Labour Party Partij van de Arbeid | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | PvdA |
| Chairperson | Esther-Mirjam Sent |
| Leader in the Senate | Paul Rosenmöller[nb] |
| Leader in the House of Representatives | Frans Timmermans[nb] |
| Leader in the European Parliament | Agnes Jongerius |
| Founded | 9 February 1946; 79 years ago (9 February 1946) |
| Merger of | SDAP VDB CDU |
| Headquarters | Partijbureau PvdA, Leeghwaterplein 45,The Hague |
| Youth wing | Young Socialists |
| Think tank | Wiardi Beckman Foundation |
| Membership(January 2025) |  47,869[1] |
| Ideology | Social democracy |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| National affiliation | GroenLinks–PvdA |
| Regional affiliation | SGD/SVD |
| European affiliation | Party of European Socialists |
| European Parliament group | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats |
| International affiliation | Progressive Alliance |
| Colours | Red |
| Provincial councils | 47 / 570 |
| Municipal councils | 706 / 7,991 |
| European Parliament | 4 / 31 |
| Benelux Parliament | 1 / 21 |
| Website | |
| pvda | |
^ Parliamentary leader of a combinedGroenLinks–PvdA parliamentary group. | |
TheLabour Party (Dutch:Partij van de Arbeid[pɑrˈtɛivɑndəˈʔɑrbɛit], abbreviated asPvdA[ˌpeːveːdeːˈjaː,-deːˈʔaː] orP van de A[ˌpeːvɑndəˈʔaː]) is asocial democratic[2]political party in theNetherlands.
The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of theSocial Democratic Workers' Party, theFree-thinking Democratic League and theChristian Democratic Union.Prime Ministers from the Labour Party have beenWillem Drees (1948–1958),Joop den Uyl (1973–1977) andWim Kok (1994–2002). From 2012 to 2017, the PvdA formed the second-largest party in parliament and was the secondary partner in theSecond Rutte cabinet with thePeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy.
The party fell to nine seats in theHouse of Representatives at the2017 general election, making it the seventh-largest faction in the chamber—its worst showing ever. However, the party rebounded with a first-place finish in the2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, winning six of 26 seats, with 19% of the vote. The party is a member of the EuropeanParty of European Socialists and the globalProgressive Alliance. In theEuropean Parliament, where the Labour Party has four seats, it is part of theProgressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.
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During theGerman occupation of the Netherlands inWorld War II, a group of prominent Dutchmen of all democratic political ideologies were interned as hostages inKamp Sint-Michielsgestel by the German occupation authorities. They came to the consensus that the pre-war fragmentation of Dutch political life, known as "Pillarisation", should be overcome after the war in a so-calledBreakthrough. These people formed theDutch People's Movement (NVB) immediately after the war ended in 1945. The new movement promoted the foundation of the Labour Party on 9 February 1946 through a merger of three pre-war parties, namely theSocial Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP), thesocial liberalFree-thinking Democratic League (VDB) and the progressiveProtestantChristian Democratic Union (CDU). They were joined by individuals fromCatholicresistance group Christofoor, as well as some of the more progressive members of the ProtestantChristian Historical Union (CHU).[3] The founding convention was chaired by NVB memberWillem Banning.
Despite its ambitions to force a breakthrough, the electorate returned to their pillars. Lead byWillem Drees in the1946 general election, it won 29 seats, two less than its predecessors had won in1937. During the1946 cabinet formation, thefirst Beel cabinet was formed with theCatholic People's Party (KVP) and the PvdA (Roman/Red). In 1948, some of the left-liberal members, led by former VDB leaderPieter Oud, left the PvdA after concluding it had become too socialist for their liking. Together with theFreedom Party, they formed thePeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), aconservative liberal party.
Between 1948 and 1958, the PvdA led centre-left[4][5]coalition governments with the KVP, and combinations of VVD, ARP and CHU, with the PvdA'sWillem Drees as prime minister. The KVP and the PvdA together had a large majority in parliament. Under his leadership the Netherlands recovered from the war and began to build itswelfare state, andIndonesia becameindependent.
After the cabinet crisis of 1958, the PvdA was replaced by the VVD. The PvdA was in opposition until 1965. The electoral support of PvdA voters began to decline.
