This article lists political parties in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, which 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

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, is elected by a national party-list system of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. 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 67,000 votes. No party has won a majority of seats since the election of 1894,

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1412 and no party has even approached the seats needed for a majority since the current proportional representation system was implemented in 1918. All Dutch governments since then have been coalitions between two or more parties. 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.

General overview

* The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) is a conservative-liberal party. As a

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and m ...

movement (''big market small government''), it attaches great importance to private enterprise, economic liberalism and the freedom of the individual in political, social, and economic affairs. The party is generally supportive of European economic integration, but is less supportive of political integration. The party's leader is Mark Rutte. VVD is a member of the

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...

and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. * Democrats 66 (D66) have had widely fluctuating electoral fortunes since the party's founding in 1966. The party was founded as a movement that advocated direct democracy and electoral reform. Today, it is a centrist social liberal party, professing a pro-European platform and progressive views on, for example,

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

, organ donation, ecological sustainability and ethnic and religious tolerance. Sigrid Kaag leads the party. D66 is a member of the

and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. *The Party for Freedom (PVV) is a right-wing populist and national-liberal party. It was founded by Geert Wilders, who split from the VVD in 2004. The PVV seeks to lower taxation and limit

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

, especially from Islamic and non-Western countries. Supporting Nexit, it is hard Eurosceptic. The party is part of the Identity and Democracy group. * The Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) is a Christian democratic party on the centre to centre-right. It supports free enterprise and holds to the principle that government activity should supplement but not supplant communal action by citizens. On the political spectrum, the CDA sees its philosophy as standing between the "

individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-relia ...

" of the VVD and the " statism" of the Labour Party. The CDA favours European economic, cultural, and political integration. The CDA is a member of the Centrist Democrat International and the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Fo ...

. * The Socialist Party (SP) is a left-wing populist party. The party itself has called its ideological shift a move "from socialism to a social-ism." The party opposes what it sees as the

European Superstate The United States of Europe (USE), the European State, the European Federation and Federal Europe, is the hypothetical scenario of the European integration leading to formation of a sovereign superstate (similar to the United States of America ...

. The SP operated as an independent party within the

European United Left-Nordic Green Left European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

group until the 2019 European elections, when it lost all seats in the European Parliament. Lilian Marijnissen is the leader of the SP. *The Labour Party (PvdA) is a social democratic party, and

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

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." Under Prime Minister Wim Kok, the PvdA espoused a centrist

Third Way The Third Way is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right economic policies with centre-left social policies. The Third Way was born f ...

programme. The PvdA is generally supportive of European integration. Although called the Labour Party, it has no formal links to

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

s. In practice, however, strong links exist, with PvdA politicians often beginning their careers in the FNV trade union. The party is led by Lilianne Ploumen. The PvdA was a member of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that su ...

until it delisted in 2014. Nowadays, the party is a member of the Progressive Alliance and the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic and Progressivism, progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus ...

. * GreenLeft combines green politics with

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

ideals. The party was founded in 1990 as a merger of the Radical, Pacifist,

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

, and Evangelical Left parties. The current leader Jesse Klaver opposes what he calls "economism", where important values seem to be secondary to economic growth. GreenLeft is a member of the Global Greens and the European Green Party. * Party for the Animals (PvdD) is an

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

party. It has been labeled as a one issue-party, though former PvdD leader Marianne Thieme has claimed it is not. The focus of the party is on

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevit ...

and

environmental protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair da ...

. The party also has distinctive points of view about education, privacy, health care and the economy. Its founder is Marianne Thieme. Its current leader is Esther Ouwehand. The party is currently part of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left group. * Forum for Democracy is a right-wing populist, and national conservative party. In favour of lower taxes, military investment and expansion, electoral reform, offering a referendum on European Union membership, reinstating border controls and ending what it perceives as mass

. The party was founded and is currently led by Thierry Baudet. The party is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party and part of the ERC-group. *The

Christian Union Christian Union may refer to: * Christian Union (Lithuania), a Lithuanian Christian democratic political party (''Krikščionių sąjunga'' in Lithuanian) * Christian Union (Netherlands), a Dutch Christian democratic political party (''ChristenUn ...

(CU) is a socially conservative Christian democratic party, which mostly concentrates on ethical issues, such as a resistance against abortion,

, and gay marriage. In other areas, such as immigration and the environment, the party often is closer to the progressive parties. It is a moderately Eurosceptic party. The CU operated within the European Conservatives and Reformists group, until after the 2019 European elections, when it joined the European People's Party group. The party is a founding member of the European Christian Political Movement. * The Reformed Political Party (SGP) is a party of the

Christian right The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with ...

