List of political parties in the Netherlands
Updated: 5/20/2026, 8:11:22 PM Wikipedia source
This article lists political parties in the Netherlands. The country has a multi-party system with numerous political parties, and any one party has little chance of gaining power alone; parties 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 a legal threshold of 1/150 for getting a seat, so a party can win a seat only with at least two-thirds percent (0 %) of the national vote, roughly one seat for every 67,000 votes. The first national political party was the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP), founded in 1879. No party has come close to winning a majority of seats since the introduction of proportional representation in 1918. 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.
Tables
· National political parties › Parties represented in the States General and/or European Parliament
Eur.
Eur.
Political party
Eur.
Political party
EP group
Political party
Intl.
Main ideology
Senators
Leader
House reps.
Affiliation
MEPs
| Political party | Main ideology | Leader | Affiliation | Seats | Ref. | ||||||
| Eur. | EP group | Intl. | Senators | House reps. | MEPs | ||||||
| | Democrats 66 Democraten 66 | Social liberalism | Rob Jetten | ALDE | RE | LI | 7 / 75 | 26 / 150 | 3 / 31 | ||
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie | Conservative liberalism | Dilan Yeşilgöz | ALDE | RE | LI | 9 / 75 | 22 / 150 | 4 / 31 | ||
| | Labour Party Partij van de Arbeid | Social democracy | Jesse Klaver | PES | S&D | PA | 14 / 75 | 20 / 150 | 4 / 31 | ||
| | GroenLinks | Green politics | EGP | Greens/EFA | GG | 4 / 31 | |||||
| | Party for Freedom Partij voor de Vrijheid | Right-wing populism | Geert Wilders | ID | PfE | —N/a | 4 / 75 | 19 / 150 | 6 / 31 | ||
| | Christian Democratic Appeal Christen-Democratisch Appèl | Christian democracy | Henri Bontenbal | EPP | EPP | CDI | 6 / 75 | 18 / 150 | 3 / 31 | ||
| | JA21 | Right-wing populism | Joost Eerdmans | ECR | ECR | —N/a | 2 / 75 | 9 / 150 | 0 / 31 | —N/a | |
| | Forum for Democracy Forum voor Democratie | Right-wing populism | Thierry Baudet | ESN | —N/a | —N/a | 3 / 75 | 7 / 150 | 0 / 31 | ||
| | Farmer–Citizen Movement BoerBurgerBeweging | Agrarianism | Caroline van der Plas | —N/a | EPP | —N/a | 16 / 75 | 3 / 150 | 2 / 31 | —N/a | |
| | Christian Union ChristenUnie | Christian democracy | Mirjam Bikker | ECPM | —N/a | —N/a | 3 / 75 | 3 / 150 | 0 / 31 | ||
| | Denk | Minority interests | Stephan van Baarle | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | 0 / 75 | 3 / 150 | 0 / 31 | ||
| | Party for the Animals Partij voor de Dieren | Animal welfare | Esther Ouwehand | APEU | The Left | —N/a | 1 / 75 | 3 / 150 | 1 / 31 | ||
| | Reformed Political Party Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij | Christian right | Chris Stoffer | ECPM | ECR | —N/a | 2 / 75 | 3 / 150 | 1 / 31 | ||
| | Socialist Party Socialistische Partij | Democratic socialism | Jimmy Dijk | ELA | —N/a | —N/a | 3 / 75 | 3 / 150 | 0 / 31 | ||
| | 50Plus | Pensioners' interests | Jan Struijs | EDP | —N/a | —N/a | 1 / 75 | 2 / 150 | 0 / 31 | ||
| | Volt Netherlands Volt Nederland | European federalism | Laurens Dassen | Volt | Greens/EFA | —N/a | 2 / 75 | 1 / 150 | 2 / 31 | ||
| | Independent Politics Netherlands Onafhankelijke Politiek Nederland | Regionalism | Auke van der Goot | EFA | —N/a | —N/a | 1 / 75 | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | New Social Contract Nieuw Sociaal Contract | Christian democracy | Vacant | —N/a | EPP | —N/a | —N/a | 0 / 150 | 1 / 31 | —N/a | |
· National political parties › Parties without representation in the States General or European Parliament
EU
EU
Party
EU
Party
Int'l
| Party | Main ideology | Leader | Affiliation | Ref. | |||
| EU | Int'l | ||||||
| | Bij1 | Anti-capitalism | Tofik Dibi | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | Code Orange Code Oranje | Direct democracy | Bert Blase | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| Dutch People's Union Nederlandse Volks-Unie | Neo-Nazism | Constant Kusters | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | ||
| Ouderen Politiek Actief | Pensioners' interests | Vacant | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | ||
| | Heart for Freedom Hart voor Vrijheid | Antivax | Vacant | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | Belang van Nederland | Classical liberalism | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | Jezus Leeft | Evangelism | Florens van der Spek | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | LEF – For the New Generation LEF – Voor de Nieuwe Generatie | Youth politics | Daniël van Duijn | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | Liberal Democratic Party Liberaal Democratische Partij | Social liberalism | Sammy van Tuyll | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | Libertarian Party Libertaire Partij | Right-libertarianism | Tom van Lamoen | EPIL | LI | ||
| | More Direct Democracy Meer Directe Democratie | Direct democracy | Dorien Rookmaker | EAFD | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | New Communist Party of the Netherlands Nieuwe Communistische Partij van Nederland | Marxism–Leninism | Rinze Visser | —N/a | IMCWP | —N/a | |
| | Nederland met een Plan | Participatory democracy | Kok Kuen Chan | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | Pacifist Socialist Party '92 Pacifistisch Socialistische Partij '92 | Pacifist socialism | Vacant | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | Party for the Republic Partij voor de Republiek | Republicanism | Bruno Braakhuis | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | Party for Sports PartijvdSport | Health promotion | Annemarie van Duivenboden | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | Pirate Party Piratenpartij | Pirate politics | Mark van Treuren | PPEU | PPI | ||