In 1965, a conflict in the centre-right cabinet made continuation of the government impossible. The threeconfessional parties turned toward the PvdA. Together they formed theCals cabinet, with KVP leaderJo Cals as prime minister. This cabinet too was short-lived and conflict-ridden. The conflicts culminated in the fall of the Cals cabinet overeconomic policy.
Meanwhile, a younger generation was attempting to gain control of the PvdA. A group of young PvdA members, calling themselves theNew Left, changed the party. The New Left believed the party should become oriented towards thenew social movements, adopting their anti-parliamentary strategies and their issues, such aswomen's liberation,environmental conservation andThird World development. Prominent New Left members wereJan Nagel,André van der Louw andBram Peper. One of their early victories followed the fall of the Cals cabinet. The party Congress adopted a motion that made it impossible for the PvdA to govern with the KVP and its Protestant allies. In response to the growing power of the New Left group, a group of older,centrist party members, led by Willem Drees' son,Willem Drees Jr., founded the New Right. They split in 1970, after it was clear that they had lost the conflict with the New Left, and founded a new moderate social democratic party,Democratic Socialists '70 (DS'70).
Under the New Left, the PvdA started a strategy of polarisation, striving for a cabinet based on a progressive majority in parliament. In order to form that cabinet, the PvdA allied itself with smaller progressive parties such as theDemocrats '66 (D'66) and thePolitical Party of Radicals (PPR). The alliance was called the Progressive Accord (PAK). In the1971 and1972 general elections, these three parties promised to form a cabinet with a radical common programme after the elections. They were unable to gain a majority in either election. In 1971, they were kept out of cabinet, and the party of former PvdA members, DS'70, became a coalition partner in theFirst Biesheuvel cabinet.
In the 1972 elections, neither the PvdA and its allies nor the KVP and its allies were able to gain a majority. The two sides were forced to work together.Joop den Uyl, the leader of the PvdA, led the cabinet. The cabinet was anextra-parliamentary cabinet composed of members of the three progressive parties, the KVP and the ARP. The cabinet attempted to radically reform government, society and the economy, and a wide range of progressive social reforms were enacted during its time in office, such as significant increases in welfare payments and the indexation of benefits and the minimum wage to the cost of living.[6]
The PvdA also faced economic decline and was riddled with personal and ideological conflicts. The relationship between Prime Minister Den Uyl and the KVPDeputy Prime MinisterDries Van Agt was particularly problematic. These conflict culminated when the cabinet fell just before the1977 general election. The PvdA came first in that election, but the ideological and personal conflict between Van Agt and Den Uyl prevented the formation of a new centre-left cabinet. After very long cabinet formation talks, theChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA), itself a newChristian democratic political formation composed of KVP, CHU and ARP, formed a government, based on a very narrow majority, with the VVD. The PvdA was left in opposition.
In the1981 general election, the incumbent CDA–VVD cabinet lost its majority. The CDA remained the largest party, but it was forced to co-operate with the PvdA and D'66 (the PPR had left the alliance, after losing in the 1977 election). In the new cabinet led by Van Agt, Den Uyl returned to cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister. The personal and ideological conflict between Van Agt and Den Uyl culminated in the fall of the cabinet just months after it was formed. The VVD and the CDA together had a majority in the1982 general election and retained this in the1986 general election. The PvdA was left in opposition. During this period the party began to reform. Den Uyl retired from politics in 1986, appointing formertrade union leaderWim Kok as his successor.
After the1989 general election, the PvdA returned to cabinet together with the CDA. Kok became Deputy Prime Minister to CDA leaderRuud Lubbers. The PvdA accepted the major economic reforms of the previous Lubbers cabinets, includingprivatisation ofpublic enterprises andreform of the welfare state. They continued these policies in this cabinet. The cabinet faced heavy protest from the unions and saw major political conflict within the PvdA itself.
In the1994 general election, the PvdA–CDA coalition lost its majority in parliament; the PvdA, however, emerged as the biggest party. Kok formed a government together with the conservative liberal VVD and social liberal D66. This so-calledpurple government was a political novelty, because it was the first since 1918 without any ministers from the CDA or its predecessors. TheFirst Kok cabinet continued the Lubbers-era economic reforms, but combined this with a progressive outlook on ethical questions and promises of political reform. Kok became a very popular Prime Minister; he was not a partisan figure but combined successfultechnocratic policies with the charisma of a national leader. In the1998 general election, the cabinet was rewarded for its stewardship of the economy. The PvdA and the VVD increased their seat counts, at the expense of D66; theSecond Kok cabinet was formed.
