In Reiderland a non-left-wing council is not even possible. It is noteworthy that in Arnhem, that was often juxtaposed to nearby Nijmegen, such a coalition has now also become possible, although the existing very broad coalition hasn't lost its majority. Another factor here is that the local branches confer with the national party because decisions at the two levels have to be harmonised. Nationally, PvdA is doing well, but in some municipalities too left wing a coalition may not go down well with some people, which may have negative effects on PvdA during the 2007 national elections. Also, local branches of a party may have a rather different signature from the local party, such as in Zaanstad, where the CDA is rather left wing. "They're called CDA,but that's where the similarity ends", according to a PvdA spokesman. And SP also differs strongly from place to place. In some places they are considered decent politicians, in others too troublesome (SP used to lean towards Marxism and that may not have disappeared everywhere). The subjects of housing and city renovation are often points of difference between PvdA and SP. In Amsterdam, where this coalition would be biggest, SP have already left the talks, but PvdA and GroenLinks still have a majority of 27 out of 45 seats. In Arnhem the three parties are talking but there are differences between PvdA and SP over how money should be spent (housing or redistribution). ChristenUnie turned out to be very popular as a coalition partner, partly because their stance on social issues often coincides with that of the big winner PvdA, who led the coalition talks in most municipalities. Where socialist PvdA and Christian CDA form a coalition, they often take ChristenUnie on board even when there is no need for a majority because, being both left-wing and Christian, they form a bridge between those two parties. On 4 April CU had already entered a coalition in 21 new municipalities, whilst keeping its position in municipalities where they already were part of a coalition. They had won 12% more seats but their coalition-participation had risen by 69%. In Goes, the Christian parties CDA and SGP/CU formed a coalition with VVD on the day after the elections ("at record breaking speed"), without consulting the PvdA. This led to quite an uproar because it is customary that coalition talks are started by the biggest party, which was the PvdA. But what was really salient was that this was done on a Christian day of prayer for which the elections were shifted forward one day (elections are usually on Wednesdays) at the request of SGP, one of those new coalition partners.