Next Dutch Election, pick your poison!

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I'm counting all the ones that are mentioned in opinion polls. There are a bunch of others, but if you're not satisfied by these parties; you may be the world's pickiest person.

VVD (freedom and democracy) - conservative-liberal (with a significant populist wing) party led by PM Mark Rutte. Has led very austere government, soft Eurosceptics with an line on Greece that makes Merkel seem like Bernie Sanders.

Labour - social democratic party currently very much worse for the wear (see: PASOK, Irish labour) for taking part in an unpopular coalition with the aforementioned Rutte.

Socialists - former Maoists turned populist leftists.

CDA - centrist, pro-European rural-based party, formerly played dominant role in Dutch system.

pVV - Geert Wilders' personal party, characterised for virulent Euroscepticism, anti-Islamic stances and rightist populism, linked with (loose) opposition to excess economic liberalisation/austerity politics. Is very tightly controlled by its notorious leader.

D66 - party for western Ukrainians, very elitist, plays for the urban liberal crowd. Especially dislikes former governing party CDA and loathes their opposites in the PVV. Staunch social liberals, extreme Eurofederalists and soft environmentalists (e.g want ecotaxes)

ChristianUnion - socially conservative (in terms of family, values and authority) and Eurosceptic; but heterodox. Supports "friendlier" (lefty) economic, environmental and refugee policies.

GreenLeft - merger of various New Left and BRTD-Christian groups to form standard left-leaning Greens. Have adopted a more outright leftist platform (basic income etc.) after their widely panned collaboration with the Rutte I cabinet and a period of playing with D66 territory. Internationalist Eurofeds (who oppose the EU's current leadership and structure though).

Reformed Political Party - hilarious Calvinist group. The oldest party in the Netherlands was the last to accept women as members ... in 2006. Hyper socially conservative and wants a shrunken government. Opposes the state church.

Party for the Animals - animal rights party, polling strangely highly at the moment. My guess is that the parties leader is the only woman party leader at the moment, which has to be a draw. has largely picked up the hippy vote from GroenLinks

50Plus - retired folks interest group. Dutch politics is so volatile that before 2012 election these guys were polling level with the main parties.

Pirates - pirates

For the Netherlands - pro-market Wilders offshoot, who dislike the populist overtures the party has made against austerity/market forces; but support the clamping down on migration and share Eurosceptic thought.

http://www.stemwijzer.nl/VM2012/index.html

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Ideally something between Labour and the Socialists but, since that seems not to exist, the Socialists.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Ideally something between Labour and the Socialists but, since that seems not to exist, the Socialists.

[DavidB.]

Ideally something between Labour and the Socialists but, since that seems not to exist, the Socialists.

GroenLinks might be an option for you. Their new leader Jesse Klaver is clearly to the left of Labour and will make the party more "watermelon" style (as opposed to the "social liberal" D66-light style Femke Halsema turned the party into).

I'd vote for VNL, "For the Netherlands".

[DavidB.]

D66 - party for western Ukrainians, very elitist, plays for the urban liberal crowd. Especially dislikes former governing party CDA and loathes their opposites the PVV. Staunch social liberals, extreme Eurofederalists and pro-nuke environmentalists.

GreenLeft - merger of various New Left and BRTD-Christian groups to form standard left-leaning Greens. Have adopted a more left-leaning platform (basic income etc.) after their widely panned collaboration with the Rutte I cabinet. Internationalists but soft Eurosceptics.

D66 isn't pro-nuke. Officially, they're not against it, but in practice, they would probably not support new nuclear power plants.

GL isn't "soft Eurosceptical" at all - it's only "Eurosceptical" in the sense that it thinks the EU should be federalized asap, but that isn't really euroskepticism. GL and D66 are easily the most pro-EU parties in the Netherlands.

Party for the Animals - animal rights party, polling strangely highly at the moment. My guess is that the parties leader is the only woman party leader at the moment, which has to be a draw.

That's not the reason why they're polling so high (in fact I came to think of this only now). They're liked for their staunch opposition to this government from an environmentalist ("earth") perspective, an issue GroenLinks has not been as vocal about lately.

[sparkey]

I think I'd be a pretty reliable VVD voter in the Netherlands.

VNL sounds like a more reasonable offshoot of PVV, but I'm not really interested in the anti-immigrant/anti-EU hardline stuff.

[SWE]

PvdD looks like the best of a bad bunch

[Starpaul20]

Pirates, because pirates are cool!

(In all seriousness, either D66 or Socialists, can't decide which)

[DavidB.]

I think I'd be a pretty reliable VVD voter in the Netherlands.

