Netherlands Regional — one single issue parties. How to engage with a wider audience?

Campaigns on the horizon: Netherlands Regional — one single issue parties. How to engage with a wider audience?

Animal parties, feminist parties, farmer parties and more. We had many single-issue parties that participated in the recent elections in the Netherlands. This trend however, is generally something we see more broadly in multiparty political systems. For these parties, the group they are targeting often seems a lot clearer, therefore involvement with this specific group probably catches on faster. But the question is: what do you do next? How do you involve a broader audience in your single-issue party, so that your party can grow? Or is this something single-issue parties specifically do not want?

In the run-up to the March 15th Provincial Elections in the Netherlands; several single-issue parties participated. The most common in the mix was the Dutch Farmer–Citizen Movement called BBB (BoerBurgerBeweging). Before the election, they had roughly 13 of the 150 seats in the national polls and appeared to be the largest party in the eastern regions. Which was surprising, considering the percentage of farmers in the Netherlands is quite small, and they appeared to be getting seats in the big cities in the recent polls. We now know the results of the Dutch Provincial Elections: BBB gained a whopping 139 seats out of 572 seats, gaining top spot in every single province. What was the secret of this farmers’ party and how did they organize their campaign?