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Dutch elections 2021: no recovery of Social Democracy!

All left-wing parties experience a dramatic loss of votes in the recent elections in the Netherlands. The Labour Party did not lose votes but remain at their all-time low. Short-term reasons explain in part the poor performance. But long-term factors explain why Social Democracy will remain in dire straits. In 2012, when the country was […]

Last call for the Dutch Left?

Last week’s elections in the Netherlands show a disastrous result for the three traditional left-wing parties. But defining themselves by emphasising their differences, steadily diminishes their common impact. There is a debate on uniting these three parties into one. A major intervention is certainly required, but a merger should not be the only solution. This […]

The Dutch 2021 elections: education as the new divide?

On March 17, the Dutch went to the polls in the middle of the Covid pandemic and a faltering roll-out of the vaccination programme. In addition, the government had resigned shortly before the elections over a scandal of racial profiling of families claiming child support. Neither the scandal nor the botched vaccination scheme seemed to […]

2017

Elections in the Netherlands: How to unite the left and remain distinctive as social-democrats?

How to unite the left and remain distinctive as social-democrats? On March 15th, the Netherlands will vote for the representatives in the Lower Chamber of Parliament. And, like in so many other countries in Europe and abroad, the dark grey cloud of right-wing politics and populism, and an emphasis on what divides us rather than […]