JA21

JA21 (Dutch: [ˌjaːʔeːnənˈtʋɪntəx]), statutorily known as the Conservative Liberals (Dutch: Conservatieve Liberalen), is a political party in the Netherlands. The party has been categorised as conservative liberal and right-wing populist in its platform by political commentators. JA21 was founded on 18 December 2020 by Joost Eerdmans and Annabel Nanninga after they left Forum for Democracy (FvD) on 26 November 2020 after disagreeing with the state of affairs in the FvD. The party first participated in elections in the 2021 general election.

In November 2020, there was a series of disputes within the Forum for Democracy (FvD) party following allegations of racism, antisemitism and homophobia against its youth wing the Jongerenorganisatie Forum voor Democratie (including glorification of Anders Breivik and Brenton Tarrant by members of the youth wing), as well as controversial statements made by party leader Thierry Baudet. These followed earlier controversies surrounding the youth-wing which had happened in April that year. The incidents prompted several candidates and members of the FvD to criticise what they saw as the party's slow and unwilling attitude to address the problem. The conflict escalated and a number of prominent spokespeople of the FvD such as Joost Eerdmans, Annabel Nanninga, Nicki Pouw-Verweij and Eva Vlaardingerbroek resigned from the party in protest, with Pouw-Verweij arguing in an interview with De Telegraaf that Baudet and the FvD had become radicalized and more focused on conspiracy theories.

After resigning from the FvD, Eerdmans and Nanninga announced they would start afresh with a new party to contest the 2021 Dutch general election. JA21 was officially founded on 18 December 2020 by Eerdmans and Nanninga who also recruited several former FvD members, staffers and representatives with Eerdmans serving as party leader. Eerdmans had prior political experience having previously been a member of parliament for the Pim Fortuyn List and served as deputy mayor of Rotterdam. At its launch, JA21 described itself as a "proper" right-wing party aiming to fill the gap between the centre-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the more radical-right Party for Freedom (PVV). In 2021, Eerdmans declared JA21 to be a "right-wing, no-nonsense party" of "common sense" that would appeal to those "for whom the VVD is too left-wing, the PVV too right-wing and the FvD too idiotic by now" and that JA21 would stick to the "original points" of the FvD. Eerdmans furthermore stated that he wanted JA21 to inspire a return of Fortuynism to Dutch politics, which he defined as a decisive, no-nonsense and straightforward approach to decision making.

According to Eerdmans, the name JA21 would not only refer to the first names of himself and Nanninga; it also stands for the 'Right Answer/Correct Answer' (het 'Juiste Antwoord') and 'Your Alternative' ('Jouw Alternatief').

On 20 December 2020, ex-Forum for Democracy MEPs Derk Jan Eppink, Rob Roos and Rob Rooken announced that they had become members of JA21. Two days later, the independent Senate group Fractie-Van Pareren – consisting of seven ex-Forum for Democracy senators – joined JA21, making it the fourth largest party in the Senate.

On 16 January 2021, the provincial group of Forum for Democracy in North Brabant split, with three members leaving Forum for Democracy to form the JA21 parliamentary group in the Provincial Council of North Brabant. As Forum for Democracy was part of the province's coalition government at the time of the split, the new JA21 parliamentary group immediately entered the coalition after talks with the other coalition members. This marked the first time that JA21 entered a coalition with other parties.

During the 2021 Dutch general election in March, JA21 received 246,620 votes and elected three MPs to the House of Representatives. In the 2023 Dutch provincial elections, the party won 22 provincial seats enabling it to qualify for representation in the Senate. In parliament, the party adopted as motion with the BBB on nitrogen and called for the relocation of asylum reception to partner countries outside the EU, following the Danish model.

In 2023, there was some unrest within the party from members who complained of lack of internal democracy with some members complaining about Nanninga's position on the candidate list for the 2023 general election. As a result, the party lost two of its three MEPs and two of its three members of the House of Representatives who joined the Farmer–Citizen Movement. During the 2023 Dutch general election, JA21 retained one seat in parliament, leaving Eerdmans as its only representative.