The word of the day at the Christian Democratic Appeal party conference was decency – common decency. Not only were Dutch slogans around “fatsoen” projected across the stage to 1,500 party members in Rotterdam on Saturday – the term was also part of the password for web access.

Second in the polls and rapidly rising, the CDA voted in its manifesto programme in the media spotlights. Party leader Henri Bontenbal was the main focus of attention, and words of praise for him came from everyone from European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber and former prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende to a little girl who wanted to give him a picture she had drawn.

“People want to return to a more normal and civilised politics,” said Bontenbal at the start of his 20-minute speech. “That is our challenge, and it is in the DNA of the CDA.”

The CDA, traditionally a party of government, collapsed to a historic low in support in 2023 with just five seats. Bontenbal was appointed leader shortly before the elections and said that he has been busy rebuilding and repositioning the party as neither left wing nor right wing but downstream in the established Christian Democratic movement. “When people want to know if this is a left wing party or a right-wing story, I say: the CDA sails her own course,” he said.

Although the far-right PVV is still leading in the polls, after collapsing the last government, it has been excluded as a potential coalition partner by the three other main parties: the CDA, left-wing GroenLinks/PvdA and the centre-right VVD.

This means that, eight weeks before the election, 42-year-old Bontenbal is being seen as a potential prime minister if his party ends up largest of the others. “It’s up to the voter,” he told Dutch press after his speech. “If the voter wants it, I will do it…My hands are itching. This country can really use some better politics.”

The party programme, voted in on Saturday, contained some less palatable proposals for some Dutch voters. The CDA wants to reduce the costly hypotheekrenteaftrek tax perk for home owners over 30 years, promising an equivalent discount in income tax. It proposes a “freedom contribution” – an extra tax to fund more money for defence – a return to voluntary military service for young people and fewer rights for homeowners to protest new housing developments, in order to address the housing crisis.

But just as noticeable is the emotional appeal to voters to support moderate, middle parties that can form coalition, after what Bontenbal calls the “amateurism and chaos” of government with the PVV as the largest party. “I see many parties making themselves so radical [in the campaign] that it will be difficult to rule afterwards,” he told press.

There were signs at the conference that the message was appealing to younger people, as well as an older generation attracted by ideas like “solidarity” and family values. Dick Vink, 80, from Zeist, said the party was giving a strong alternative message to mindless individualism and global populism. “The CDA has some brave positions on things like mortgage interest relief and the freedom contribution,” he said.

Joanne Sloof, chair of the young people’s branch CDJA, said that central ground was an answer to increasing polarisation. “The Netherlands is at a crossroads: young people can’t find a place of their own, climate policy has been postponed, society is split and politicians are spending more time on themselves than on what they have to do,” she said in a speech.

It’s a story that appeals to Joris Groogh, 17, from Alphen aan het Rijn, who has put himself forward as a candidate in local elections next year. “There are a lot of big problems in the Netherlands and I think the Netherlands wants a stable government that is trustworthy,” he told Dutch News. “I want a political party that believes in trust and you come to a middle party.”

But the question for some observers was whether parties that are prepared to compromise across traditional left/right divisions would get enough votes to form a stable government. A Red Cross worker – on hand in case any of the party members had a medical emergency – said he wasn’t so sure.  “I’m a bit concerned, to be honest,” he told Dutch News. “We have become rudderless.”

Europe

The conference sent clear signals that the party believes its future is within Europe and that problems such as stricter immigration policy and environmental measures  can only be solved with European cooperation. Alongside Weber, politicans were invited from Belgium, and there was even the odd D66 MP present.

Bontenbal told Dutch News that although his party believes in strong immigration policy, expats under a CDA government would be welcome – striking a different tone from some nativist parties. “If you mean, everyone can come in and there are no borders, then the Netherlands is not an open country,” he said.

“[But] I think that the Netherlands has always been an inclusive country where the economy is important and people from international business life are extremely important. I think we would do the Netherlands a disservice if we retreated behind the dykes.”