Christian Democratic Appeal Christen-Democratisch Appèl | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | CDA |
Leader | Henri Bontenbal (list) |
Chairperson | Jean Wiertz (list) |
Leader in the Senate | Theo Bovens (list) |
Leader in the House of Representatives | Henri Bontenbal (list) |
Leader in the European Parliament | Tom Berendsen |
Founded | 23 June 1973 (pre-federation) 11 October 1980 (party) |
Merger of | Catholic People's Party Anti-Revolutionary Party Christian Historical Union |
Headquarters | Buitenom 18, The Hague |
Youth wing | Christian Democratic Youth Appeal |
Think tank | Wetenschappelijk Instituut voor het CDA |
Membership (2024) | 29,721[1] |
Ideology | Christian democracy Conservatism |
Political position | Centre to centre-right |
Regional affiliation | Christian Group[2] |
European affiliation | European People's Party |
European Parliament group | European People's Party |
International affiliation | Centrist Democrat International |
Colours | Green |
Senate | 6 / 75 |
House of Representatives | 5 / 150 |
Provincial councils | 42 / 570 |
European Parliament | 3 / 31 |
Benelux Parliament | 1 / 21 |
Website | |
cda | |
The Christian Democratic Appeal (Dutch: Christen-Democratisch Appèl, pronounced [krɪstə(n)deːmoːkraːtis ɑˈpɛl], CDA) is a Christian democratic[7] and conservative[13] political party in the Netherlands.
It was formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union. It first participated in a general election in 1977 and became a unitary party in 1980. The party dominated Dutch politics from 1977 until 1994, becoming the largest party all but twice and having its leaders Dries van Agt and Ruud Lubbers as Prime Minister. The party lost in the 1994 general election after which the first two cabinets without them were formed. The CDA would become the largest party again between 2002 and 2010, in which period their leader Jan Peter Balkenende would lead four cabinets. Further electoral decline followed between 2010 and 2023 under changing leadership, participating in three out of four cabinets as junior coalition partner. Since the 2023 general election, the party is with five seats in opposition and is led by Henri Bontenbal.