PvdA parliamentarian Henk Nijboer won’t return to parliament after the election in November, he said in a letter posted on X, formerly Twitter. He is concerned about his party’s intention to run with GroenLinks. Henk Krol, former leader of 50Plus, wants to return to parliament. He will be running with Wybren van Haga’s new party BVNL in the parliamentary elections, he announced on the talk show De Oranjezomer.
A board for the 2021 elections. Photo: Remko de Waal
Netherlands has an ever-expanding range of political parties in parliament, due to the recent trend of dissidents breaking away after an intra-party row to form their own splinter group. There are also various flavours of Christianity to choose from.
Here’s an alphabetical list of the 13 parties that currently hold seats in parliament, in alphabetical order, and three hopefuls which, the polls suggest, are in with a chance in the March general election.
50PLUS
Seats in parliament: 3 Campaign slogan: No
Founded in 2009 as a pensioners’ rights party – despite being named for the over-50s – 50PLUS has been bedeviled by splits and rivalries, and former leader Henk Krol is now standing for parliament under his own name. The party wants the retirement age brought back to 65. Manifesto