2006 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy leadership election

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2006 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy leadership election
Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (nl) Logo.svg
31 May 2006 (2006-05-31)2023 
  MarkRutte.jpg Rita Verdonk.jpg Jelleke Veenendaal 2006 (1).jpg
Candidate Mark Rutte Rita Verdonk Jelleke Veenendaal
Popular vote14,77713,131803
Percentage51.5%45.5%3.0%

Leader before election

Jozias van Aartsen

Leader-elect

Mark Rutte

The 2006 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy leadership election was called to elect the new Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy after incumbent Jozias van Aartsen announced his retirement from national politics. Mark Rutte the State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science closely beat Rita Verdonk the Minister for Integration, Immigration and Asylum Affairs and backbencher Member of the House of Representatives Jelleke Veenendaal.

Contents

Background

After the 2006 municipal elections Jozias van Aartsen stepped down as Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives and announced that he would not be top candidate for the next elections. The VVD leadership had consciously campaigned in the municipal election on a national ticket. The party however did not reach the set goal of 15% of the votes and actually lost 1.5% of the votes. To fill his position of political leader of the VVD, an internal election was scheduled.

Candidates

CandidateBornPosition(s) at that timeFormer position(s)Notable endorsementsViews
MarkRutte.jpg
Mark Rutte
14 February 1967
(age 39)
State Secretary for Education,
Culture and Science

(since 2004)
State Secretary for Social
Affairs and Employment

(2002–2004)
Member of the House of Representatives
(2003)
Gerrit Zalm
Frank de Grave
Ivo Opstelten
Henk Kamp
Ed Nijpels
Jan van Zanen
Hans Hoogervorst
Liberalism
Centre-right
Rita Verdonk.jpg
Rita Verdonk
18 October 1955
(age 50)
Minister for Integration, Immigration
and Asylum Affairs

(since 2003)
Frits Bolkestein
Hans Wiegel
Neelie Kroes
Frans Weisglas
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
[1] [2]
Conservatism
Right-wing
Jelleke Veenendaal 2006 (1).jpg
Jelleke Veenendaal
15 December 1953
(age 52)
Member of the House of Representatives
(since 2003)

    Three VVD members put forth their candidacy.

    Results

    An independent committee oversaw the elections. 28,788 people voted in this election, which was 74% of the eligible VVD members. They voted mostly by telephone and via Internet. The full results were presented on May 31, 2006, in Hotel Okura in Amsterdam, where it was announced that Mark Rutte obtained 51.5% of the vote and won the election. Rita Verdonk came in second, with 45.5% of the vote. Jelleke Veenendaal obtained 3.0% of the vote. [3] [4]

    It is generally expected that Mark Rutte will step down as staatssecretaris and become fractievoorzitter of the VVD parliamentary party because according to the VVD's Liberal Manifesto the party's leader should either be Prime Minister of the Netherlands or the Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives.

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    References

    1. "Een uitgekiende mediaweek van Rita Verdonk" (in Dutch). NRC Handelsblad. 4 April 2006. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
    2. "Frits Bolkestein steunt Rita Verdonk" (in Dutch). NRC Handelsblad. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
    3. "Mark Rutte nieuwe lijsttrekker VVD". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 May 2006.
    4. "Rutte lijsttrekker VVD". Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 August 2014.