Labour Party (Netherlands)

Labour Party
Partij van de Arbeid
AbbreviationPvdA
ChairpersonEsther-Mirjam Sent
Leader in the SenatePaul Rosenmöller[nb]
Leader in the House of RepresentativesFrans Timmermans[nb]
Leader in the European ParliamentAgnes Jongerius
Founded9 February 1946; 78 years ago (9 February 1946)
Merger ofSDAP
VDB
CDU
HeadquartersPartijbureau PvdA, Leeghwaterplein 45, The Hague
Youth wingYoung Socialists
Think tankWiardi Beckman Foundation
Membership (January 2024)Increase 43,675[1]
IdeologySocial democracy
Political positionCentre-left
National affiliationGroenLinks–PvdA
Regional affiliationSGD/SVD
European affiliationParty of European Socialists
European Parliament groupProgressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
International affiliationProgressive Alliance
Colours  Red
Provincial councils
47 / 570
Municipal councils
706 / 7,991
European Parliament
4 / 31
Benelux Parliament
1 / 21
Website
pvda.nl

^ Parliamentary leader of a combined GroenLinks–PvdA parliamentary group.

The Labour Party (Dutch: Partij van de Arbeid [pɑrˈtɛi vɑn ˈʔɑrbɛit], abbreviated as PvdA [ˌpeːveːdeːˈjaː, -deːˈʔaː] or P van de A [ˌpeː vɑn ˈʔaː]) is a social democratic[2] political party in the Netherlands.

The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, the Free-thinking Democratic League and the Christian Democratic Union. Prime Ministers from the Labour Party have been Willem Drees (1948–1958), Joop den Uyl (1973–1977) and Wim Kok (1994–2002). From 2012 to 2017, the PvdA formed the second-largest party in parliament and was the secondary partner in the Second Rutte cabinet with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.

The party fell to nine seats in the House of Representatives at the 2017 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 the 2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, winning six of 26 seats, with 19% of the vote. The party is a member of the European Party of European Socialists and the global Progressive Alliance. In the European Parliament, where the Labour Party has four seats, it is part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.

  1. ^ "Ledentallen Nederlandse politieke partijen per 1 januari 2024" [Membership of Dutch political parties as of 1 January 2024]. University of Groningen (in Dutch). Documentation Centre Dutch Political Parties. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  2. ^ The PvdA is widely described as a social democratic political party: