Navigating Dutch Politics

👤 Key Leadership

The Forum for Democracy has maintained a consistent leadership structure since its founding. Thierry Baudet has served as the party leader since September 2016, also holding the positions of chairperson (with an interim period by Paul Frentrop) and leader in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, Johan Dessing currently leads the party's representation. The party's foundational figures include Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten, with Rob Rooken also being a co-founder.

👥 Membership & Growth

The FvD experienced rapid membership growth in its early years. While initial membership numbers were subject to dispute prior to 2022, independent verification has since provided clearer data. The party saw a significant increase from 1,863 members in 2017 to 61,633 in 2024, before a slight decrease to 60,163 in January 2025. This trajectory reflects periods of high public interest and subsequent internal challenges.

📚 Affiliated Bodies

Beyond its core political structure, the FvD operates with supporting organizations:

• Youth Wing: Known as Jongerenorganisatie Forum voor Democratie (JFvD), this youth organization has been a source of both growth and controversy for the party.
• Think Tank: The Renaissance Institute serves as the party's intellectual arm, contributing to its ideological development and policy formulation.

🏛️ Domestic Agenda

A central theme in FvD's domestic policy is its opposition to the perceived "party cartel," which it claims involves ruling parties colluding rather than competing. The party advocates for direct democracy through binding referendums, as well as directly elected mayors and a directly elected Prime Minister. It also supports a "technocracy," where government consists of apolitical experts, and proposes that top civil servants should reapply for their positions with each new cabinet formation.

🎨 Societal & Cultural Views

The FvD champions "high culture" and the protection of Dutch culture, including "European classical music, art, and knowledge." It critiques modern architecture, advocating for neoclassical styles in new government buildings and city planning that aligns with historical perspectives. The party supports a commission to protect historic monuments, retaining Frysk as a second state language, and teaching "beautiful things that the West has produced" in schools, alongside free museum admission for Dutch citizens. Conversely, it has proposed defunding and privatizing the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (Dutch public broadcasting organization).

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Social Issues

The FvD's stance on social issues has evolved. While historically supportive of gay rights and equal treatment for different sexual orientations, its current platform calls for protecting children from "woke and LGBT propaganda," prohibiting minors from participating in Pride parades, and restricting hormone therapy for minors. It opposes the promotion of LGBT campaigns by government institutions and flying Pride flags from government buildings. The party also speaks out against feminism, promoting traditional gender roles. On abortion, the FvD shifted from a moderate stance to a more socially conservative one in 2022, labeling abortion as "inhumane" and advocating for a reduced limit (from 24 to 18 weeks), permissible only in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother's life. Additionally, the FvD supports retracting all apologies made by Dutch governments for Dutch colonial history.

⚖️ Justice & Immigration

In criminal justice, the FvD calls for reform, increased police funding, and tougher penalties for violent crimes. It advocates for the deportation and trial of non-naturalized immigrants guilty of serious crimes in their country of origin. The party seeks to delete Articles 93 and 94 from the Dutch constitution, which allow international law to supersede national law. While supporting gradual legalization of soft drugs, it also aims to reduce the number of cannabis coffee shops near schools. On immigration, the FvD adopts a nationalist viewpoint, favoring reinstated border controls and an end to "mass immigration." It proposes a Dutch Values Protection Act, opposes further influence of Islamic culture, supports a crackdown on forced/child marriages, and seeks to ban Islamic face veils. The party also opposes foreign funding of Islamic schools and institutions, advocating for all schools to adhere to "Judeo-Christian values." It suggests incentives for immigrants who do not integrate to return to their native countries and processing asylum seekers off Dutch soil. Notably, Thierry Baudet has advocated for mass "remigration" to maintain a "white Europe" and opposed resettling Gazan refugees in the Netherlands.

🚀 Early Growth

After its founding as a political party in 2016, the FvD quickly gained traction. In the 2017 general election, it secured two seats in the House of Representatives. The party's rapid expansion, however, led to internal challenges, with some prominent members departing in February 2018 due to concerns about a perceived lack of internal democracy. Despite this, the FvD achieved a significant breakthrough in the 2018 municipal elections, winning three seats on the Amsterdam city council.

🌟 Electoral Breakthrough

The FvD's peak popularity came in 2019. In the European Parliament election, it gained three MEPs and was accepted into the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. More notably, in the 2019 provincial elections, the party achieved a major breakthrough, securing 86 seats across all twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It emerged as the largest party in South Holland, North Holland, and Flevoland, and placed second or third in all other provinces. This period marked a significant shift in Dutch political dynamics.

💔 Internal Divides & Radicalization

The FvD subsequently faced severe internal turmoil. In August 2019, co-founder Henk Otten left to form Group Otten (GO), taking former FvD members with him to the Senate and European Parliament. In April 2020, controversies erupted over instances of antisemitism, racism, homophobia, and glorification of mass murderers within the FvD's youth wing, leading to expulsions and suspensions. Thierry Baudet temporarily resigned as lead candidate but later reversed his decision after an internal referendum. Further accusations from prominent FvD members, including Nicki Pouw-Verweij, alleged Baudet made antisemitic jokes and promoted COVID-19 conspiracy theories, claiming the party prioritized controversy over policy. In 2021, the party's campaign against COVID-19 lockdown measures saw accused youth members elected to parliament. In 2022, a poster comparing lockdown measures to the Nazi occupation on Holocaust Memorial Day led to more MP defections and criticism from Jewish organizations. A Dutch court found Baudet guilty of "creating a breeding ground for antisemitism" for his statements comparing COVID policies to the Holocaust.

🌐 International Shifts

In 2022, the FvD regained European Parliament representation when Marcel de Graaff defected to the party, leading to its affiliation with the Identity and Democracy (ID) group. However, the FvD later left the ID group, accusing it of being anti-Russian. Further internal departures occurred in March 2022, as two senators left over the FvD's absence during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's speech. By 2024, the FvD lost its European Parliament representation and subsequently joined the newly established Europe of Sovereign Nations party, led by Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD).

📜 References