BIJ1

In 2016, Sylvana Simons joined Denk, a political movement founded by MPs Tunahan Kuzu and Selçuk Öztürk after leaving the Labour Party following an internal dispute over the party's position on integration.[9][10] In December of the same year, Simons left the movement because she was disappointed by the amount of support she received from the party during a period of intense death threats.[11] She also felt that Denk was becoming increasingly more conservative and that it was losing interest in more progressive causes, such as LGBT rights.

Directly after her departure from Denk, Simons founded her own party named "Article 1". This refers to the first article of the Dutch constitution, which prohibits discrimination and racism.

On 15 March 2017, Article 1 contested the parliamentary election with Simons as lijsttrekker. Other prominent candidates for Article 1 were anthropologist Gloria Wekker and former Socialist Party senator Anja Meulenbelt. Article 1 failed to get enough signatures in the provinces of Friesland and Drenthe to get on the ballot.

Article 1 managed to gain 28,700 votes (0.27%), missing the 0.67% threshold to get a seat in parliament. The party was mostly supported in municipalities with a large Afro-Dutch population, such as Amsterdam (2.5%), Almere (1.9%), Diemen (1.7%) and Rotterdam (1.3%). The party also achieved a reasonable result in the Caribbean Netherlands (1.6%). The party did poorly in more rural municipalities and cities with little or no immigrant population.

The party Article 1 was sued by anti-discrimination think tank Art.1 for trademark infringement. The judge's verdict was in favor of Art.1, and therefore Simons was forced to change the name of the party.[12] On 29 October 2017, the new name was announced: BIJ1.[13] BIJ1 refers to the Dutch word bijeen, which translates to "together".

The party only contested the municipal elections in March 2018 in Amsterdam. Sylvana Simons was again elected as lijsttrekker. During the campaign a candidate of the party was accused of lying about her résumé, in which she wrongfully claimed to be a psychiatrist. She was eventually withdrawn as a candidate.[14]

Despite this incident, the party won 6,571 votes (1.9%), just enough to win a seat on the city council. The best results for BIJ1 were in Amsterdam-Zuidoost, especially in the Bijlmermeer, which is home to a large Surinamese migrant population.

In February 2020, the party announced that it would compete in the upcoming 2021 general election.[15] In November 2020, the candidate list was approved by the general assembly. Sylvana Simons was again selected as lijsttrekker and anti-racism activist Quinsy Gario was placed as the second place candidate.[16][17] The party is supported by prominent lijstduwers, such as academic Gloria Wekker and actresses Anousha Nzume and Romana Vrede.[18]