Party for the Animals

The Party for the Animals (Dutch: Partij voor de Dieren; PvdD) is a political party in the Netherlands. Among its main goals are animal rights and animal welfare,[2] though it claims not to be a single-issue party. As of 2011, the party considered itself a testimonial party, one which does not seek to gain political power but to testify its beliefs and thereby influence other parties.[5] Accordingly, the party campaigns and seeks votes in opposition to other parties, but without the intention of entering a governing coalition.

Party for the Animals

Partij voor de Dieren
AbbreviationPvdD
LeaderEsther Ouwehand
ChairmanRuud van der Velden
Leader in the SenateNiko Koffeman
Leader in the House of RepresentativesEsther Ouwehand
Leader in the European ParliamentAnja Hazekamp
FounderMarianne Thieme
Ton Dekker
Lieke Keller
Founded28 October 2002 (2002-10-28)
HeadquartersAmsterdam
Youth wingPINK!
Think tankNicolaas G. Pierson foundation
Membership (2020) 18.344[1]
IdeologyAnimal rights
Animal welfare[2]
Environmentalism[2]
Soft Euroscepticism[3]
Political positionLeft-wing[4]
European affiliationAnimal Politics EU
European Parliament groupEuropean United Left–Nordic Green Left
Colours  Green
Seats in the House of Representatives
4 / 150
Seats in the Senate
3 / 75
Seats in the States-Provincial
20 / 570
Seats in the European Parliament
1 / 29
King's Commissioners
0 / 12
Website
www.partijvoordedieren.nl
www.partyfortheanimals.nl
www.pinkpolitiek.nl

Since 2019, the PvdD's political leader is Esther Ouwehand. With 3.2% of the vote at the general election, 2017, the PvdD held five of the 150 House of Representatives's seats. In the Senate it has three of the 75 seats, and in the European Parliament it has one of the 26 seats allocated to the Netherlands constituency.

History

The Party for the Animals was founded on 28 October 2002 by Marianne Thieme, among others.[6]

In the Dutch general election of 2003 it gained 50,000 votes (0.5%), but not a seat in the House of Representatives.

In the 2004 European Parliament election the party gained 153,000 votes (3.2%), three times as many as in the 2003 general election. However, the number of votes was not enough to obtain a seat in the European Parliament.

At the 2006 parliamentary election it gained 179,988 votes (1.8%), enough for two seats in the Dutch parliament. In the run-up to that election the party was supported by several Dutch celebrities, such as writers Maarten 't Hart and Jan Wolkers.

In its first municipal council elections in 2010, the party gained one seat in each of the five places where it participated.

In its third parliamentary election, on June 9, 2010, the PvdD retained its two seats in the House of Representatives with 122,317 votes (1.3%).

In the 2012 general election the party got 182,162 votes, an increase of 45%, but with just under 2% of the popular vote this did not secure a third seat in the House of Representatives.

In the March 2017 general election the party gained three more seats, resulting in a total of 5.

On 8 October 2019, founding leader Marianne Thieme retired from the leadership and House of Representatives. Esther Ouwehand succeeded Thieme as parliamentary leader.

Miscellaneous

The PvdD is the first political party in the world to gain parliamentary seats with an agenda focused primarily on animal rights.

One of the results that the PvdD claims to have reached during its first four-year parliamentary period is the fact that the government has declared that it will prioritize further reduction of national meat consumption.[7]

The Party for Animals welcomed its 10,000th member in late 2009.

