The Labour Party ( , PvdA or P van de A ) is a

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. 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 A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...

from the Labour Party have been

Willem Drees Willem Drees Sr. (; 5 July 1886 – 14 May 1988) was a Dutch politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands), Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA) ...

(1948–1958),

Joop den Uyl Johannes Marten den Uijl (9 August 1919 – 24 December 1987), better known as Joop den Uyl (), was a Dutch politician and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 to 1977. He was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA ...

(1973–1977) and

Wim Kok Willem Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.Second Rutte cabinet The second Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Asscher cabinet, was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 5 November 2012 until 26 October 2017. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for F ...

with the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

. The party fell to nine seats in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

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 The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...

and the global

Progressive Alliance The Progressive Alliance (PA) is a political international of progressive and social democratic political parties and organisations founded on 22 May 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. The alliance was formed as an alternative to the existing Socia ...

. In the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, where the Labour Party has four seats, it is part of the

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the Political groups of the European Parliament, political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and ...

History

Early years (1946–1965)

During the

German occupation of the Netherlands Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany German invasion of the Netherlands, invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of ''Fall Gelb'' (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the Rotterdam Blitz, bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a group of prominent Dutchmen of all democratic political ideologies were interned as hostages in Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel by the German occupation authorities. They came to the consensus that the pre-war fragmentation of Dutch political life, known as "

Pillarisation Pillarisation (a calque from the ) is the vertical separation of society into groups by religion and associated political beliefs. These societies were (and in some areas, still are) divided into two or more groups known as pillars (). The best-k ...

", should be overcome after the war in a so-called Breakthrough. These people formed the Dutch 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 the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP), the

social liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) and the progressive

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Christian Democratic Union (CDU). They were joined by individuals from

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

resistance group Christofoor, as well as some of the more progressive members of the Protestant

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union (, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged in September 1980. History 187 ...

(CHU). The founding convention was chaired by NVB member Willem Banning. Despite its ambitions to force a breakthrough, the electorate returned to their pillars. Lead by

in the 1946 general election, it won 29 seats, two less than its predecessors had won in

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

. During the 1946 cabinet formation, the

first Beel cabinet The First Beel cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 3 July 1946 until 7 August 1948. The cabinet was formed by the Christian democracy, Christian democratic Catholic People's Party (KVP) and the Social democracy, social democratic Lab ...

was formed with the

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party (, KVP) was a Roman Catholicism in the Netherlands, Catholic Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as ...

(KVP) and the PvdA ( Roman/Red). In 1948, some of the left-liberal members, led by former VDB leader

Pieter Oud Pieter Jacobus Oud (5 December 1886 – 12 August 1968) was a Dutch politician of the Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and historian. ...

, left the PvdA after concluding it had become too socialist for their liking. Together with the Freedom Party, they formed the

(VVD), a

conservative liberal Conservative liberalism, also referred to as right-liberalism, is a variant of liberalism combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right wing of the liberal movement. In the case of modern con ...

party. Between 1948 and 1958, the PvdA led centre-left

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

s with the KVP, and combinations of VVD, ARP and CHU, with the PvdA's

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 its

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal oppor ...

, and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

became

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

. 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.

1965–1989

In 1965, a conflict in the centre-right cabinet made continuation of the government impossible. The three

confessional A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall where the priest from some Christian denominations sits to hear the confessions of a penitent's sins. It is the traditional venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Luther ...

parties turned toward the PvdA. Together they formed the Cals cabinet, with KVP leader

Jo Cals Jozef Maria Laurens Theo "Jo" Cals (18 July 1914 – 30 December 1971) was a Dutch politician of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 14 April 1965 until 22 November 1966. Cals studie ...

as prime minister. This cabinet too was short-lived and conflict-ridden. The conflicts culminated in the fall of the Cals cabinet over

economic policy ''Economic Policy'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press, Oxford Academic on behalf of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, the Center for Economic Studies (University of Munich), and the Paris Scho ...

. Meanwhile, a younger generation was attempting to gain control of the PvdA. A group of young PvdA members, calling themselves the

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...

, changed the party. The New Left believed the party should become oriented towards the

new social movements The term new social movements (NSMs) is a theory of social movements that attempts to explain the plethora of new movements that have come up in various Western world, western societies roughly since the mid-1960s (i.e. in a post-industrial economy ...

