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Party for the Animals Partij voor de Dieren
Abbreviation	PvdD
Leader	Esther Ouwehand
Chairman	Zwanny Naber
Leader in the Senate	Niko Koffeman
Leader in the House of Representatives	Esther Ouwehand
Leader in the European Parliament	Anja Hazekamp
Founders	Marianne Thieme Ton Dekker Lieke Keller
Founded	28 October 2002 (2002-10-28)
Headquarters	Amsterdam
Youth wing	PINK!
Think tank	Nicolaas G. Pierson foundation
Membership (January 2024)	30,333
Ideology	Animal rights Animal welfare Anti-capitalism Environmentalism
Political position	Left-wing to far-left
European affiliation	Animal Politics EU
European Parliament group	The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL
Colours	Dark green
House of Representatives	3 / 150
Senate	3 / 75
States-Provincial	26 / 572
European Parliament	1 / 31
King's Commissioners	0 / 12
Benelux Parliament	1 / 21
Website
www.partijvoordedieren.nl www.partyfortheanimals.nl
Politics of the Netherlands Political parties Elections

The Party for the Animals (Dutch: Partij voor de Dieren [pɑrˈtɛi voːr də ˈdiːrə(n)], PvdD) is a political party in the Netherlands. Among its main goals are animal rights and animal welfare. The PvdD was founded in 2002 as a single-issue party for animal rights, opposing animal cruelty and the treatment of animals in agriculture. The party then developed into a left-wing, ecological party.

Since 2019, the PvdD's political leader is Esther Ouwehand. With 2.25% of the votes at the 2023 general election, the PvdD holds three of the 150 House of Representatives's seats. In the Senate, it has three of the 75 seats. PvdD holds 26 States-Provincial seats across all provinces. In the European Parliament, it has one of the 31 seats allocated to the Netherlands constituency.

History

Founding

The Party for the Animals was founded on 28 October 2002 by Marianne Thieme, among others. It was founded out of dissatisfaction with what the party considered to be animal-unfriendly policies of the First Balkenende cabinet, which rolled back a number of animal welfare laws. The party held the CDA particularly responsible for this but also believed that the most animal-friendly party, GroenLinks, also gave too little priority to animal welfare and animal rights.

Although initially considered a testimonial party, a party which does not seek to gain political power but to testify its beliefs and thereby influence other parties, the party signaled its willingness to enter a coalition government in 2021. The party today is a part of the governing coalitions in the municipalities of Almere, Arnhem and Groningen.

In 2003, the PvdD competed in its first Tweede Kamer election. Founded only three months before the elections, the party competed in 18 of the 19 constituencies, missing ballot access in Overijssel due to a clerical error. The party won 47,665 votes, gaining 75% of the electoral threshold, but missing out on a seat.

Electoral breakthrough

The electoral breakthrough for the PvdD occurred at the 2004 European elections. The party won 3.22% of the votes (153.432 votes), not enough to win a seat, but a sharp improvement compared to their 2003 result. In 2006 the party won their first seats in the Tweede Kamer, with Marianne Thieme and Esther Ouwehand being elected to parliament. The party gained a lot of attention due to a number of prominent lijstduwers, such as Paul Cliteur, Maarten 't Hart, Kees van Kooten, Rudy Kousbroek, Georgina Verbaan and Jan Wolkers.

The Party won nine seats in eight provinces in the 2007 Dutch provincial elections, securing one seat in the Eerste Kamer. In 2010, the party won representation on the local councils of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Arnhem, Gouda, Vlagtwedde and Pijnacker-Nootdorp; this meant that the PvdD secured representation on every level of government in the Netherlands.

In consequent elections, the electoral support for the PvdD remained relatively stable, winning two seats in the Tweede Kamer in 2010 and 2012. In 2014, the party won representation to the European parliament and joined the European United Left-Nordic Green Left parliamentary group.

In 2017, the party gained its best result to date, winning five seats in the Tweede Kamer. On 16 July 2019 Femke Merel van Kooten split from the PvdD caucus and continued as an independent member of parliament. The reason for the split was that Van Kooten criticized the narrow political focus of the party, which in her opinion focused too much on ecology and animal rights.

Ouwehand leadership

On 8 October 2019, founder and longtime leader Marianne Thieme retired from the leadership and the Tweede Kamer. Esther Ouwehand succeeded Thieme as parliamentary leader, and Eva van Esch replaced her as a member of parliament. She was previously a city council woman in Utrecht.

