Democrats 66

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Democrats 66, Dutch: Democraten 66, official name: Politieke Partij Democraten 66 (shortened D66), is a political party in the Netherlands. They are a social liberal party.

The party was formed on 14 October 1966 by a group of young academics led by Hans van Mierlo. The party had their most success in the 1994 election, where they won 24 out of 150 seats. In the 2010 elections, they received 654,167 votes and won 10 seats. In the 2012 elections they received 757,091 votes and won 12 seats. In the 2017 elections they won 19 seats (+7), in the 2021 election 24 (+5), and in the 2023 elections 9 (-15).

D66 is very supportive of the European Union. They historically supported the legalization of gay marriage, prostitution, and euthanasia. The party supports environmentalism and wants a mixed economy. D66 wants tax-cuts for the lower and middle classes. They also want direct democracy.

Political leaders

• Hans van Mierlo - 1966–1973
• Jan Terlouw - 1973–1982
• Laurens Jan Brinkhorst - 1982
• Maarten Engwirda - 1982–1986
• Hans van Mierlo - 1986–1998
• Els Borst - 1998
• Thom de Graaf - 1998–2003
• Boris Dittrich - 2003–2006
• Alexander Pechtold - 2006–2018
• Rob Jetten - 2018–2020 (actually only parliamentary leader)
• Sigrid Kaag - 2020–2023
• Rob Jetten - 2023–present

Democrats 66 Media

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  Hans van Mierlo, co-founder and leader between 1966–1973 and 1986–1998

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  Jan Terlouw, leader from 1973 to 1982

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  Els Borst, top candidate in the 1998 general election

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  Alexander Pechtold, leader from 2006 to 2018

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  Sigrid Kaag, leader from 2020 to 2023

• Campaign for the 2021 Dutch general election

Other websites

• Website of Democrats 66
• Website of Democrats 66 International Archived 2021-04-08 at the Wayback Machine (English)