Jan Pieter"Jan Peter" Balkenende Jr. is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010.
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.
Democrats 66 is a social liberal political party in the Netherlands,which positions itself in the centre of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).
The second Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 27 May 2003 until 7 July 2006. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA),the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),and the social-liberal Democrats 66 (D66) after the election of 2003. The cabinet was a centre-right coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as Prime Minister. Liberal Leader Gerrit Zalm,a former Minister of Finance,served as Deputy Prime Minister and returned as Minister of Finance,while former Progressive-Liberal Leader Thom de Graaf served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio for the Interior.
The prime minister of the Netherlands is the head of the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands. Although the monarch is the de jure head of government,the prime minister de facto occupies this role as the officeholder chairs the Council of Ministers and coordinates its policy with the rest of the cabinet. The current prime minister has been Mark Rutte since 14 October 2010,whose fourth cabinet was inaugurated on 10 January 2022.
Alexander Pechtold is a retired Dutch politician and art historian. He is a member of Democrats 66.
General elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 November 2006 following the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet. The elections proved relatively successful for the governing Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) which remained the largest party with 41 seats,a loss of only three seats. The largest increase in seats was for the Socialist Party (SP),which went from nine to 25 seats. The main opposition party,the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) lost nine of its 42 seats,while the right-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the progressive liberal Democrats 66 lost a considerable portion of their seats,six of 28 and three of six,respectively. New parties,such as the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) of former VVD MP Geert Wilders and the animal rights party Party for the Animals (PvdD) were also successful,with the PVV winning nine seats and the PvdD winning two,thereby becoming the first animal rights group to enter a European parliament.
Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006.
Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and historian.
Following the 2006 Dutch general election,held on November 22,a process of cabinet formation started,involving negotiations about which coalition partners to form a common programme of policy and to divide the posts in cabinet. On February 22,2007 it resulted in the formation of the Fourth Balkenende cabinet.
The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union (CU) and the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) after the election of 2006. The cabinet was a centrist grand coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as prime minister. Labour Leader Wouter Bos served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance while Social Christian Leader AndréRouvoet served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio for Health,Welfare and Sport.
The deputy prime minister of the Netherlands is the official deputy of the head of government of the Netherlands. In the absence of the prime minister of the Netherlands the deputy prime minister takes over his functions,such as chairing the Cabinet of the Netherlands and the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands. Conventionally,all of the junior partners in the coalition get one deputy,and the deputies are ranked according to the size of their respective parties. The incumbent deputy prime ministers are Sigrid Kaag of the Democrats 66 serving as Minister of Finance,Wopke Hoekstra of the Christian Democratic Appeal serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Carola Schouten of the Christian Union serving as Minister for Welfare and Civic Engagement.
General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 9 June 2010. This was triggered by the fall of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's fourth cabinet on 20 February with Queen Beatrix accepting the resignation of the Labour Party (PvdA) ministers on 23 February. The conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),led by Mark Rutte,won the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives while the social-democratic PvdA,led by Job Cohen,came a narrow second. The election was also noted for the rise of the Party for Freedom (PVV),which came third,led by controversial politician Geert Wilders. On the other hand,Balkenende's Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) saw a poor result,losing half its seats and dropping from first to fourth place. The Socialist Party (SP) also lost seats. Notably,the 31 seats won by the VVD was its most since 1998,and the one-seat margin between the VVD and PvdA is the closest on record.
Raymond Willem Knops is a Dutch politician and retired RNLAF officer who served as State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations under the Third Rutte cabinet from 2017 to 2019 and again from 2020 until 2022. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA),he was Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations from 2019 to 2020 in an acting capacity. Knops has held a seat in the House of Representatives since 2005 with three interruptions due to cabinet formation processes and service in government.
The 2012 Christian Democratic Appeal leadership election was called to elect the new Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal after incumbent Maxime Verhagen announced his retirement from national politics. Verhagen who had been the acting leader of the party since the resignation of Jan Peter Balkenende on 9 June 2010 did not stand for the leadership election. Sybrand van Haersma Buma the Parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives beat the other candidates in the first round with 51.4% of the votes.
Sigrid Agnes Maria Kaag is a Dutch diplomat and politician,serving as Minister of Finance and First Deputy Prime Minister in the Fourth Rutte cabinet. She previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 25 May 2021 until 17 September 2021 and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation from 26 October 2017 until 10 August 2021 in the Third Rutte cabinet.
General elections were held in the Netherlands from 15 to 17 March 2021 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives. Following the elections and lengthy coalition formation talks,the sitting government remained in power.
The third Rutte cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022. It was formed by a coalition government of the political parties People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA),Democrats 66 (D66) and Christian Union (CU) after the general election of 2017. The cabinet formation took 225 days,a record high in the Netherlands.
A process of cabinet formation took place following the 2021 Dutch general election,leading to the formation of the Fourth Rutte cabinet in 2022. The coalition consists of People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),Democrats 66 (D66),Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union (CU),the same parties that formed the preceding Third Rutte cabinet. At 299 days,it was the longest formation in Dutch history.
Henk Staghouwer is a Dutch administrator and Christian Union politician. He served as Minister of Agriculture,Nature and Food Quality in the fourth Rutte cabinet from January 10 to September 5,2022. From April 24,2013 to January 10,2022,he was a member of the provincial executive of Groningen.