Kok retired from politics, leaving the leadership of the party to his preferred successorAd Melkert. The PvdA was expected to perform very well in the2002 general election; however, the political rise ofPim Fortuyn frustrated these hopes. The PvdA lost the 2002 election, and the party's parliamentary representation fell from 45 seats to 23. The loss was blamed on the uncharismatic new leader Melkert, the perceived arrogance of the PvdA and the inability to answer theright-wing populist issues Fortuyn raised, especiallyimmigration andintegration. Melkert resigned as party leader and was replaced byJeltje van Nieuwenhoven. The PvdA was kept out of cabinet. The government formed by CDA, VVD and thePim Fortuyn List (LPF) fell after a very short period.
Meanwhile,Wouter Bos,Undersecretary in the Second Kok cabinet, was elected leader of the PvdA in a ballot among PvdA members, being elected closely toJouke de Vries. He started to democratise the party organisation and began an ideological reorientation. In the2003 general election, Wouter Bos managed to regain almost all seats lost in the previous election, and the PvdA was once again the second largest party in the Netherlands, only slightly smaller than the CDA. Personal and ideological conflicts between Bos and the CDA leaderJan Peter Balkenende prevented the formation of a CDA–PvdA cabinet. Instead, the PvdA was kept out of government by the formation of cabinet of the CDA, the VVD, and D66, the latter being former allies of PvdA. In the2006 municipal elections, the renewed PvdA performed very well. The PvdA became by far the largest party nationally, while the three governing parties lost a considerable number of seats in municipal councils.
The PvdA lost the race forPrime Minister to the CDA after suffering a loss of nine seats in the2006 general election. The PvdA now held only 33 seats, losing many votes to theSocialist Party (SP). The PvdA had previously distanced themselves from the idea of a voting bloc on the left. It did, however, join thefourth Balkenende cabinet on 22 February 2007, in which Wouter Bos becameminister of Finance. In the aftermath of the lost elections, the entire party executive stepped down on 26 April 2007. On Saturday 20 February 2010, the Labour Party withdrew from the government after arguments over the Dutch role inAfghanistan.
The then-mayor of Amsterdam,Job Cohen, took Wouter Bos' place as leader of the PvdA following the latter quitting politics. In the2010 general election, the PvdA won 30 seats, a loss of three, and was narrowly overtaken by the VVD. After the election, a 'purple-plus coalition' was considered, which would have required the participation ofGroenLinks, in addition to the VVD, PvdA and D66 – but talks broke down and the PvdA entered opposition.
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Cohen resigned as leader in February 2012.[7]Diederik Samsom was subsequently elected the party leader. In the2012 general election, the Labour Party won 38 seats, a gain of eight, defying initial predictions that theSocialist Party would overtake it. Following the election the party entered a governing coalition with the VVD underMark Rutte, with Labour'sLodewijk Asscher becoming Deputy Prime Minister.
In December 2016, Samson was defeated byLodewijk Asscher in a party leadership election. In the2017 general election, the PvdA suffered the biggest defeat in Dutch electoral history, receiving only 5.7% of the votes and losing 29 of its 38 seats. Asscher did not resign from his post, claiming the defeat was his predecessor's responsibility. The party experienced a degree of revival in 2019, obtaining the most votes inthat year's European Parliament election. This marked the first time the PvdA had finished first in a national election since1998.
Ahead of the2021 general election, Asscher resigned from the party leadership due to his part in thechildcare benefits scandal.[8] He was replaced as leader and lead candidate byLilianne Ploumen, who became the party's first permanent female leader.[9] Following the election, the PvdA participated unsuccessfully in the2021 Dutch cabinet formation in conjunction with GroenLinks.[10][11] Ploumen later left, claiming she was unsuited for the leadership. Ploumen was replaced as parliamentary leader byAttje Kuiken.
Following the2023 Senate election in 30 May 2023, PvdA and GroenLinks deepened their co-operation by forming a joint parliamentary group in the senate, becoming the second-largest group behind theFarmer–Citizen Movement.[12][13]
On 17 July 2023, the party and Green Left announced that they would contest the2023 general election with a common policy programme and joint electoral list.[14] The joint parliamentary group became the second largest with 25 seats, but did not become part of the coalition.