VNL sounds like a more reasonable offshoot of PVV, but I'm not really interested in the anti-immigrant/anti-EU hardline stuff.

VNL is not "anti-immigrant" in and of itself, it's against immigration of unskilled immigrants from outside the EU. It supports the implementation of the Canadian immigration model. VNL is also to the right of the VVD on economic issues, advocating a twenty-something percent flat tax.

[DavidB.]

Pirates, because pirates are cool!

(In all seriousness, either D66 or Socialists, can't decide which)

D66 is a right-wing party on economic issues, on some issues it has gone even more to the right than the VVD as of lately. That's why D66 and SP wouldn't be able to cooperate smoothly. Not that many people would be undecided between those two parties.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Can't I just have the old Dutch Labour Party, why isn't that an option?

[DavidB.]

Can't I just have the old Dutch Labour Party, why isn't that an option?

Many Dutch people seem to be looking for that option. They vote for the PVV

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

D66 - party for western Ukrainians, very elitist, plays for the urban liberal crowd. Especially dislikes former governing party CDA and loathes their opposites the PVV. Staunch social liberals, extreme Eurofederalists and pro-nuke environmentalists.

GreenLeft - merger of various New Left and BRTD-Christian groups to form standard left-leaning Greens. Have adopted a more left-leaning platform (basic income etc.) after their widely panned collaboration with the Rutte I cabinet. Internationalists but soft Eurosceptics.

D66 isn't pro-nuke. Officially, they're not against it, but in practice, they would probably not support new nuclear power plants.

GL isn't "soft Eurosceptic" at all - it's only "Eurosceptic" in the sense that it thinks the EU should be federalized asap, but that isn't really euroskepticism. GL and D66 are easily the most pro-EU parties in the Netherlands.

In regards to the D66 and nuclear - it was more to drawcontrast between traditional Green positions (which is very anti-nuke) and the D66's environmentalism.

I don't know where I read GL were Eurosceptic, will change that.

(Btw I would clearly vote for Party for the Animals, they'd be a hoot.)

[Goldwater]

Most likely VVD.

[DavidB.]

D66 - party for western Ukrainians, very elitist, plays for the urban liberal crowd. Especially dislikes former governing party CDA and loathes their opposites the PVV. Staunch social liberals, extreme Eurofederalists and pro-nuke environmentalists.

GreenLeft - merger of various New Left and BRTD-Christian groups to form standard left-leaning Greens. Have adopted a more left-leaning platform (basic income etc.) after their widely panned collaboration with the Rutte I cabinet. Internationalists but soft Eurosceptics.

D66 isn't pro-nuke. Officially, they're not against it, but in practice, they would probably not support new nuclear power plants.

GL isn't "soft Eurosceptic" at all - it's only "Eurosceptic" in the sense that it thinks the EU should be federalized asap, but that isn't really euroskepticism. GL and D66 are easily the most pro-EU parties in the Netherlands.

I don't know where I read GL were Eurosceptic, will change that.

(Btw I would clearly vote for Party for the Animals, they'd be a hoot.)

The Party for the Animals is Eurosceptical (they're in GUE/NGL and its MEP votes together with the SP members), though, so maybe you mixed up these two?

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Yes! That was it! Th animals people oppose the EU, probably because Juncker kills cats or something.

[VPH]

Somewhere between D66 and Labour, Green Left sounds the best but I picked D66 originally. Reading more, I'd probably change my vote to Green Left or Labour.

[DavidB.]

Yes! That was it! Th animals people oppose the EU, probably because Juncker kills cats or something.

They don't really oppose the EU, their opposition to the way this EU functions is more comparable to the anti-TTIP movement's views. The PvdD thinks that the European single market generates profits for big corporations at the cost of the environment, animals, and the poor.

[YL]

I think GroenLinks are the best match at the moment.

[Viewfromthenorth]

D66. VVD would be my second choice.

[DavidB.]

Party for the Animals - animal rights party, polling strangely highly at the moment. My guess is that the parties leader is the only woman party leader at the moment, which has to be a draw. has largely picked up the hippy vote from GroenLinks

Animal Party voting patterns are interesting in that they do well in left-leaning university cities (Wageningen) and in wealthy suburbs (Bergen NH), but also in some deprived areas far away from the Randstad urban area, such as in the east of Groningen province - these are likely protest votes.

[RFayette]

Reformed and ChristianUnion sounds good to me.

[Zioneer]

GreenLeft, Labour, or the Socialists sound good to me.

[traininthedistance]

Eh, I'd be a D66-GreenLeft swing voter.  I'm sure you're all shocked.

[TNF]

They all sound pretty awful TBH