, with stronger ethical points of view than the Christian Union. Although the party is small on a national level, having gained either two or three seats in every general election, 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. Opposing European integration, the party is Eurosceptic, and operates within the European Conservatives and Reformists group and is a member of the European Christian Political Movement. Kees van der Staaij leads the SGP. * DENK is a small political party mainly focusing on and promoting

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

and social integration. The party also supports

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment (biophysical), environment, par ...

and international justice. Tunahan Kuzu founded the party after splitting from the PvdA in 2014. The current leader is Farid Azarkan. * Volt Netherlands is the Dutch branch of the European federalist political movement Volt Europa. Its leader Laurens Dassen wants the EU to be a "strong parliamentary democracy" and proposes jointly tackling "cross-border issues", such as

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. * JA21 is a conservative-liberal party founded by former Second Chamber member of the LPF Joost Eerdmans and senator Annabel Nanninga, following antisemitic text messages within Forum for Democracy in late 2020 . Joost Eerdmans wants to reintroduce the ideas from right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn into parliament, promoting more direct democracy, stricter immigration policies, and reforms on tax and wealth systems. *The Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) is a centre-right party that advocates for the interests of citizens working in the agrarian sector or living in rural areas. The party has profiled itself als a "more nuanced alternative" to lobby group Farmers Defence Force amidst farmer protests. The party's leader and only member of parliament is Caroline van der Plas. * BIJ1 is a political party that holds an intersectional perspective on socio-economic issues and claims to be made up of activists that have "joined forces to become political". The party strives to combat all forms of oppression and discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of "race, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference or anything else" and is explicitly anti-capitalist. The party's leader, Sylvana Simons, is the first black party leader in Dutch parliamentary history.

National political parties

Parties represented in the States General and/or European Parliament

Parties without representation in the States General and/or European Parliament

Regional and local political parties

European Netherlands

Regional parties

Local parties

Water board parties

Caribbean Netherlands

Bonaire

Saba

Sint Eustatius

Defunct political parties

Evolution of Dutch political parties since 1888

* General Elderly Alliance (AOV) * General League of Roman Catholic Caucuses (succeeded by the Roman Catholic State Party) * ''Alliantie voor Vernieuwing en Democratie'' (Alliance for Renewal and Democracy) * Article 50 (merged with For the Netherlands) * General Dutch Fascist League * Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP, 1879–1980; merged into Christian Democratic Appeal) * Arab European League (AEL; initially founded in Belgium, active in the Netherlands between 2003 and 2005; now MDP) * Workers Party of the Netherlands (APN) * Farmers' Party (BP) * League of Christian Socialists (BCS) *

League of Dutch Marxist–Leninists League of Dutch Marxist–Leninists ( nl, Bond van Nederlandse Marxisten-Leninisten) was a communist organisation in the Netherlands. By the time of the 21st party congress of the Communist Party of the Netherlands in 1964 two pro-China fraction ...

(BNML; merged into the Communist Workers Organisation (Marxist–Leninist)) * League of Free Liberals (merged into Liberal State Party) * Brabant Party (active in

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to th ...

) * Centre Democrats (CD; split from the Centre Party) * Centre Party (CP; later Centre Party '86) * Centre Party '86 (CP'86) * Christian Democratic Party (CDP) * Christian Democratic Union (CDU; merged into Labour Party) * Christian Historical Union (CHU) (merged into Christian Democratic Appeal) * Christian Social Party (CSP) * Christian Historical Voters' League (CHK) (merged into the Christian Historical Party) * Christian Historical Party (CHP) (merged into the Christian Historical Union) * Christian Organisation of Self-employed Persons * Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) (Communist Party Netherlands; merged into GroenLinks, some members formed the

New Communist Party of the Netherlands The New Communist Party of the Netherlands ( nl, Nieuwe Communistische Partij Nederland, NCPN) is a communist party in the Netherlands. The NCPN was founded in 1992 by the former members of the Communist Party of the Netherlands to oppose CPN's me ...

) * The Conservatives * ''Continue Directe Democratie Partij'' (CDDP) *

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(DP) * Democratic Socialists '70 (DS'70) *

Sustainable Netherlands Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

* Economic League (EB) *

Entrepreneurs Party Hero Brinkman (born 29 December 1964, in Almelo) is a police officer and former Netherlands, Dutch politician. He was a House of Representatives of the Netherlands, member of parliament from 30 November 2006 to 19 September 2012, after being ele ...

(OP) * Europe Transparent (ET) * Evangelical People's Party (EVP; merged into GroenLinks) * Fatherland League * Frisian League (merged into the Christian Historical Union) * Reformed Political League (GPV; merged into

) * '' Hervormd Gereformeerde Staatspartij'' (dissolved in 1946) * Independent Socialist Party (OSP) * Islam Democrats (ID) * Islamic Party Netherlands (founded in 1998) * Catholic National Party (KNP; merged into the Catholic People's Party) * Catholic People's Party (KVP; merged into Christian Democratic Appeal) * Communist Workers Organisation (Marxist–Leninist) (KAO(ml); dissolved around 1980) *

Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (Marxist–Leninist) Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (marxist-leninist) ( nl, Kommunistiese Eenheidsbeweging Nederland (marxisties-leninisties); KEN (ml)) was a communist organization in the Netherlands founded in 1964. History The organization started as ...