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The PvdA began as a traditionalsocial democratic party, committed to building awelfare state. During the 1970s, it included new issues in its programme such as environmental conservation, Third World development and women's liberation. During the 1990s it moderated its programme to includeThird Way economic and social positions, including reform of the welfare state and privatisation of public enterprise. The party adopted a new programme of principles in 2005, expressing acentre-left[15][16][17] ideology. Its core issues areemployment,social security andwelfare as well as investing in publiceducation,health care andpublic safety.
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The highest organ of the PvdA is theCongress, formed by delegates from the municipal branches. It convenes once every year. It appoints the party board, decides the order of candidates on electoral lists for the Senate, House of Representatives and European Parliament and has the final say over the party programme. Since 2002, areferendum of all members has partially replaced the Congress. Both thelead candidate of the House of Representatives candidate list, who is the political leader of the party, and the party chairman, who leads the party organisation, are selected by such a referendum. In 2002, Wouter Bos won thePvdA leadership election.
As of 2025, PvdA has 47,869 members.[1] They are organised in over 500 municipal branches.
Rood is the party periodical. It appears eight times a year. TheYoung Socialists is the youth organisation of the PvdA. It is a member ofYoung European Socialists and theInternational Union of Socialist Youth. They publish the periodicalLava.
The scientific institute (orthink tank) of the PvdA is theWiardi Beckman Foundation. It publishes the periodicalSocialisme & Democratie. The PvdA participates in theNetherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, a democracy assistance organisation of seven Dutch political parties.
During the period of strongpillarisation the PvdA had strong links with the social democratic broadcasting organisationVARA Broadcasting Association, theDutch Association of Trade Unions, and the paperHet Vrije Volk.
The PvdA is a full member of theParty of European Socialists and was formerly an observer member of theSocialist International until December 2014, having previously downgraded their membership in December 2012.[18] The PvdA joined theProgressive Alliance, a new international network for social democratic political parties, at its founding event on 22 May 2013.[19]
Historically, the PvdA has co-operated in cabinets with the Christian democraticChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA),Political Party of Radicals (PPR),Catholic People's Party (KVP),Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP),Christian Historical Union (CHU) andChristianUnion (CU) parties and the liberal partiesDemocrats 66 (D66) andPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). Between 1971 and 1977, PvdA was allied with D66 and the PPR. After 1977 until 1989, it was closely allied to D66. Since 2003, the relationship between the PvdA and D66 has considerably worsened, at first because PvdA was in opposition to theSecond Balkenende cabinet, in which D66 had co-operated.
During the governance of thesecond andthird Balkenende cabinet, theSocialist Party andGreenLeft were calling for closer cooperation with the PvdA, calling to form a shadow government against the Balkenende cabinet, PvdA leader Bos held this off.[citation needed]
The PvdA has strong ties withGreenLeft. In the2021 Dutch cabinet formation, the parties unsuccessfully combined. Prominent members includingFrans Timmermans andMarjolein Moorman have called for a deepened collaboration. A merger has also been discussed. TheWiardi Beckman Foundation has voiced its opposition to this.
Despite the fact that the two parties (PvdA and GroenLinks) separately participate in a European Political Group, Groenlinks as a member ofGreens–European Free Alliance and PvdA as a member of theParty of European Socialists, the parties campaigned together as GroenLinks-PvdA for the2024 European Parliament election.
