the party doubled down on its anti-capitalist, feminist, and socially progressive position. The party is driven by identity politics and while not expressively communist, economically far-left. Their main aim is the combating of discrimination, initially calling themselves Artikel 1 after the prohibition of discrimination in article 1 of the Dutch constitution.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	politie, racisme, vluchtelingen	police, racism, refugees

Populists

	Current seats: 16	Est. 2006
Partij voor de Vrijheid	(PVV)	Party for Freedom
The PVV is the biggest opposition party and the oldest active populist party. Geert Wilders has been active as a populist politician since 2005 and established the PVV as his power base, being the only member of his party. Others can be volunteers and supporters but not members. The PVV is anti-migration, anti-EU, and anti-left. Its policies are a mix of right- and left-wing policies, typical of populist parties. It has close ties with Germany's AfD, the UK's UKIP, and France's Rassemblement National.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	nederlanders, zorg, asielzoekers	Dutch people, healthcare, asylum seekers
	Current seats: 5	Est. 2016
Forum voor Democratie	(FvD)	Forum for Democracy
The FvD was initially introduced as a liberal-conservative party. Based on liberal free-market ideas, the FvD was considered an "academic" alternative for the PVV. The party was presented as a nostalgic, liberal, anti-multicultural and anti-EU party. It glorified the colonial past and past scientific and cultural achievements, making it a nationalistic party. It combines wanting less regulations with more protection for national companies. The party has always been anti-EU and wants an exit of the Netherlands from it. It considers climate change to be a hoax, wanting to reverse environmental policies. During and after the COVID-19 crisis, its alt-right tendencies grew considerably and it started spreading conspiracy theories about COVID-19, the economy, and the war in Ukraine. It is pro-Russia and pro-Israel. It is similar to Hungary's Fidesz and the right wing of the US Republican Party.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	china, nederlandse, rusland	China, Dutch, Russia
	Current seats: 4	Est. 2019
BoerenBurgerBeweging	(BBB)	Farmer-Citizen Movement
The BBB originates from large-scale farmers protests against government policies seeking to control high emission levels, particularly of nitrogen, during the stikstofcrisis (nitrogen crisis). The party has both left- and right-wing positions like many populist parties but should be considered centre-right. The party claims that national policies are made by the urban elite, ignoring the needs of people outside the urban centres and particularly the needs of farmers. As such, the main issues of BBB are the reform of government to bring it closer to citizens, environmental policies that favour farmers, the general interest of non-urban citizens and regions. Their values of solidarity and tolerance lead them to occupy policy positions to increase the circumstances of refugees, to call for understanding of COVID-19 and vaccine sceptics, and support of Ukraine. It is a little eurosceptic, calling for limiting the EU to trade issues to protect national interests, climate, and human rights in trade agreements.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	boeren, stikstof, zorg	farmers, nitrogen, healthcare
	Current seats: 1	Est. 2016
Juist Antwoord 2021	(JA21)	Correct Answer 2021
JA21 split from FvD after allegations of racism, homophobia, and anti-semitism rocked that party, but the leadership was overwhelmingly confirmed by its members. The split followed the increasing turn of the FvD from liberal conservatism to more alt-right positions. The party is right-wing and eurosceptic, wanting to reform the EU considerably and reducing its powers. The party opposes costly climate policies and identity politics in schools, seeks to introduce binding referendums, it wants to increase science-based policy, and protect Dutch culture.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	natuur, asielzoekers, stikstof	nature, asylum seekers, nitrogen
	Current seats: 0	Est. 2023
Nieuw Sociaal Contract	(NSC)	New Social Contract
The NSC is the newest political party in the Dutch 2023 electoral race. It was created by Pieter Omtzigt, following the many scandals between CDA leadership and Omtzigt. The new character makes it impossible to ascertain the exact nature of the party. However, it is likely that the position will be centre-right, similar to the CDA. Their focus is likely to be the lack of good governance, transparency, and fairness in Dutch politics and societal changes in the Netherlands. The party will likely adopt a position to seek EU reforms, limiting its powers to core competences and maintaining a system of opt-outs.
idem.Stakeholder associations:	nieuw, politieke, sociaal	new, political, social

Others

The following are other parties registered with the Election Council that can participate in the 2023 elections:

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