Labour Party (Netherlands)

The Labour Party (Dutch: Partij van de Arbeid [pɑrˈtɛi vɑn də ˈʔɑrbɛit], PvdA [ˌpeːveːdeːˈjaː, -deːˈʔaː] or P van de A [ˌpeː vɑn də ˈʔaː]) is a social democratic political party in the Netherlands.

The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, the Free-thinking Democratic League and the Christian Democratic Union. Prime Ministers from the Labour Party have been Willem Drees (1948–1958), Joop den Uyl (1973–1977) and Wim Kok (1994–2002). From 2012 to 2017, the PvdA formed the second-largest party in parliament and was the secondary partner in the Second Rutte cabinet with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.

The party fell to nine seats in the House of Representatives at the 2017 general election, making it the seventh-largest faction in the chamber—its worst showing ever. However, the party rebounded with a first-place finish in the 2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, winning six of 26 seats, with 19% of the vote. The party is a member of the European Party of European Socialists and the global Progressive Alliance. In the European Parliament, where the Labour Party has four seats, it is part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.

During the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II, a group of prominent Dutchmen of all democratic political ideologies were interned as hostages in Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel by the German occupation authorities. They came to the consensus that the pre-war fragmentation of Dutch political life, known as "Pillarisation", should be overcome after the war in a so-called Breakthrough. These people formed the Dutch People's Movement (NVB) immediately after the war ended in 1945. The new movement promoted the foundation of the Labour Party on 9 February 1946 through a merger of three pre-war parties, namely the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP), the social liberal Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) and the progressive Protestant Christian Democratic Union (CDU). They were joined by individuals from Catholic resistance group Christofoor, as well as some of the more progressive members of the Protestant Christian Historical Union (CHU). The founding convention was chaired by NVB member Willem Banning.

Despite its ambitions to force a breakthrough, the electorate returned to their pillars. Lead by Willem Drees in the 1946 general election, it won 29 seats, two less than its predecessors had won in 1937. During the 1946 cabinet formation, the first Beel cabinet was formed with the Catholic People's Party (KVP) and the PvdA (Roman/Red). In 1948, some of the left-liberal members, led by former VDB leader Pieter Oud, left the PvdA after concluding it had become too socialist for their liking. Together with the Freedom Party, they formed the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), a conservative liberal party.

Between 1948 and 1958, the PvdA led centre-left coalition governments with the KVP, and combinations of VVD, ARP and CHU, with the PvdA's Willem Drees as prime minister. The KVP and the PvdA together had a large majority in parliament. Under his leadership the Netherlands recovered from the war and began to build its welfare state, and Indonesia became independent.

After the cabinet crisis of 1958, the PvdA was replaced by the VVD. The PvdA was in opposition until 1965. The electoral support of PvdA voters began to decline.

In 1965, a conflict in the centre-right cabinet made continuation of the government impossible. The three confessional parties turned toward the PvdA. Together they formed the Cals cabinet, with KVP leader Jo Cals as prime minister. This cabinet too was short-lived and conflict-ridden. The conflicts culminated in the fall of the Cals cabinet over economic policy.