List of political parties in the Netherlands

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

The lower house of the legislature, the 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 67,000 votes.

No party has won a majority of seats since the 1894 general election;^[1] no party has even approached the seats needed for a majority since the current proportional representation system was implemented in the Pacification of 1917. All 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, with all parties having to adjust their goals to some extent in order to have a realistic chance at being part of the government.

General overview

Members of four Dutch political parties (PvdA, D66, CDA and VVD) campaigning in Ulft, shortly before the 2010 municipal elections

GL-PvdA (Dutch: [ɣrunˈlɪŋks ˌpeːveːdeːˈjaː]), alternatively PvdA–GroenLinks, is an alliance between GreenLeft (GL) and the social democratic Labour Party (PvdA) in the Netherlands. The centre-leftist political alliance was founded at the national level by party leaders Lilianne Ploumen and Jesse Klaver during the 2021–2022 Dutch cabinet formation, whereas local alliances between the two parties had already been formed in prior years. The two parties have formed a joint parliamentary group in the Provincial Council of Zeeland since 29 March 2023, before they formed a joint group in the Senate following the 2023 Dutch Senate election. GreenLeft combines green politics^[2] with left-wing ideals. The party was founded in 1990 as a merger of the Radical, Pacifist, Communist, 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. The Labour Party (PvdA) is a social democratic party, and centre-left in orientation.^[2] 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 programme. The PvdA is generally supportive of European integration. Although called the Labour Party, it has no formal links to 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 Lilianne Ploumen. The PvdA was a member of the Socialist International until it delisted in 2014.^[3] Nowadays, the party is a member of the Progressive Alliance and the Party of European Socialists.
The Party for Freedom (PVV) is a right-wing populist^[2] and Nationalist^[4] party. It was founded by Geert Wilders, who split from the VVD in 2004. The PVV seeks to lower taxation and limit immigration, especially from Islamic and non-Western countries. Supporting Nexit, it is hard Eurosceptic. The party is part of the Identity and Democracy group.
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) is a conservative-liberal party.^[2] As a centre-right movement (''big market small government''), it attaches great importance to private enterprise, economic liberalism^[5] 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 outgoing leader is Mark Rutte, who announced his retirement from Dutch politics in Ju

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