CDA, Christian Democrats

Now holds 41 seats out of 150 in parliament

Current leader: Jan Peter Balkenende

Formed in 1980 by a merger of three religious parties, the CDA has since been the dominant force in Dutch politics. Since the party's founding, all but one of the Netherlands’ prime ministers have hailed from this party’s ranks. Jan Peter Balkenende has held the highest office since 2002. CDA is a Christian party and draws on the Bible “for inspiration and foundation”, but it includes members from other religions and has fielded a number of openly homosexual politicians. The CDA occupies the centre-right on most economic issues and tends to be conservative on social matters.

Labour party PvdA

Now holds 33 seats out of 150

Current leader: Job Cohen

Founded in 1948, the PvdA is the traditional social democratic force in Dutch politics. Like Labour parties elsewhere, it is generally considered an ally of the trade unions and supports redistribution of wealth. Labour led two recent government coalitions, between 1994 and 2002, which were defined by a progressive take on social issues and 'third-way' style economic governance with some liberal tenets. In February, PvdA ministers walked out of Balkenende’s fourth coalition cabinet over the possible extension of the Dutch armed forces’ deployment in Afghanistan, hence creating the need for the early elections set for June 9.

SP, Socialist Party

Now holds 25 seats out of 150

Current leader: Emile Roemer

Born out of a Maoist splinter group in the 1970s, this party – referred to by its detractors as populist left – tends to the left of Labour on social-economic issues. The party is a staunch defender of state benefits such as pensions and disability pay, but also supports a more proactive leftist agenda, including the re-nationalisation of privatised utility companies. The party’s roots lies in the southern Dutch town of Oss, from where it has steadily expanded across the country. On the national level, it led a marginal existence until the election of 2006, when it burst into the mainstream by garnering a sixth of the vote. After its poor performance in March’s local elections, however, and the resignation of party leader Agnes Kant, it has not been doing well in the polls.

VVD, right-wing liberal party

Now holds 21 seats out of 150

Current leader: Mark Rutte

Under the European definition of liberal, the party is a right-wing entity within the Dutch political spectrum. It is a strong advocate of smaller government and a defender of individual freedoms. It tends to be relatively progressive on the social front, believing in a firm separation of church and state for instance, but it is also a party of law and order, and has supported tough immigration legislation. The VVD used to pretty much cover the rightmost spectrum of the Dutch political landscape on its own until some of its more radical elements split from the party. Two parliamentarians who defected, Rita Verdonk in 2007 and Geert Wilders in 2004, have started their own parties and are drawing voters away from the VVD.

Populist Party for Freedom (PVV)

Now holds 9 seats out of 150

Current leader: Geert Wilders

Scorned by some, worshipped by others, even the terminology used to describe the PVV is wrought with controversy. Its detractors refer to the party as ‘extreme right’, based on its xenophobe ideas and anti-establishment attitude, but, unsurprisingly, the PVV doesn't like the label one bit. The party opposes Islam, and what it calls ‘Moroccan street terrorists’ and has proposed radical solutions to both problems in the past; imposing a tax on headscarves and shooting them in the knees respectively. It is, however, rather leftist in its social policies and has made keeping the pension age at 65 paramount. In a way, the PVV is heir to the LPF party of Pim Fortuyn, the Dutch politician assassinated by a rogue environmental activist in 2002. Since Fortuyn’s rise, part of the Dutch electorate fed up with the current ruling class and the results of mass immigration has been adrift. Part of the former LPF electorate seems to have found a new political home with the PVV.

Green party GroenLinks

Now holds 7 seats out of 150

Current leader: Femke Halsema

GroenLinks was formed in 1990 out of a hodgepodge of leftist political parties including pacifists, communists and evangelicals. In recent years, the party has come to describe itself as ‘liberal left’. It is on the progressive end of the spectrum on social issues, including euthanasia and the further decriminalisation of drug use and has a more positive attitude towards immigration than many other parties do. On most economic issues, the party tends to come out on Labour’s left. As the name implies, the party also focuses on environmental sustainability and animal rights.

Orthodox Christian party ChristenUnie

Now holds 6 seats out of 150

Current leader: André Rouvoet

Formed out of a merger of devoutly Protestant parties in 2001, the ChristenUnie represents the Christian voters who are pro-life, pro-God and often uncomfortable with homosexuality. It tends to the left on certain economic issues, being a strong supporter of foreign aid to developing nations, for instance. Though it has only a small following nationally, the ChristenUnie is a dominant political force in the Dutch ‘bible belt’, a string of small towns with large orthodox Protestant populations. After obtaining six seats in the 2006 election, it helped the Christian democrats and Labour form the coalition that fell apart in February.

Left-wing liberals D66

Now holds 3 seats out of 150

Current leader: Alexander Pechtold

Founded by a group of intellectuals in 1966, this party has since known extreme ups and downs. D66’s former slogan was ‘the reasonable alternative’, and it often fares well in elections as a second choice for some parts of the electorate that are, for whatever reason, disenchanted with establishment parties. Because it has such an unstable electoral base, it has varied in size from 24 to its current 3 seats, a record low. Under Pechtold, D66 looks set to regain a lot of lost ground in the upcoming elections. D66 is defined by its progressive, liberal social agenda. It considers governmental reform one of its top priorities, arguing for a directly elected prime minister, for instance. On economic issues it leans to the left only slightly.

Fundamentalist Christian SGP

Now holds 2 seats out of 150

Current leader: Kees van der Staaij

Founded in 1918, the SGP is the oldest party seated in the Dutch parliament. Representing the most fundamentalist of the country's Reformed Christians, the party opted not to join its fellow small Christian parties when they merged into the ChristenUnie in 2001. Unsurprisingly, the party has a very conservative position on a number of issues, its most controversial one regarding women, who are not allowed to hold political office on the party's behalf. The Dutch high court recently found this policy unconstitutional, but the party has yet to put forward a female candidate.

Animal right party Partij voor de Dieren

Now holds 2 seats out of 150

Current leader: Marianne Thieme

The Netherlands is the only country in the world where a party solely dedicated to the welfare of animals holds seats in national parliament. The party was established in 2002 and obtained two seats in 2006.

Nationalist party Trots op Nederland

Now holds 1 seat out of 150

Current leader: Rita Verdonk

Once huge in the polls, Rita Verdonk now looks to have trouble holding on to her sole seat in parliament. Like Geert Wilders, she is a right-wing VVD defector who seems to draw on a similar slice of the electorate.