JA21

JA21 (), statutorily known as the Conservative Liberals (), is a political party in the Netherlands. The party has been categorised as conservative liberal and right-wing populist in its platform by political commentators. JA21 was founded on 18 December 2020 by Joost Eerdmans and Annabel Nanninga following their departure from Forum for Democracy (FvD) on 26 November 2020 after disagreeing with the state of affairs in FvD. The party first participated in elections in the 2021 general election.

== History == ===Background=== thumb|left|Joost Eerdmans, co-founder and leader of the party thumb|left|Annabel Nanninga, co-founder and leader in the Senate In November 2020, there was a series of disputes within the Forum for Democracy (FvD) party following allegations of racism, antisemitism and homophobia against its youth wing the Jongerenorganisatie Forum voor Democratie (including glorification of Anders Breivik and Brenton Tarrant by members of the youth wing), as well as controversial statements made by party leader Thierry Baudet. These followed earlier controversies surrounding the youth-wing which had happened in April that year. The incidents prompted several candidates and members of the FvD to criticise what they saw as the party's slow and unwilling attitude to address the problem. The conflict escalated and a number of prominent spokespeople of the FvD such as Joost Eerdmans, Annabel Nanninga, Nicki Pouw-Verweij and Eva Vlaardingerbroek resigned from the party in protest, with Pouw-Verweij arguing in an interview with De Telegraaf that Baudet and the FvD had become radicalized and more focused on conspiracy theories.