In the former cattle market halls in Den Bosch, Esther Ouwehand will say goodbye for the second time on Saturday as party leader of the Party for the Animals. Last time, at a conference just before the House of Representatives elections in the fall of 2023, this was a big shock for the members. Ouwehand became involved in a power struggle with the party board, which she eventually won. She returned as party leader.
This is a conference without surprises. The farewell has been carefully thought out and the change of leadership is accompanied by an outpouring of applause and standing ovations from a few hundred members in the room. The new party leader, Member of Parliament Christine Teunissen, is already standing diagonally behind Ouwehand on the stage decorated with plants. Just like her predecessor, she wears pink clothes – it’s exactly right.
The Party for the Animals (PvdD) lost three of the six House of Representatives seats in 2023 after the power struggle. In the national elections in 2025, the party was stuck with three seats and it also suffered losses in the municipal elections. “That hurts,” party chairman Zwanny Naber said on stage on Saturday morning. As if that wasn’t enough, a conflict over whether the party focused too much on “people issues” led to a split in the Senate.
There is little sign of conflict this Saturday. The day is mainly dedicated to the leadership change. What does that mean for the party? Will Christine Teunissen succeed in making the party grow again?
Also for the animals
Teunissen does not announce major changes in course. In her first speech as party leader, she emphasizes the roots of the party – the animals – while at the same time showing that the party has a broader view. She speaks extensively about the genocide in Palestine (“the cabinet must recognize Palestine this week”), the poor treatment of refugees, the climate and the danger of the extreme right.
She remembers her childhood in the rural village of Stompwijk, in the Groene Hart, where she saw nature disappear due to “industrial dairy farming”. As party leader, she says she has resolved to “always remain curious about the world of animals and nature.”
As if Teunissen, who has been speaking as a Member of Parliament since 2021 on climate and foreign affairs, among other things, wants to prove: I am also there for the animals. After her speech, she says: “In the event of a leadership change, I think it is very important to emphasize the unique starting point of the Party for the Animals. We take the animals as a starting point and from there we look at what is needed to keep the earth livable.”
It also seems to be Teunissen’s answer to the question of whether the PvdD is too concerned with ‘people issues’. That discussion flares up regularly (not this Saturday), for example after the decision of the House of Representatives to vote for extra money for defense. Teunissen tries to explain that, in her opinion, this broadening is not at the expense of the party’s origins.
Climate disasters
Members who NRC speaks at lunch, see little difference in content between Esther Ouwehand and Christine Teunissen. They especially hope that Teunissen’s different style will attract new voters. The new party leader is regarded among members as a softer, unifying leader with a less negative image, whose “pit bull mentality is more carefully packaged.” That should make cooperation and attracting new voters easier, members say. Some blame Ouwehand partly for the party unrest of recent years.
Christine Teunissen and Esther Ouwehand, the new and old party leaders of the Party for the Animals, together at the conference in Den Bosch.
Photo Jeroen Jumelet / ANP
“I will also continue to confront, criticize, and mention things that other parties do not dare to do or omit,” says Teunissen himself. Teunissen does not want to compromise on the party’s ideals. She has little interest in working with a cabinet that also “talks to extreme right-wing parties”. She emphasizes several times that Rob Jetten has renounced the “climate push” – a nickname of the Prime Minister – and therefore applies for the “vacant vacancy”.
A dark green party that keeps others focused. It is the party’s age-old strategy and it also seems to be Teunissen’s strategy to win back lost voters. That will be a major challenge on the left, where the large merger party Pro has been active for a few weeks now, attracting many strategic voters from the PvdD.
Teunissen says that she works well with Pro-MPs, but sees herself mainly as a driving force who continues to point out “extra steps”. Precisely because other parties such as Pro – a logical cooperation partner for the minority coalition – may ultimately have to make compromises.
Behind the green conference podium, two large bouquets of flowers are ready in vases throughout the conference day. They do not belong to the party, a party spokesperson said. Esther Ouwehand receives another gift on stage as a thank you for her years of dedication: a painting of her favorite animal, a black raven.