Limburg is the southernmost of the 12 provinces of the Netherlands. The province is bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north and by North Brabant to its west. Its long eastern boundary forms the international border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. To the west is the international border with the similarly named Belgian province of Limburg, part of which is delineated by the river Meuse. The Vaalserberg is on the extreme south-eastern point, marking the tripoint of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, is a party of the centre-right, which promotes private enterprise and economic liberalism.
There are twelve provinces of the Netherlands, representing the administrative layer between the national government and the local municipalities, with responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance.
The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state. Dutch politics and governance are characterised by a common striving for broad consensus on important issues, within both of the political community and society as a whole.
The Christian Union is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU is a centrist party, maintaining more progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues while holding more socially conservative positions on issues such as abortion and euthanasia. The party describes itself as "social Christian".
The Reformed Political Party is a conservative Calvinist political party in the Netherlands. The term Reformed is not a reference to political reform but is a synonym for Calvinism—a major branch of Protestantism. The SGP is the oldest political party in the Netherlands existing in its present form, and has been in opposition for its entire existence. Since 1925, it has won between 1.6% and 2.5% of the votes in general elections. Owing to its orthodox political ideals and its traditional role in the opposition, the party has been called a testimonial party. Since the general election of 2012, it has held 3 of the 150 seats of the House of Representatives.
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union; it has participated in all but three cabinets since it became a unitary party.
The National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands was a Dutch fascist and later Nazi political party that called itself a "movement". As a parliamentary party participating in legislative elections, the NSB had some success during the 1930s. Under German occupation, it remained the only legal party in the Netherlands during most of the Second World War.
The Socialist Party is a democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 1971 as the Communist Party of the Netherlands/Marxist–Leninist, the party has since moderated itself from Marxism–Leninism (Maoism) towards democratic socialism and social democracy. The SP has also been described as left-wing populist and soft Eurosceptic, and is an advocate of Dutch republicanism.
The Senate is the upper house of the States General, the legislature of the Netherlands. Its 75 members are elected on lists by the members of the twelve States-Provincial and three Caribbean electoral colleges for the Senate every four years, within three months of the provincial elections. All provinces and colleges have different electoral weight depending on their population.
The General League of Roman Catholic Riding Associations, informally called the General League, was a Catholic political party in the Netherlands. It is one of the ancestors of the Christian Democratic Appeal, currently a major party in the Netherlands.
The Liberal State Party, "the Freedom League", was a conservative liberal political party in the Netherlands from 1921 to 1948. It is historically linked to the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), a major Dutch political party.
Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands, on 7 March 2007. The election also determined the members of the Senate, since the 564 members of the twelve provincial councils elect its 75 members. This election took place on 29 May 2007.
Aeneas, Baron Mackay was a Dutch Anti-Revolutionary politician who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1888 to 1891. Born into a noble family from Gelderland, he studied law in Utrecht and worked as lawyer and a judge. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 1876, and retained his seat for twelve years before his premiership. In his cabinet, he served as minister of the Interior and minister of Colonial Affairs. After another thirteen years in the House, he became a member of the Council of State, receiving the honorary title Minister of State.
The provincial council, also known as the States Provincial, is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has the responsibility for matters of sub-national or regional importance. The number of seats in a provincial council is proportional to its population.
Willem Jacob "Molly" Geertsema II was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and jurist.
The first Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Verhagen cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 14 October 2010 until 5 November 2012. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) after the election of 2010. The cabinet was a right-wing coalition and had a minority in the House of Representatives but had confidence and supply from the Party for Freedom (PVV) for a slim majority with Liberal Leader Mark Rutte serving as Prime Minister. Christian Democratic Leader Maxime Verhagen served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.
The elections of the Dutch Senate of 2011 were held on 23 May 2011, following the provincial elections on 2 March 2011. The 566 members of the twelve States-Provincial elected the 75 Senate members. The new Senate was installed on 7 June 2011. The term ended on 8 June 2015.
Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 18 March 2015. Eligible voters elected the members of the States-Provincial in the twelve provinces. These elections also indirectly determined the members of the Senate, since the 566 members of the twelve States-Provincial will elect the Senate's 75 members in the Senate election on 26 May 2015. These provincial election were held on the same day as the 2015 Dutch water boards elections.
Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands on 20 March 2019. Eligible voters elected the members of the Provincial States in the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. The elections were held on the same day as the 2019 Dutch water boards elections and, in the Caribbean Netherlands, island council elections.