, adopting their anti-parliamentary strategies and their issues, such as

women's liberation The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminism, feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resu ...

environmental conservation Environmental conservation may refer to: * Environmental protection * Nature conservation {{disambiguation ...

and

Third World The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

development. Prominent New Left members were Jan Nagel, André van der Louw and Bram 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 Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

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 The Democratic Socialists '70 (, DS'70) was a social democratic political party in the Netherlands. History DS'70 was founded on 4 April 1970 as the result of a split from the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA). In June 1970, Frans ...

(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 the Democrats '66 (D'66) and the

Political Party of Radicals The Political Party of Radicals (, PPR) was a progressive Christian (''radicaal-christelijke'') and green political party in the Netherlands. The PPR played a relatively small role in Dutch politics and merged with other left-wing parties to for ...

(PPR). The alliance was called the Progressive Accord (PAK). In the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

and 1972 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 the First 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.

, the leader of the PvdA, led the cabinet. The cabinet was an extra-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. The PvdA also faced economic decline and was riddled with personal and ideological conflicts. The relationship between Prime Minister Den Uyl and the KVP

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

Dries Van Agt Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt (; 2 February 1931 – 5 February 2024) was a Dutch politician, jurist and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 19 December 1977 until 4 November 1982. He was a prominent leader o ...

was particularly problematic. These conflict culminated when the cabinet fell just before the 1977 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, the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands. Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...

(CDA), itself a new

Christian democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

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 the 1981 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 the 1982 general election and retained this in the 1986 general election. The PvdA was left in opposition. During this period the party began to reform. Den Uyl retired from politics in 1986, appointing former

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

leader

Wim Kok Willem Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.

1989–2010

After the 1989 general election, the PvdA returned to cabinet together with the CDA. Kok became Deputy Prime Minister to CDA leader

Ruud Lubbers Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers (; 7 May 1939 – 14 February 2018) was a Dutch politician, diplomat and businessman who served as prime minister of the Netherlands from 1982 to 1994, and as United Nations High Commissioner for Refug ...

. The PvdA accepted the major economic reforms of the previous Lubbers cabinets, including

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

public enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

s and reform 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 the 1994 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-called purple government was a political novelty, because it was the first since 1918 without any ministers from the CDA or its predecessors. The

First Kok cabinet The first Kok cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet, also called the first Purple (government), Purple cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch government from 22 August 1994 until 3 Augus ...

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 successful

technocratic Technocracy is a form of government in which decision-makers appoint knowledge experts in specific domains to provide them with advice and guidance in various areas of their policy-making responsibilities. Technocracy follows largely in the tra ...

policies with the charisma of a national leader. In the 1998 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; the

Second Kok cabinet The second Kok cabinet, also called the second Purple (government), Purple cabinet, was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Cabinet of the Netherlands, Dutch government from 3 August 1998 until 22 July 2002. The cabinet was a c ...

was formed. Kok retired from politics, leaving the leadership of the party to his preferred successor

Ad Melkert Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus "Ad" Melkert (; born 12 February 1956) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA) who has served as a Council of State (Netherlands), Member of the Council of State since 2 ...

. The PvdA was expected to perform very well in the 2002 general election; however, the political rise of

Pim Fortuyn Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn (; 19 February 1948 – 6 May 2002), was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF) in ...

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 the

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishm ...

issues Fortuyn raised, especially

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

and

integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

. Melkert resigned as party leader and was replaced by Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven. The PvdA was kept out of cabinet. The government formed by CDA, VVD and the

Pim Fortuyn List The Pim Fortuyn List (, LPF) was a political party in the Netherlands that existed from 2002 to 2008 at a national level and was named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was ...

(LPF) fell after a very short period. Bos Dutch politician kabinet Balkenende IV

Meanwhile,

Wouter Bos Wouter Jacob Bos (; born 14 July 1963) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and businessman. Bos attended the Christian Gymnasium in Zeist from June 1975 until July 1980 and applied at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in ...

Undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

in the Second Kok cabinet, was elected leader of the PvdA in a ballot among PvdA members, being elected closely to Jouke de Vries. He started to democratise the party organisation and began an ideological reorientation. In the 2003 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 leader

Jan Peter Balkenende Jan Pieter Balkenende Jr. ( ; born 7 May 1956), commonly known as Jan Peter Balkenende, is a Dutch jurist and politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 20 ...

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 the 2006 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 for

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

to the CDA after suffering a loss of nine seats in the 2006 general election. The PvdA now held only 33 seats, losing many votes to the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(SP). The PvdA had previously distanced themselves from the idea of a voting bloc on the left. It did, however, join the

fourth Balkenende cabinet The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The Cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet was formed by ...

on 22 February 2007, in which Wouter Bos became

minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

. 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 in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

2010–2023

The then-mayor of Amsterdam,

Job Cohen Marius Job Cohen (born 18 October 1947) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as List of mayors of Amsterdam, Mayor of Amsterdam from 2001 to 2010 and Leader of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from ...

