VVD

1971–1994

The new course proved electorally profitable for the VVD: in the heavily polarised general election of 1972 the party gained six seats. The VVD was kept out of government by the social democratic and Christian democratic Den Uyl cabinet. Although the ties between the VVD and other organisations within the neutral pillar became ever looser, the number of neutral organisations friendly to the VVD grew. The TROS and later Veronica, new broadcasters which entered the Dutch public broadcasting system, were friendly towards the VVD. In 1977, the VVD again won six more seats, bringing its total to twenty-eight seats. When lengthy coalition talks between the social democrats and Christian democrats eventually led to a final break between the two parties, the VVD formed a cabinet with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), with a majority of only two seats.