Ideology

Their main aim is to improve the life of animals and nature as a whole. They see the constant emphasis on economic growth as one of the main reasons for the lack of animal rights and is to blame for the state that nature currently is in. They want animal rights to be enshrined in the constitution. It is firmly on the left side of the political spectrum, considered an either a left-wing or a far-left party.

The party has also have widened its scope to more than just animal rights, for example sustainability, healthcare, housing and more. It also strives for a shorter workweek and for a universal basic income. The economical demands of the party include a "radical greening" (Dutch: radicale vergroening) of the economy.

The Party for the Animals opposes capitalism and calls for a different economic system; this is combined with the party's support of degrowth, writing: "growth does not bring the solution but the problems" and "growth is an untenable concept on a globe that does not grow with it." It was also described as socialist. The party fields anti-capitalist candidates, such as the radical economist Ewald Engelen, as well as Wesley Pechler, who calls for "an inclusive, green and anti-capitalist Groningen" on the party's website. Conversely, in its program, the party argues that the neoliberal economic policies are destructive and a "system change" is needed in order to build a more inclusive and equal society.

After joining the party, Engelen promoted the bioregionalist aspect of the party, writing: "the Party for the Animals is the only party that has the nerve to say that Amsterdam should shrink, instead of grow. The Party for the Animals is the only one that courageously resists the massive lobby of the coalition of the municipality, big business, Rai and Schiphol. All the others dance along to that seductive tune of growth, growth, growth." He also remarked: "Instead of fixing these marketing images in stone for eternity, we would do well to preserve what is characteristic of the Netherlands: its beautiful medium-sized provincial cities. Good for the quality of life, good for the air quality, good for animals and good for nature."

Other proposals of the party include:

• lowering the voting age to 16;
• introducing direct democracy through establishment of regular consultative referendums;
• shortened required notification period for protests and citizens' initiative;
• strict ethical and privacy scrutiny to automatized or AI-based systems;
• direction election of water boards instead of being chosen indirectly via municipal councils;
• universal housing program.

Allied organisations

PINK!

PINK! is the youth wing of the PvdD. It was established on 12 September 2006, and has slightly over 2,000 members (2021 figure). The name is derived from the Dutch word for a cow that is older than a calf, but not yet fully mature. The current chairperson is Bob Steenmeijer, who succeeded Manuela Rot in 2024.

Nicolaas G. Pierson Foundation

The Nicolaas G. Pierson Foundation is the research department of the PvdD. Founded in 2007, it is named after Niek Pierson, a Dutch economist and an early political donor of the party.

Animal Politics EU

Initially founded as Euro Animal 7, Animal Politics EU is an informal grouping of animal rights based political parties within the European Union. Animal Politics EU has member parties in the Netherlands, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Spain. The group currently has one MEP: Anja Hazekamp of the PvdD. Martin Buschmann for the Tierschutzpartei was formerly an MEP in this group but is no longer as of 2020.

Electorate

The electorate of the PvdD consists in majority of women (estimated at 70%) living in urban areas. In 2023 the party achieved its best results in Amsterdam (11.5%), Arnhem (8.8%), Bergen (8.3%), Haarlem (9.8%), Nijmegen (9.3%), Schiermonnikoog (9%) and Zutphen (8.7%). The party has lowest support in rural areas with large agricultural industries, such as in the Bible belt. It is supported by many organic farmers, and positions itself as a farmer's party which wants to free farmers from the big agricultural companies and their lobbyists, and help farmers transition to organic farming.

The PvdD has the largest proportion of vegan/vegetarian voters of any political party in the Netherlands, with 17.3% or 27.9% of PvdD voters in saying in two surveys in 2021 that they did not eat meat. The party with the second-highest proportion of vegan/vegetarian voters in both surveys was GroenLinks, for which the share laid at 8.4% or 16.9%.

In 2021, a survey by Katholiek Nieuwsblad found that Catholic voters make up greater share of the PvdD's electorate than those of denominationally Christian parties such as CDA, ChristenUnie and SGP. According to the Nieuwsblad's survey, Catholic voters tend to avoid denominationally Protestant or interconfessional parties and vote for strictly Catholic or secular ones in greater numbers instead. The newspaper also claimed that the voting behaviour of the PvdD and the SP is remarkably often in line with the moral views of the Catholic Church, and that "the social teachings of the Church are more progressive than is often thought". The former leader of the party, Marianne Thieme, often made appeals to Christian voters.