, took Wouter Bos' place as leader of the PvdA following the latter quitting politics. In the 2010 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 of

GroenLinks (, ; GL) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Neth ...

, in addition to the VVD, PvdA and D66 – but talks broke down and the PvdA entered opposition. Cohen resigned as leader in February 2012. Diederik Samsom was subsequently elected the party leader. In the 2012 general election, the Labour Party won 38 seats, a gain of eight, defying initial predictions that the

would overtake it. Following the election the party entered a governing coalition with the VVD under

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, prime minister of the Neth ...

, with Labour's Lodewijk Asscher becoming Deputy Prime Minister. In December 2016, Samson was defeated by Lodewijk Asscher in a party leadership election. In the 2017 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 in that year's European Parliament election. This marked the first time the PvdA had finished first in a national election since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. Ahead of the 2021 general election, Asscher resigned from the party leadership due to his part in the childcare benefits scandal. He was replaced as leader and lead candidate by Lilianne Ploumen, who became the party's first permanent female leader. Following the election, the PvdA participated unsuccessfully in the 2021 Dutch cabinet formation in conjunction with GroenLinks. Ploumen later left, claiming she was unsuited for the leadership. Ploumen was replaced as parliamentary leader by Attje Kuiken.

Co-operation with GroenLinks (2023–)

Following the 2023 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 the

Farmer–Citizen Movement The Farmer–Citizen Movement ( ; BBB) is an agrarian and right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. It is headquartered in Deventer, Overijssel. The current party leader is founder Caroline van der Plas, who has led it since its ...

. On 17 July 2023, the party and GroenLinks announced that they would contest the 2023 general election with a common policy programme and joint electoral list. With

Frans Timmermans Franciscus Cornelis Gerardus Maria Timmermans (; born 6 May 1961) is a Dutch politician who served as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for the European Green Deal and European Commissioner for Climate Action in the von der ...

as lead candidate, the joint parliamentary group became the second largest with 25 seats, but did not become part of the coalition. On 12 June 2025, members of the PvdA voted in favour of another joint list for the general electons of 2025, as well as a merger with GroenLinks into a new party in 2026.

Ideology

The PvdA began as a traditional

party, committed to building a

. 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 include

Third Way The Third Way is a predominantly centrist political position that attempts to reconcile centre-right and centre-left politics by advocating a varying synthesis of Right-wing economics, right-wing economic and Left-wing politics, left-wing so ...

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 a

centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

ideology. Its core issues are

employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

and

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

as well as investing in public

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

and

public safety Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensu ...

Organisation

Leadership

Parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

s in the

Marinus van der Goes van Naters Marinus van der Goes van Naters (21 December 1900 – 12 February 2005) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later the Labour Party (PvdA) and lawyer. Background and early career He was born in Ni ...

(4 June 1946 – 16 January 1951) ** Jaap Burger (16 January 1951 – 18 September 1951) ** Leendert Antonie Donker (18 September 1951 – 2 September 1952) ** Jaap Burger (2 September 1952 – 16 September 1962) ** Anne Vondeling (16 September 1962 – 14 April 1965) **

Gerard Nederhorst Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this cas ...

(14 April 1965 – 23 February 1967) **

(23 February 1967 – 11 May 1973) **

Ed van Thijn Ed, ed or ED may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ed'' (film), a 1996 film starring Matt LeBlanc * Ed (''Fullmetal Alchemist'') or Edward Elric, a character in ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' media * ''Ed'' (TV series), a TV series that ran fro ...

(11 May 1973 – 8 June 1977) **

(8 June 1977 – 8 September 1977) **

(8 September 1977 – 16 January 1978) **

(16 January 1978 – 11 September 1981) ** Wim Meijer (11 September 1981 – 16 September 1982) **

(16 September 1982 – 21 July 1986) **

Wim Kok Willem Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.Jacques Wallage Jacques Wallage (; born 27 September 1946) is a retired Netherlands, Dutch politician of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA) and sociologist. Wallage attended a Gymnasium (school), Gymnasium in Groningen from April 1959 until M ...

(22 August 1994 – 19 May 1998) **

Wim Kok Willem Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.Jacques Wallage Jacques Wallage (; born 27 September 1946) is a retired Netherlands, Dutch politician of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA) and sociologist. Wallage attended a Gymnasium (school), Gymnasium in Groningen from April 1959 until M ...

