In the 1929 elections the VDB retained its seven seats. In 1933 the party lost one seat, but it was nonetheless asked to cooperate in the centre-right government led by Colijn, which consisted of the Catholic RKSP, the Protestant CHU and ARP, and the liberal VDB and Liberal State Party. The VDB cooperated in the budget cuts and the strengthening of the Dutch armed forces. The previously good relations with the SDAP came under considerable strain from this. In 1933 the party's leader, Marchant, who also served as minister of Education, stepped down because he had turned Catholic. Pieter Oud took his place as political leader of the VDB, until he became major of Rotterdam in 1938. In 1937 they managed to retain their seven seats. In 1941 the party was forbidden by the German occupying force. The VDB played a minor role in the 1940-1945 cabinets in exile.