Pim Fortuyn List

The Pim Fortuyn List (Dutch: Lijst Pim Fortuyn, LPF) was a political party in the Netherlands that existed from 2002 to 2008 at a national level and was named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was often considered right-wing populist nationalist by media and political observers due to its policies as well as adhering to its own distinct ideology of Fortuynism according to some commentators which reflected the political ideas of Fortuyn.

The LPF supported tougher measures against immigration and crime, opposition to multiculturalism, greater political reform, a reduction in state bureaucracy and was eurosceptic but differed somewhat from other European right-wing or nationalist parties by taking a liberal stance on certain social issues and sought to describe its ideology as pragmatic and not populistic. It also aimed to present itself as an alternative to the Polder model of Dutch politics and the governing style of the existing mainstream parties.

Pim Fortuyn had initially had planned to contest the 2002 general election as leader of the Livable Netherlands (LN) party. He was however dismissed as leader of LN in February 2002 due to controversial remarks he made in a newspaper interview on immigration-related issues, and instead founded LPF a few days later, taking many former LN candidates with him. After gaining support in opinion polls, Fortuyn was assassinated on 6 May 2002, nine days before the election. The party held onto its support, and went on to become the second-largest party in the election.

The LPF formed part of a coalition government with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) as part of the first Balkenende cabinet and was granted ministerial posts. However, internal conflicts in the LPF led to the coalition's break-up and fresh elections after a few months. Following the 2003 election, the party was left in opposition. It became clear that the party was not viable without its original leader, and it went into decline until it was finally dissolved in 2008. Despite this, Fortuyn and the LPF have had a significant influence on changing public discourse on immigration, multiculturalism, and political reform, and went on to influence politicians in both older and newer political parties in the Netherlands.