Thousands of new members for GL-PvdA, now by far the largest party, PVV the smallest – Joop – BNNVARA

Since the election success that the new GroenLinks-PvdA combination achieved on November 22, a gain of 8 seats, thousands of people have registered as members.

GroenLinks gained 2,242 new members in the week after the elections. “This week’s increase is many times greater than in previous elections,” says a spokesperson for GroenLinks. “It concerns both members who are returning and people who have never been a member of a party.” The growth in the PvdA is also striking, according to a spokesperson. The party was able to register 1,502 new members. In two previous elections, the party said it grew by 100 to 300 members.

According to a spokesperson for the PvdA, the gain can be attributed not only to the success of the parties, but also to the shock among progressive Netherlands because more than 1 in 4 voters appears to be prepared for an ultra-, radical or extreme-right party to vote. At GroenLinks this link is less made.

According to the PvdA spokesperson, the increase in members “has everything to do with the election results”. “People who find these disappointing will look for parties that respond to them.” GroenLinks does not dare to link growth one-to-one to the big win for the PVV last week. “But it was striking that immediately after the first exit poll we had a new registration every few minutes.”

The United Left, formally two parties, would now have about 75,000 members with the win, a record number for the largest left-wing party that has not been achieved for more than 30 years. For the PvdA, the growth is an extra boost. The last time the Socialists achieved significant membership growth was after their election victory in 2012. In a membership referendum, the members of GroenLinks-PvdA will determine this month whether the parties will also participate jointly in next year’s European elections. In 2019, that election was won with flying colors by Frans Timmermans. Wilders’ PVV was then unable to gain a seat.

Other parties also made membership gains. Pieter Omtzigt’s brand new party claims more than 800 new members. Party for the Animals and D66 also counted hundreds of new registrations. The right-wing newcomers BBB and JA21, on the other hand, both had to lose members. The VVD – which suffered a heavy blow in the elections – did not want to cooperate with the NOS investigation.

The smallest party in The Hague remains the PVV with only 1 member, namely founder Wilders. The one-man party hopes to remain so large because the party believes that democracy leads to weakening. This vision is not limited to parties and that seems to be a stumbling block in the formation for the time being. The PVV became the largest in terms of seats in recent elections, mainly thanks to defecting VVD members and non-voters who saw reason to go to the polls in the anti-democratic party.