In total 81 political parties have registered to take part in the March 15 general election, the electoral council said on Thursday.

This is the most parties ever to declare their intention to compete in the national vote, the council said. Parties have until January 30 to finalise their list of potential MPs. A day later, the electoral council will say how many parties will actually be included on the voting form.

The new parties include the Party for Non-Voters, set up by a lawyer Pieter Plasman, the GeenPeil organisation and Nieuwe Wegen (new roads) launched by former Labour MP Jaques Monasch.

Of the 48 parties which signed up to take part in the 2012 general election, 21 eventually did so. A party needs some 65,000 votes to win a seat and non of the minor parties did so.