(30 May 1998 – 10 July 1998) **

(10 July 1998 – 16 May 2002) ** Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven (16 May 2002 – 19 November 2002) **

(19 November 2002 – 22 February 2007) ** Jacques Tichelaar (22 February 2007 – 22 January 2008) ** Mariëtte Hamer (22 January 2008 – 17 June 2010) **

(17 June 2010 – 20 February 2012) **

Jeroen Dijsselbloem Jeroen René Victor Anton Dijsselbloem (; born 29 March 1966) is a Dutch politician and economist serving as Mayor of Eindhoven since 13 September 2022, succeeding John Jorritsma ( VVD). A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), he has also been Cha ...

(20 February 2012 – 20 March 2012) ** Diederik Samsom (20 March 2012 – 12 December 2016) ** Attje Kuiken (12 December 2016 – 23 March 2017) ** Lodewijk Asscher (23 March 2017 – 14 January 2021) ** Lilianne Ploumen (14 January 2021 – 12 April 2022) ** Attje Kuiken (22 April 2022 – 26 October 2023) *

Chairs A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or Upholstery, upholstered ...

** Koos Vorrink (9 February 1946 – 5 June 1953) **

Hein Vos Hendrik "Hein" Vos (5 July 1903 – 23 April 1972) was a Dutch politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands), Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA) and economist ...

(5 June 1953 – 23 February 1955) ** Evert Vermeer (23 February 1955 – 10 May 1960) **

(10 May 1960 – 24 March 1961; ''ad interim'') ** Ko Suurhoff (24 March 1961 – 14 April 1965) *** ''Vacant'' (14 April 1965 – 12 June 1965) ** Sjeng Tans (12 June 1965 – 7 March 1969) ** Anne Vondeling (7 March 1969 – 1 May 1971) ** André van der Louw (1 May 1971 – 16 November 1974) ** Ien van den Heuvel-de Blank (16 November 1974 – 26 April 1979) **

Max van den Berg Margrietus Johannes "Max" van den Berg (born 22 March 1946) is a Dutch politician and member of the Dutch Labour Party. From 1979 to 1986 he was the chairman of that party and from 1999 to 2007 he was a Member of the European Parliament. From ...

(26 April 1979 – 1 August 1986) ** Stan Poppe (1 August 1986 – 2 April 1987; ''ad interim'') ** Marjanne Sint (2 April 1987 – 1 August 1991) ** Frits Castricum (1 August 1991 – 13 March 1992; ''ad interim'') ** Felix Rottenberg (13 March 1992 – 15 February 1997; co-chair) ** Ruud Vreeman (13 March 1992 – 15 February 1997; co-chair) ** Karin Adelmund (15 February 1997 – 3 August 1998) ** Ruud Vreeman (3 August 1998 – 20 February 1999; ''ad interim'') ** Marijke van Hees (20 February 1999 – 5 September 2000) ** Mariëtte Hamer (5 September 2000 – 16 March 2001; ''ad interim'') ** Ruud Koole (16 March 2001 – 9 December 2005) **

Michiel van Hulten Michiel Frans van Hulten (born 18 February 1969) is an analyst, writer, teacher and consultant. He is a former director of Transparency International EU and a former Dutch politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament (1999–2004) an ...

(9 December 2005 – 25 April 2007) ** Ruud Koole (25 April 2007 – 6 October 2007; ''ad interim'') ** Lilianne Ploumen (6 October 2007 – 22 January 2012) ** Hans Spekman (22 January 2012 – 7 October 2017) ** Nelleke Vedelaar (7 October 2017 – 1 October 2021) **

Esther-Mirjam Sent Esther-Mirjam Sent (born 9 March 1967) is a Dutch economist, academic researcher, university professor, and politician. She has been the chairwoman of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party since 2021. Before that, she was a member of the ...

(since 1 October 2021) *

s in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

** Marius Reinalda (9 February 1946 – 18 March 1947) ** Jo van de Kieft (27 March 1947 – 15 July 1952) ** Kees Woudenberg (15 July 1952 – 2 September 1952) ** Joris in 't Veld (2 September 1952 – 15 November 1960) **

(15 November 1960 – 16 February 1968) ** Maarten de Niet (5 March 1968 – 7 October 1968) ** Jan Broeksz (7 October 1968 – 16 September 1975) ** Anne Vermeer (16 September 1975 – 23 June 1987) ** Ger Schinck (23 June 1987 – 13 June 1995) ** Joop van den Berg (13 June 1995 – 1 August 1996) **