| Election[20] | Lead candidate | List | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Willem Drees | List | 1,347,940 | 28.31 | 29 / 100 | New | Coalition |
| 1948 | List | 1,262,888 | 25.61 | 27 / 100 |  2 | Coalition(1948–1951) | |
| Coalition(1951–1952) | |||||||
| 1952 | List | 1,545,844 | 28.97 | 30 / 100 | 3 | Coalition | |
| 1956 | List | 1,872,201 | 32.69 | 50 / 150 | 20 | Coalition(1956–1958) | |
| Opposition(1958–1959) | |||||||
| 1959 | Jaap Burger | List | 1,821,285 | 30.36 | 48 / 150 | 2 | Opposition |
| 1963 | Anne Vondeling | List | 1,753,025 | 28.01 | 43 / 150 | 5 | Opposition(1963–1965) |
| Coalition(1965–1966) | |||||||
| Opposition(1966–1967) | |||||||
| 1967 | Joop den Uyl | List | 1,620,447 | 23.55 | 37 / 150 | 6 | Opposition |
| 1971 | List | 1,554,733 | 24.60 | 39 / 150 | 2 | Opposition | |
| 1972 | List | 2,021,454 | 27.34 | 43 / 150 | 4 | Coalition | |
| 1977 | List | 2,813,793 | 33.83 | 53 / 150 | 10 | Opposition | |
| 1981 | List | 2,458,452 | 28.29 | 44 / 150 | 9 | Coalition | |
| 1982 | List | 2,503,517 | 30.40 | 47 / 150 | 3 | Opposition | |
| 1986 | List | 3,051,678 | 33.23 | 52 / 150 | 5 | Opposition | |
| 1989 | Wim Kok | List | 2,832,739 | 31.91 | 49 / 150 | 3 | Coalition |
| 1994 | List | 2,153,135 | 23.97 | 37 / 150 | 12 | Coalition | |
| 1998 | List | 2,494,555 | 28.98 | 45 / 150 | 8 | Coalition | |
| 2002 | Ad Melkert | List | 1,436,023 | 15.11 | 23 / 150 | 22 | Opposition |
| 2003 | Wouter Bos | List | 2,631,363 | 27.26 | 42 / 150 | 19 | Opposition |
| 2006 | List | 2,085,077 | 21.19 | 33 / 150 | 9 | Coalition(2007–2010) | |
| Opposition(2010) | |||||||
| 2010 | Job Cohen | List | 1,848,805 | 19.63 | 30 / 150 | 3 | Opposition |
| 2012 | Diederik Samsom | List | 2,340,750 | 24.84 | 38 / 150 | 8 | Coalition |
| 2017[21] | Lodewijk Asscher | List | 599,699 | 5.70 | 9 / 150 | 29 | Opposition |
| 2021 | Lilianne Ploumen | List | 595,799 | 5.73 | 9 / 150 |  | Opposition |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | 14 / 50 | New | |||
| 1948 | 14 / 50 | | |||
| 1951 | 14 / 50 | | |||
| 1952 | 14 / 50 | | |||
| 1955 | 14 / 50 | | |||
| Jun 1956 | 15 / 75 | 1 | |||
| Oct 1956 | 22 / 75 | 7 | |||
| 1960 | 23 / 75 | 1 | |||
| 1963 | 25 / 75 | 2 | |||
| 1966 | 22 / 75 | 3 | |||
| 1969 | 20 / 75 | 2 | |||
| 1971 | 18 / 75 | 2 | |||
| 1974 | 21 / 75 | 3 | |||
| 1977 | 25 / 75 | 4 | |||
| 1980 | 26 / 75 | 1 | |||
| 1981 | 28 / 75 | 2 | |||
| 1983 | 17 / 75 | 11 | |||
| 1986 | 17 / 75 | | |||
| 1987 | 26 / 75 | 9 | |||
| 1991 | 16 / 75 | 10 | |||
| 1995 | 14 / 75 | 2 | |||
| 1999 | 30.976 | 19.7 | 15 / 75 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 40,613 | 25.12 | 19 / 75 | 4 | [22] |
| 2007 | 31,032 | 19.03 | 14 / 75 | 5 | [22] |
| 2011 | 30.078 | 18.76 | 14 / 75 | | [22] |
| 2015 | 17,651 | 11.05 | 8 / 75 | 6 | [22] |
| 2019 | 14,921 | 8.62 | 6 / 75 | 2 | [22] |
| 2023 | 15,862 | 8.86 | 7 / 75 | 1 |
| Election | List | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | List | 1,722,240 | 30.39 | 9 / 25 | New | SOC |
| 1984 | List | 1,785,165 | 33.70 | 9 / 25 | 0 | |
| 1989 | List | 1,609,626 | 30.70 | 8 / 25 | 1 | |
| 1994 | List | 945,869 | 22.88 | 8 / 31 | 0 | PES |
| 1999 | List | 712,929 | 20.11 | 6 / 31 | 2 | |
| 2004 | List | 1,124,549 | 23.60 | 7 / 27 | 1 | |
| 2009 | List | 548,691 | 12.05 | 3 / 25 | 4 | S&D |
3 / 26 | 0 | |||||
| 2014 | List | 446,763 | 9.40 | 3 / 26 | 0 | |
| 2019 | List | 1,045,274 | 19.01 | 6 / 26 | 3 | |
6 / 29 | 0 |
(in Dutch)European Parliament group:Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats | |||||||||||||||
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