(KEN(ml); dissolved in mid-1980s) * Independent Citizens' Party (OBP) * Livable Netherlands (LN) * Liberal State Party (LSP; Liberal State Party; merged into '' Freedom Party'' (PvdV)) * Liberal Party (merged into the Fatherland League) * Liberal Union (merged into Liberal State Party) * Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) (disbanded in 2007) * Ratelband List * Veldhoen List *

Marxist–Leninist Party of the Netherlands The Marxist–Leninist Party of the Netherlands ( nl, Marxistisch-Leninistische Partij van Nederland or MLPN) was a fake pro-China communist party in the Netherlands set up by the Dutch secret service BVD to develop contacts with the Chinese gove ...

(MLPN; a fake party founded in 1970 by the Dutch Intelligence Service

BVD BVD is a brand of men's underwear, which are commonly referred to as "BVDs". The brand was founded in 1876 and named after the three founders of the New York City firm: (Joseph W.) Bradley, (Luther C.) Voorhees, and (Lyman H.) Day (thus "B.V.D." ...

and the CIA, to research support for Maoism and to fool the People's Republic of China) * Middle Party for City and Country (MPSL) * Middle Class Party (MP) * Muslim Party (founded in 1993) * National Socialist Dutch Workers Party (NSNAP) (1931–1941) * National Alliance (NA) * Dutch Block (NB) * New Middle Party (NMP) * Neutral Party * New National Party (NNP) * New Right (NR) * NIDA * '' Nieuwe Wegen'' (NiWe, New Ways) * ''

O O Den Haag O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...

'' (O O The Hague; was initially registered for 2003 elections but withdrew) * Pacifist Socialist Party (PSP; merged into GroenLinks) * Party New Limburg (PNL; has been active in Limburg *

Party of the Future The Party of the Future (Dutch: ''Partij van de Toekomst'', PvdT) was a political party of the Netherlands. Although the party never came close to obtaining a seat in the House of Representatives, it received wide media attraction due to its lea ...

(PvdT) *

Party of Unity A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature fo ...

(PvdE) * Freedom Party (PvdV) (succeeded by the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy) * '' Partij Voor De Mens en alle overige aardbewoners'' *

Party for Justice, Action and Progress The Party for Justice, Action and Progress (''Partij voor Rechtvaardigheid, Daadkracht en Vooruitgang'') was a political party in the Netherlands without parliamentary representation. It was founded May 2005 by the crime journalist A journalis ...

(PRDV) * Peasants' League * Political Party of Radicals (PPR; merged into GroenLinks) * Progressive Integration Party * Radical League (RB; merged into Free-thinking Democratic League) * Reformatory Political Federation (RPF; merged into

) *

Roman Catholic Party of the Netherlands The Roman Catholic Party Netherlands (in Dutch: ''Rooms Katholieke Partij Nederland'', RKPN) was a Dutch orthodox catholic political party. The RKPN played a marginal role in Dutch politics. Party History The RKPN was founded by former members of ...

(RKPN) * Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP; succeeded by the Catholic People's Party) *

Seniors 2000 Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used Suffix (name)#Generational titles, as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refe ...

* '' Solide Multiculturele Partij'' (SMP) * Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP; merged into Labour Party) * Social Democratic League (merged into the Social Democratic Workers' Party) * 'Social Liberal Party (SLP) * Socialist Party (Socialist Party active before World War II, not the current Socialist Party) *

Solidarity '93 ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...

(appears not to have contested elections after 1998) * Union 55+ (General Senior Union/Union 55+) * Alliance for the Democratisation of the Army * League of Communists in the Netherlands (VCN; split from the Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) in 1983 and merged with the remains of the CPN in 1992 to form the

(NCPN)) *

Alliance for National Reconstruction The Alliance for National Reconstruction ( nl, Verbond voor Nationaal Herstel; VNH) was a conservative-nationalist political party in the Netherlands. The VNH played only a marginal role in the Dutch parliament. History Since 1931 Van Gybland O ...

* ''

VoorNederland VoorNederland (translated: For Netherlands or Pro-Netherlands) was a Dutch political party. It was previously active in the House of Representatives of the Netherlands as the Group Bontes/Van Klaveren ( nl, Groep Bontes/Van Klaveren), a parliament ...

(VNL) * Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB; merged into Labour Party) * Free Anti Revolutionary Party (merged into Christian Historical Party)

References

External links

Documentation Centre for Dutch Political Parties (DNPP)
at University of Groningen {{DEFAULTSORT:Political parties in the Netherlands

Netherlands politics-related lists