Leader of the Reformed Political Party

Henk van Rossum (party leader 1981–1986), Cor van Dis Sr. (party leader 1961–1971) and Hette Abma (party leader 1971–1981) in the House of Representatives in 1973.

The Leader of the Reformed Political Party is the most senior politician within the Reformed Political Party (Dutch : Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) in the Netherlands. The post is currently held by Chris Stoffer, who succeeded Kees van der Staaij in 2023. ^[1]

History

The leaders outwardly act as the 'figurehead' and the main representative of the party. Within the party, they must ensure political consensus. At election time the leader is always^{[ citation needed ]} the lead candidate of the party list. In the Reformed Political Party the leader has also been the parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives since it was first elected in 1922.

Leader			Term of office	Age as leader	Position(s) as leader	Further position(s)	Professional background	Church	Lead candidate
		Gerrit Hendrik Kersten (1882–1948)	24 April 1918 – 14 September 1945 (27 years, 143 days)[ citation needed ]	35–63	Chairman of the Reformed Political Party (1918–1946) Member of the House of Representatives (1922–1945)		Minister Theologian Journalist Teacher	Reformed Congregations	1922 1925 1929 1933 1937
		Pieter Zandt (1880–1961)	14 September 1945 – 4 March 1961 (15 years, 171 days) [1] [Died]	65–80	Member of the House of Representatives (1925–1961) Chairman of the Reformed Political Party (1946–1961)		Minister Theologian	Reformed Church	1946 1948 1952 1956 1959
		Cor van Dis Sr. (1893–1973)	4 March 1961 – 28 April 1971 (10 years, 55 days) [1]	67–77	Member of the House of Representatives (1946–1971)	Member of the Senate (1971–1973) Parliamentary leader in the Senate (1971–1973)	Chemist	Christian Reformed Churches	1963 1967
		Hette Abma (1917–1992)	28 April 1971 – 26 May 1981 (10 years, 28 days) [1]	54–64	Chairman of the Reformed Political Party (1961–1985) Member of the House of Representatives (1963–1981)	Member of the Senate (1981–1986) Parliamentary leader in the Senate (1981–1986)	Minister Theologian	Reformed Church	1971 1972 1977
		Henk van Rossum (1919–2017)	26 May 1981 – 22 May 1986 (4 years, 361 days) [1]	61–66	Member of the House of Representatives (1967–1986)		Civil engineer Civil servant	Reformed Congregations	1981 1982
		Bas van der Vlies (1942–2021)	22 May 1986 – 27 March 2010 (23 years, 309 days) [1]	43–67	Member of the House of Representatives (1981–2010)		Civil engineer Teacher School administrator	Restored Reformed Church	1986 1989 1994 1998 2002 2003 2006
		Kees van der Staaij (born 1968)	27 March 2010 – 25 August 2023 (13 years, 151 days) [1]	41–54	Member of the House of Representatives (1998–2023)	Member of the Council of State (since 2024)	Jurist Civil servant	Old-Reformed Congregations	2010 2012 2017 2021
		Chris Stoffer (born 1974)	25 August 2023 – Incumbent (1 year, 173 days) [1]	48–50	Member of the House of Representatives (since 2018)		Civil engineer Civil servant	Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands	2023

References

1. "Politiek leider van een partij". Parlement&Politiek. Retrieved 2012-11-03.

^{Died in Office}

External links

• (in Dutch) Official website