| | Political Party for Basic Income Politieke Partij voor Basisinkomen | Universal basic income | Sepp Hannen | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | Trots op Nederland | Conservative liberalism | Sander van den Raadt | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | Revolutionary Socialist Party Revolutionair Socialistische Partij | Socialism | Gwildor Sok | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | Splinter | Secularism | Femke Merel van Kooten | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | The Greens De Groenen | Green politics | Mark van Treuren | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| | United Communist Party Verenigde Communistische Partij | Communism | Engel Modderman | —N/a | —N/a | —N/a | |
| vandeRegio | Regionalism | Sent Wierda | EFA | —N/a | —N/a | ||
· Regional and local political parties › European Netherlands › Regional parties
| Party | Province | Leader | European affiliation | Provincial council seats | ||
| | Frisian National Party Fryske Nasjonale Partij | Friesland | Aant Jelle Soepboer | EFA | 4 / 43 | |
| | Groninger Interest Groninger Belang | Groningen | — | 3 / 43 | ||
| | Hart voor Zuid-Holland | South Holland | Richard de Mos | — | 1 / 55 | |
| | Local Brabant Lokaal Brabant | North Brabant | — | 2 / 55 | ||
| | Lokaal-Limburg | Limburg | — | 2 / 47 | ||
| | Party for the North Partij voor het Noorden | Groningen Friesland Drenthe | — | Groningen: 1 / 43 | ||
| | Party for Zeeland Partij voor Zeeland | Zeeland | — | 2 / 39 | ||
| | Provincial Interest Fryslân Provinciaal Belang Fryslân | Friesland | — | 1 / 43 | ||
| | Strong Local Drenthe Sterk Lokaal Drenthe | Drenthe | — | 1 / 43 | ||
| | Sterk Lokaal Flevoland | Flevoland | — | 1 / 41 | ||
· Regional and local political parties › European Netherlands › Local parties
| Party | Municipality | Main ideology | Leader | ||
| Connect Wageningen | Wageningen | Student politics | Cato Vonk | ||
| | Forza! Netherlands Forza! Nederland | Multiple | Right-wing populism | Ralph Castricum | |
| | The Hague City Party Haagse Stadspartij | The Hague | Progressivism | Fatima Faïd | |
| | Heart for The Hague Hart voor Den Haag | The Hague | Conservative liberalism | Richard de Mos | |
| Independent Party of Alkmaar Onafhankelijke Partij Alkmaar | Alkmaar | Localism | Victor Kloos | ||
| | Livable Rotterdam Leefbaar Rotterdam | Rotterdam | Fortuynism | Ronald Buijt | |
| Maastricht: Open, Honest, Democratic Maastricht: Open Eerlijk Democratisch | Maastricht | Student politics | Bram van den Berkmortel | ||
| | Student & Starter | Utrecht | Student politics | Lars van Rooij | |
| | Student and City Student en Stad | Groningen | Student politics | Wieke van Heteren | |
| | Technology Students in Politics Studenten Techniek In Politiek | Delft | Student politics | Jelle Stap | |
· Regional and local political parties › European Netherlands › Water board parties
| Party | Main ideology | ||
| | General Water Board Party Algemene Waterschapspartij | Apoliticism | |
| | Water Naturally Water Natuurlijk | Green politics | |
References
- Documentatiecentrum Nederlands politieke partijenhttps://www.rug.nl/research/dnpp/politieke-partijen/arp/
- Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1412 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
- Comparative European Politicshttps://books.google.com/books?id=18aSGqADApUC&pg=PA221
- Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin Politics and Governance in the Netherlands, Basingstoke (Palgrave) p
- Rethinking Public Strategyhttps://books.google.com/books?id=w1IdBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA168
- "Parties and Elections in Europe"http://www.parties-and-elections.eu/netherlands.html
- Comparative European Politicshttps://books.google.com/books?id=6S5JJkjpzf8C&pg=PA221
- Populism in Western Europe: Comparing Belgium, Germany and The Netherlandshttps://books.google.com/books?id=dmUtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA117
- Merijn Oudenampsen (2013). "Explaining the Swing to the Right: The Dutch Debate on the Rise of Right-Wing Populism". Inhttps://books.google.com/books?id=EUhMAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA191
- Patterns of Prejudicehttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0031322X.2015.1023655
- europe-politiquehttps://www.europe-politique.eu/wiki/Partij_voor_de_Vrijheid_(PVV)
- Reformatorisch Dagbladhttp://www.rd.nl/vandaag/politiek/cda-partij-van-samenleving-en-van-waarden-1.488022
- European Citizenship in the Process of Construction: Challenges for Citizenship, Citizenship Education and Democratic Practice in Europehttps://books.google.com/books?id=tpMueuYB_eMC&pg=PA73
- Routledge Handbook of European Electionshttps://books.google.com/books?id=7stgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA171
- Foreign Policyhttps://foreignpolicy.com/2012/09/13/going-dutch-the-netherlands-election-results-roll-in/
- "Standpunten"https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten
- "Forum voor Democratie: Why has the Dutch far right surged?"https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/forum-voor-democratie-dutch-surged-190324184308868.html
- Zevende rapportage racisme, antisemitisme en extreemrechts geweld in Nederlandhttps://www.verwey-jonker.nl/doc/2018/118004_Zevende_rapportage_racisme_antisemitisme_extreemrechts_geweld.pdf
- Northern Europe and the Making of the EU's Mediterranean and Middle East Policies
- Governance and Politics of the Netherlands