Electoral results

House of Representatives

Election	Lead candidate	List	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Government
2003	Marianne Thieme	List	47,754	0.49	0 / 150	New	Opposition
2006		List	179,988	1.83	2 / 150	2	Opposition
2010		List	122,317	1.30	2 / 150	0	Opposition
2012		List	182,162	1.93	2 / 150	0	Opposition
2017		List	335,214	3.19	5 / 150	3	Opposition
2021	Esther Ouwehand	List	399,750	3.84	6 / 150	1	Opposition
2023		List	235,148	2.25	3 / 150	3	Opposition

Senate

Election	List	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
2007	List	3,366	2.06	1 / 75	New
2011	List	2,177	1.06	1 / 75
2015	List	6,073	3.16	2 / 75	1
2019	List	6,550	3.78	3 / 75	1
2023	List	8,560	4.78	3 / 75	0

European Parliament

Election	List	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	EP Group
2004	List	153,432	3.22	0 / 27	New	–
2009	List	157,735	3.46	0 / 25	0
				0 / 26	0
2014	List	200,254	4.21	1 / 26	1	GUE/NGL
2019	List	220,938	4.02	1 / 26
				1 / 29	0
2024	List	281,600	4.52	1 / 31	0	The Left

Provincial

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
2007	144,132	2.55	9 / 564
2011	131,231	1.88	7 / 566	2
2015	210,113	3.46	18 / 570	11
2019	317,103	4.36	20 / 570	2
2023	359.804	4.7	26 / 572	6

Municipalities

At the 2022 Dutch municipal elections, the PvdD won 63 seats, gaining representation in 29 municipalities. Party-wise, they have the most seats (4) in Leiden, Nijmegen and Groningen.

Representation

Members of the House of Representatives

Members of the Senate

Members of the European Parliament

The MEPs of the Party for the Animals are part of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left Group in the European parliament.