Electoral results
Esther Ouwehand, Leader in the House of Representatives since 2019
Niko Koffeman, Leader in the Senate since 2007
Anja Hazekamp, Leader in the European Parliament since 2014

Parliament
Election year # Votes % Percentage # Seats +/– Notes
2003 47,754 0.5 (#10)
0 / 150
 new in opposition
2006 179,988 1.8 (#9)
2 / 150
 2 in opposition
2010 122,317 1.3 (#10)
2 / 150
 0 in opposition
2012 182,162 1.9 (#9)
2 / 150
 0 in opposition
2017 335,214 3.1 (#9)
5 / 150
 3 in opposition

Senate
Election year # Votes % Percentage # Seats +/–
2007 3,366 2.06 (#8)
1 / 75
 new
2011 2,177 1.06 (#12)
1 / 75
 0
2015 6,073 3.16 (#9)
2 / 75
 1
2019 6,550 3.78 (#10)
3 / 75
 1

Provincial
Election year No. of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 No. of
overall seats won		 change
2007[8] 144,132 2.55
9 / 564
2011[9] 131,231 1.88
7 / 566
 2
2015[10] 210,113 3.46
18 / 570
 11
2019[11] 317,103 4.36
20 / 570
 2

European Parliament
Election year List # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Notes
2004 List 153,432 3.22 (#9)
0 / 27
 [12]
2009 List 157,735 3.46 (#9)
0 / 25
 0 [13]
2014 List 200,254 4.21 (#9)
1 / 26
 1 [14]
2019 List 220,938 4.02 (#8)
1 / 26
 1 [15]

Municipalities
Municipality Votes Percentage Seats
Amsterdam 24,672 7.1%
3 / 45
Arnhem 3,892 6.4%
2 / 39
Alkmaar 2,446 5.2%
2 / 39
Almere 4,106 5.9%
3 / 45
Apeldoorn 3,192 4.6%
2 / 39
Buren 1,059 9.0%
2 / 21
The Hague 10,201 5.3%
2 / 45
Gouda 1,303 4.0%
1 / 35
Groningen 5,475 6.6%
3 / 45
Heerlen 1,633 5.2%
2 / 37
Leeuwarden 1,600 4.0%
1 / 39
Leiden 4,388 7.7%
3 / 39
Nijmegen 3,694 4.5%
2 / 39
Pijnacker-Nootdorp 1,247 5.5%
2 / 31
Rotterdam 8,091 3.5%
1 / 45
Utrecht 8,317 5.3%
2 / 45
Westerwolde 626 7.0%
1 / 19
Zaanstad 2,663 4,3%
1 / 19

Members of the House of Representatives

Current members of the House of Representatives, as of October 2019:

In July 2019 Femke Merel van Kooten announced that she had left the parliamentary faction of the party and that she was going to continue as an independent parliament member.[16] This leaves the party with 4 representatives. In 2020, Van Kooten founded the Party for the Future, together with former 50PLUS-leader Henk Krol.

In October 2019, van Esch was appointed from the Utercht city council to replace outgoing party leader Marianne Thieme.

Members of the Senate

Current members of the Senate since the Senate election of 2019:

Members of the European Parliament
Further information: 2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands
See also: List of Party for the Animals Members of the European Parliament
See also: Party lists in the 2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands § Party for the Animals

Current members of the European Parliament since the European Parliamentary election of 2019:

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

References
  1. "Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen / PvdD ledentallen per jaar (2007- )". Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  2. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "Netherlands". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  3. "A eurosceptic's guide to the Dutch election". The Eurosceptic.
  4. "Links en rechts". parlement.com.
  5. "Vijf jaar Partij voor de Dieren in Nederlands parlement" (in Dutch). 2011-10-02. (note: testimonial party is 'getuigenispartij' in Dutch)
  6. "Tien jaar Partij voor de Dieren". NOS. 28 October 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  7. "Interview". Nu.nl. Retrieved 2014-06-14.
  8. "Provinciale Staten 7 maart 2007". Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  9. "Provinciale Staten 2 maart 2011". Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  10. "Provinciale Staten 18 maart 2015". Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  11. "Provinciale Staten 20 maart 2019". Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  12. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 10 juni 2004" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  13. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 4 juni 2009" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  14. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 22 mei 2014" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  15. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 23 mei 2019" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  16. "Kamerlid splitst zich af van Partij voor de Dieren uit onvrede over partijkoers". www.volkskrant.nl (in Dutch).
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