(1 August 1996 – 3 August 1998) ** Ria Jaarsma (3 August 1998 – 8 June 1999) ** Geertje Lycklama à Nijeholt (8 June 1999 – 10 June 2003) ** Johan Stekelenburg (10 June 2003 – 22 September 2003) ** Han Noten (11 November 2003 – 7 June 2011) ** Marleen Barth (7 June 2011 – 8 February 2018) ** André Postema (8 February 2018 – 10 July 2018) **

(4 September 2018 – 11 June 2019) ** Mei Li Vos (11 June 2019 – 13 June 2023)

Organisational structure

Presentatie concept-kandidatenlijsten Tweede Kamerverkiezingen PvdA 2012

The highest organ of the PvdA is the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, 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, a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

of all members has partially replaced the Congress. Both the

lead candidate In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the candidate placed first on a party list. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government, and the party chair or party leader. Usage by country Neth ...

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 the PvdA leadership election.

Membership

As of 2025, PvdA has 47,869 members. They are organised in over 500 municipal branches.

Linked organisations

''Rood'' is the party periodical. It appears eight times a year. The Young Socialists is the youth organisation of the PvdA. It is a member of

Young European Socialists Young European Socialists (YES), formerly the European Community Organisation of Socialist Youth (ECOSY), is an association of social democracy, social democratic youth organisations in Europe and the European Union. YES is the youth organisa ...

and the

International Union of Socialist Youth The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) is an international youth labour organization, whose activities include publications, supporting member organizations and organization of meetings. Originally named the Socialist Youth Internatio ...

. They publish the periodical ''Lava''. The scientific institute (or

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

) of the PvdA is the Wiardi Beckman Foundation. It publishes the periodical ''Socialisme & Democratie''. The PvdA participates in the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, a democracy assistance organisation of seven Dutch political parties.

Pillarised organisations

During the period of strong

pillarisation Pillarisation (a calque from the ) is the vertical separation of society into groups by religion and associated political beliefs. These societies were (and in some areas, still are) divided into two or more groups known as pillars (). The best-k ...

the PvdA had strong links with the social democratic broadcasting organisation VARA Broadcasting Association, the Dutch Association of Trade Unions, and the paper ''

Het Vrije Volk ''Het Vrije Volk'' () was a Dutch social-democratic daily newspaper that existed between 1945 and 1991. In 1991, it merged with the ''Rotterdams Nieuwsblad'', under the new title ''Rotterdams Dagblad'', which later merged with the ''Algemeen ...

''.

International affiliation

The PvdA is a full member of the

and was formerly an observer member of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...

until December 2014, having previously downgraded their membership in December 2012. The PvdA joined the

, a new international network for social democratic political parties, at its founding event on 22 May 2013.

Relationships to other parties

Historically, the PvdA has co-operated in cabinets with the Christian democratic

(CDA),

(PPR),

(KVP),

Anti-Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party (, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and minister who served as Prime Mi ...

(ARP),

(CHU) and

ChristianUnion The Christian Union ( ; CU) is a Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU is a centrist party, maintaining more progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues while holding more socially conservative ...

(CU) parties and the liberal parties

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; D66) is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands, which is positioned on the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Li ...

(D66) and

(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 the

Second Balkenende cabinet The second Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 27 May 2003 until 7 July 2006. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the conservative-liberal Peo ...

, in which D66 had co-operated. During the governance of the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and

third Balkenende cabinet The third Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 7 July 2006 until 22 February 2007. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the conservative-libe ...

, the

and

GreenLeft (, ; GL) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the ...

were calling for closer cooperation with the PvdA, calling to form a shadow government against the Balkenende cabinet, PvdA leader Bos held this off. The PvdA has strong ties with

. In the 2021 Dutch cabinet formation, the parties unsuccessfully combined. Prominent members including

and Marjolein Moorman have called for a deepened collaboration. A merger has also been discussed. The Wiardi 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 of

Greens–European Free Alliance The Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) is a political group of the European Parliament composed primarily of Green politics, green political parties. The group consists of European Green Party (EGP), part of the European Free Allianc ...

and PvdA as a member of the

, the parties campaigned together as GroenLinks-PvdA for the

2024 European Parliament election The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...

Election results

House of Representatives

Senate

European Parliament

References

External links

* * PvdA archives at the

International Institute of Social History International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

Objectencollectie

Archief
{{Authority control 1946 establishments in the Netherlands Former member parties of the Socialist International Labour parties Organisations based in Amsterdam Party of European Socialists member parties Political parties established in 1946 Political parties in the Netherlands Social democratic parties in the Netherlands