See also

• List of animal advocacy parties

References

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. Brouwer, Daphne; Coulter, Kendra; Fitzgerald, Amy (2022). "Animal Protection Organizations and Public Policy: The Case of the Netherlands". Politics and Animals. 8 (1): 1-11.
3. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2021). "Netherlands". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
4. ^ ten Hooven, Marcel (18 July 2018). "De haas in de wedstrijd". De Groene Amsterdammer (in Dutch) (29–30). Nu moet gezegd: de Partij voor de Dieren is ook moeilijk in het politieke landschap te lokaliseren. Vanwege haar activisme en haar antikapitalisme wordt ze in de publieke opinie doorgaans met links geassocieerd. [Now it must be said: the Party for the Animals is also difficult to locate in the political landscape. Because of its activism and anti-capitalism, it is usually associated with the left in public opinion.]
5. ^
   • "Links en rechts". parlement.com.
   • Dziadosz, Alex (16 November 2016). "The Dutch farmers' revolt". The Economist. Jur Faber, an avuncular man with a white moustache and reading glasses, who represented the left-wing Party for the Animals, which campaigns for animal rights, had the floor.
   • de Beer, Paul; Berg, Maarten (2012). "Solidarity in a multicultural neighbourhood. Results of a field experiment". AIAS working paper (125). Amsterdam Institute for Advanced labour Studies, University of Amsterdam. Players who voted for the right-wing parties PVV and VVD donate the least, players who voted for the left-wing PvdD and SP, but also those who voted for the Christian-democratic CDA give the most to other players.
6. ^
   • White, Traci (26 March 2019). "Recount request from PVV and Party for the Animals denied". The Northern Times. The far right PVV and far left Party for the Animals in Groningen called for a recount of the provincial council election votes, but Groningen mayor Peter den Oudsten has denied their request.
   • Wierda, Wessel (22 November 2023). "Little political diversity in student debate on elections with seven young men". Folia. University of Amsterdam. In keeping with their political positions, they were lined up on stage from left to right: PvdD on the far left, JA21 on the far right.
7. Nichols, Dick; Wroth, Will (21 March 2017). "Dutch election: GreenLeft and Animal Rights gains the bright spots as Wilders stalls and mainstream right strengthens". links.org.au.
8. "Tien jaar Partij voor de Dieren". NOS. 28 October 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
9. "20 jaar Partij voor de Dieren: veel bereikt en nog veel te doen! - EU monitor". www.eumonitor.eu. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
10. "Ouwehand: PvdD is klaar om mee te regeren". nos.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-02-13.
11. "Vijf jaar Partij voor de Dieren in Nederlands parlement" (in Dutch). 2011-10-02. (note: testimonial party is 'getuigenispartij' in Dutch)
12. "De partij". Partij voor de Dieren (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-03-18.
13. van Ast, Maarten (16 July 2019). "Partij voor de Dieren royeert Van Kooten vanwege 'zetelroof'". Algemeen Dagblad. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
14. "De partij". Partij voor de Dieren (in Dutch).
15. "Wat is de Partij voor de Dieren?". NPO Kennis (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-09-05.
16. Bouwmans, Saskia (9 April 2018). "Links Nederland in de nesten?". sap-rood.org (in Dutch).
17. Rocha, Mateus Brazão (2023). The (I)Liberal Reason for the Rise of Populist Nationalism in the European Union (Master of Arts In International Relations thesis). San Francisco, California: San Francisco State University. p. 44.
18. van den Berg, Ewout (30 January 2017). "Wat is de opgave van links met de verkiezingen?". BNNVARA (in Dutch).
19. "Wesley Pechler". partijvoordedieren.nl (in Dutch).
20. ^ Nicolaï, Else; Groenendijk, Amber (24 March 2021). "Participatie in de standpunten van politieke partijen" (in Dutch). pp. 32–33.
21. Engelen, Ewald (20 March 2018). "Waarom ik lijstduwer voor de Partij voor de Dieren in Amsterdam ben". ftm.nl (in Dutch).
22. "Machtsstrijd over koers in top van Partij voor de Dieren". Algemeen Dagblad. 2019.
23. "Wij zijn". pinkpolitiek.nl. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
24. "Van de jongerenafdelingen van PvdA, GL, BIJ1 en PvdD mag het wel radicaler - VICE". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
25. "Bestuur". Pink Politiek (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-07-25.
26. Rooduijn, Matthijs (2021-01-14). "Plaatjes van de electoraatjes: de Partij voor de Dieren". StukRoodVlees (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-02-13.
27. "NOS - Bekijk alle verkiezingsuitslagen". metatags.io. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
28. "De pluimveesector mag er zijn en blijven!" (PDF). depluimveesectormagerzijnenblijven.nl. 2021. p. 10.
29. "NL staat achter de varkenssector!" (PDF). bouwenopframesoffeiten.nl. 2021. p. 10.
30. "Eten PvdD- en GroenLinksstemmers liever kip dan varken? - Vleesonderzoek varkens- en pluimveesector levert verrassend resultaat op". Foodlog. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
31. ^ de Wit, Anton (11 March 2021). "Linkse partijen vaak 'katholieker' dan christelijke partijen". kn.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 August 2023.
32. Boogerd, David; Paas, Stefan (3 June 2023). "Marianne Thieme wordt theoloog: 'Het christendom moet revolutionair zijn'". nporadio1.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 August 2023.
33. "Provinciale Staten 7 maart 2007". Retrieved 2018-12-13.
34. "Provinciale Staten 2 maart 2011". Retrieved 2018-12-13.
35. "Provinciale Staten 18 maart 2015". Retrieved 2018-12-13.
36. "Provinciale Staten 20 maart 2019". Retrieved 2019-04-01.
37. "NOS - Bekijk alle verkiezingsuitslagen". metatags.io. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
38. "Partij voor de Dieren verdubbeld in gemeenteraad". partijvoordedieren.nl (in Dutch). 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.

External links

• Official website
• Official website international

v t e European Parliament, Netherlands
Delegations	ECSC members 1952–1958 EP members 1958–1979
Elections	Netherlands constituency 1979 candidates members 1984 candidates members 1989 candidates members 1994 candidates members 1999 candidates members 2004 candidates members 2009 candidates members 2014 candidates members 2019 candidates members 2024 candidates members
Current parties	Party for Freedom members GroenLinks members Labour Party members People's Party for Freedom and Democracy members Christian Democratic Appeal members Democrats 66 members Farmer–Citizen Movement members Volt Netherlands members Party for the Animals members New Social Contract members Reformed Political Party members
Former parties	Europe Transparent members Rainbow members Green Progressive Accord members SGP/RPF/GPV members Socialist Party members Forum for Democracy members 50PLUS members Christian Union – Reformed Political Party members JA21 members
List of political parties Politics of the Netherlands

• Party for the Animals
• Animal advocacy parties
• Animal welfare organisations based in the Netherlands
• Political parties established in 2002
• Political parties in the Netherlands
• 2002 establishments in the Netherlands
• Parties represented in the European Parliament
• Organisations based in Amsterdam