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List of political parties in the Netherlands

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Members of the four parties with parliamentary representation since 1980 and participation in government: PvdA, D66, CDA and VVD (from the left). Ulft, shortly before the municipal elections of 2010.

This article lists political parties in the Netherlands. The Netherlands has a multi-party system with numerous political parties, in which any one party has little chance of gaining power alone, and parties often work with each other to form coalition governments.

The lower house of the legislature, the Second Chamber (House of Representatives), is elected by a national party-list system of proportional representation. There is no threshold for getting a seat, making it possible for a party to get a seat with only two-thirds percent of the vote--roughly one seat for every 50,000 votes. Since this system was implemented in 1918, no party has even approached the seats needed for an outright majority. However, there is a broad consensus on the basic principles of the political system, and all parties must adjust their goals to some extent in order to have a realistic chance at being part of the government.

Parties

Parliamentary parties

Parties with representation in the First Chamber (Senate), Second Chamber (House of Representatives) or European Parliament, as of July 2010:

Name Abbr. Political Leader International Affiliation Votes (2010) House
of Rep.
seats 		Senate
seats 		European
Parliament
seats
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy VVD Mark Rutte* Liberal International, ELDR 1,929,575 31 14 3
Labour Party PvdA Job Cohen Socialist International, PES 1,848,805 30 14 3
Party for Freedom PVV Geert Wilders none 1,454,493 24 0 5
Christian Democratic Appeal CDA Maxime Verhagen (ad int) Centrist Democrat International, EPP 1,281,886 21 21 5
Socialist Party SP Emile Roemer UEL/NGL 924,696 15 11 2
Democrats 66 D66 Alexander Pechtold Liberal International, ELDR 654,167 10 2 3
GreenLeft GL Jolande Sap Global Greens, EGP 628,096 10 4 3
ChristianUnion CU Arie Slob European Christian Political Movement 305,094 5 4 1
Reformed Political Party SGP Kees van der Staaij EFD 163,581 2 1 1
Party for Animals PvdD Marianne Thieme none 122,317 2 1 0
Independents Senate Fraction OSF Hendrik ten Hoeven* none 0 did not compete 0 1 0
Total (includes Others; turnout 75.4%) 9,442,977 150 75 25

*: These political leaders are not President of the parliamentary parties in the House of Representatives.

  • The Labour Party (PvdA), a social-democratic party, and centre-left in orientation. Its program is based on more social, political, and economic equality for all citizens. Former PvdA-prime minister Joop den Uyl has called it an "equal distribution of knowledge, income and power." In recent years the PvdA has espoused a Third Way programme. The PvdA is generally supportive of European integration. Although called the Labour Party, it has no formal links to the trade unions. In practice, however, strong links exist, with PvdA politicians often beginning their careers in the FNV trade union. The party is led by Job Cohen. The PvdA is a member of the Socialist International.
  • Democrats 66 (D66) has had widely fluctuating electoral fortunes since the party's founding in 1966. It is a centrist social liberal party, generally portrayed as between the VVD and GreenLeft, with its strongest support among young, urban or highly educated. It professes a pro-European platform of ethnic and religious tolerance. Alexander Pechtold leads the party. D66 is a member of the Liberal International.
  • The Reformed Political Party (SGP) is a party of the Christian right, with stronger ethical points of view than the ChristianUnion. Although a small party on a national level, it is an important political power in some orthodox reformed municipalities. The party sees governments (local, regional, national and international) as unconditional servants of God. The party bases all of its views directly on the Bible. The party opposes European integration and operates within the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group. Kees van der Staaij leads the SGP.
  • The Independent Senate Group (Dutch: Onafhankelijke Senaatsfractie, OSF) is a parliamentary party in the Dutch Senate with one senator, representing several provincial parties.

Other parties (not represented in parliament)

Part of the Politics series
Politics of the Netherlands
Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or. [The seven arrows stand for the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht.] The shield is crowned with the (Dutch) royal crown and supported by two lions Or armed and langued gules. They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" (French for "I will maintain".)
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Regional parties

Defunct parties

See also

External links

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