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".
Maria Cornelia Frederika "Rita" Verdonk is a Dutch politician and businesswoman formerly affiliated with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and later Proud of the Netherlands (TON),which she founded in 2007. Since 2022,she has been a municipal councillor of The Hague,elected on the list led by Richard de Mos.
Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who has served as prime minister of the Netherlands since 2010. He was also the leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 2006 through 2023. He is currently acting in a demissionary capacity,and will not return to politics following the installation of a new cabinet.
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.
Peter van Dalen is a Dutch politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) between 2009 and 2023. He is a member of the Christian Union,which used to be part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR),but switched to the European People's Party (EPP) in 2019 following the accession of the far-right Forum for Democracy.
Cornelia Johanna "Carola" Schouten is a Dutch politician serving as third Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister for Poverty Policy,Participation and Pensions in the IV Rutte Cabinet since 10 January 2022. She has served as Minister of Agriculture,Nature and Food Quality in the Third Rutte cabinet from 2017 to 2022. She is a member of the Christian Union (CU).
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 between 2005 and 2023 with three interruptions due to cabinet formation processes and service in government.
The second Rutte cabinet,also called the Rutte–Asscher cabinet,was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 5 November 2012 until 26 October 2017. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) after the election of 2012. The cabinet was a centrist grand coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives. VVD Leader Mark Rutte served as Prime Minister;prominent PvdA politician Lodewijk Asscher,a former alderman of Amsterdam,served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Employment.
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.
Hugo Mattheüs de Jonge is a Dutch politician serving as Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and as Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning,since 2023 and 2022,respectively,in the Fourth Rutte cabinet. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA),he was elected to its leadership in 2020 for the 2021 Dutch general election. He withdrew later that year,citing an impossibility to combine his position as Health Minister in charge of the COVID-19 pandemic efforts with his party leadership.
Menno Snel is a Dutch politician. A member of the Democrats 66 (D66) party,he served as State Secretary for Finance from 26 October 2017 until his resignation on 18 December 2019.
Johannes Alexander "Hans" Vijlbrief is a Dutch civil servant,economist,and politician,who currently serves as State Secretary for the Extractive Industries. He is a member of the social-liberal party Democrats 66 (D66).
Early general elections are scheduled to be held in the Netherlands on 22 November 2023 to elect the members of the House of Representatives. The election had been expected to be held in 2025,but a snap election was called after the fourth Rutte cabinet collapsed on 7 July 2023 due to disagreements on immigration policy. Incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced that he will not lead his party into the election and that he will be retiring from politics.
Don Guno Maria Ceder is a Dutch lawyer and politician,serving as a member of House of Representatives since the 2021 general election.
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.
The fourth Rutte cabinet is the current cabinet of the Netherlands. It was inaugurated on 10 January 2022. The cabinet is a continuation of the third Rutte cabinet and is formed by the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),the social liberal Democrats 66 (D66) and the Christian democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union (CU) after the election of 2021. The cabinet fell on 7 July 2023,after failing to reach an agreement on separate treatment of refugees fleeing from war. As a result,the cabinet became demissionary.
In the run-up to the 2023 Dutch general election,various organisations are carrying out opinion polling to gauge voting intentions in the Netherlands. Results of such polls are displayed in this list.
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 10 January to 5 September 2022. From 24 April 2013 to 10 January 2022 he was a member of the provincial executive of Groningen.
