Labourers Party

The Labourers Party (: Arbeiderspartij, AP) is a political party in Lindenholt. It is currently the fourth largest party in the States General and is in opposition of the current government.

The party was founded in 1889 during a worker's protest in Stokfort. While socialist and social democratic movements had existed before the AP, they were often considered to be too radical. The AP was the first of its kind to gain representation in the States General during the 1900 general elections. Until the introduction of universal suffrage in 1923 the party controlled anywhere between ten and twenty seats. During the 1923 general election, the first in Lindian history where all adult men and women were allowed to vote, the AP won 134 seats out of the total 623. While the party kept growing in subsequent elections, it did not manage to win a single election until after the war.

After the war the party endorsed the ideals of social democracy and the creation of large social programmes that would help to lift Lindians out of poverty and aid in the rebuilding of Lindenholt. Just like the Liberal People's Party (LVP) it was opposed to as it hindered social mobility and the well-entrenched voting bases that were a result of it negatively affected the party's ability to attract new voters. The party won the 1945 and 1947 elections.

A natural ally of the party was the LVP, up until the party's social liberal faction split off in 1964 to form the Union of Democrats. The cooperation with the LVP caused a far-left group within the party to form their own political party in 1956, the Labour Movement (AB). The AB was absorbed back in to the party however after the AP denounced the right-wing course of the LVP.

In 1964 the AP saw its second electoral victory, with Albert Steegmans becoming Lindenholt's longest serving prime minister. It was under his administration that Lindenholt definitively ended pillarisation and further expanded its social programmes. In 1980 Steegmans left office and the party would not be part of a governing coalition until 1993. Despite the decreased support, the party had significant victories in the 1979, 1984 and 1989 Vestean Parliament elections, with the Vestean leader of the AP, Dick Knob, becoming president of the VU.

Nowadays the party is considered to be a social democratic party that is characterised by its socially centrist and fiscally centre-left to left-wing stance. While it does not oppose of issues such as gay marriage, legalised prostitution and legalised drug consumption, the party has been criticised by some as not being progressive enough. This, along with the party's moderate stance on environmental policy sets it apart from the Green Progressives. The party enjoys popularity with immigrant communities and in the province of Heelde, historically the party was also widely supported by seniors, voters with lower incomes and blue collar workers; this support however has seen a decline in recent years due to the rise of populist parties such as United Seniors and Change '04.