Democrats 66

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

Democrats 66
Abbreviation	D66
Leader	Rob Jetten
Founded	14 October 1966
Ideology	Social liberalism Progressivism Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre to centre-left
European affiliation	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party
Colors	Green
Website
d66.nl

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). In the 2025 election, the party achieved its best ever result, winning 26 seats (+17) and is likely to lead the next government.

D66 is very supportive of the European Union.^[1] They historically supported the legalization of gay marriage, prostitution, and euthanasia. The party supports environmentalism^[2] 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