Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn, was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List in 2002.
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.
The Pim Fortuyn List was a right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was considered nationalist as well as adhering to its own distinct ideology of Fortuynism according to some commentators.
The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy. A constitutional monarchy, the country is organised as a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands can be 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.
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.
Liberalism in the Netherlands started as an anti-monarchical effort spearheaded by the Dutch statesman Thorbecke, who almost single-handedly wrote the 1848 Constitution of the Netherlands that turned the country into a constitutional monarchy.
General elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 November 2006, following the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet. The election 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.
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.
Hans Wiegel is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson.
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.
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.
The Party for Freedom is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands.
Early general elections were held in the Netherlands on 12 September 2012 after Prime Minister Mark Rutte handed in his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix on 23 April. The 150 seats of the House of Representatives were contested using party-list proportional representation. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) received a plurality of the votes, followed by the Labour Party (PvdA).
The Onafhankelijke Burger Partij is a political party in the Netherlands. It was founded by Hero Brinkman, a Member of the House of Representatives for the Party for Freedom (PVV). Brinkman left the PVV after repeatedly criticising the lack of democracy within that party, as well as its negative generalisations about certain groups in society. He then founded the OBP and intended it to participate in the Dutch general election of 2012; however, on June 9, 2012, he announced that the OBP was to merge with the party Trots op Nederland to form a new party, the Democratic Political Turning Point. However, Trots op Nederland announced on November 17 that the merger of the OBP with the Trots would be reversed, because the Trots' management was unsatisfied with it.
Democratic Political Turning Point was a political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded by Hero Brinkman, an independent member of the House of Representatives, formerly a member of the Party for Freedom (PVV). After Brinkman left the Party for Freedom he founded the Independent Citizens' Party (OBP). On 9 June 2012, Brinkman announced that the Independent Citizens' Party was merging with the Proud of the Netherlands (TON) party to form a new party: Democratic Political Turning Point. The party participated in the Dutch general election of 2012, but did not win any seats. On 18 November 2012, TON reversed the merger and parted ways with Brinkman.
VoorNederland was a Dutch political party. It was previously active in the House of Representatives of the Netherlands as the Group Bontes/Van Klaveren, a parliamentary group founded in April 2014. The parliamentary group was succeeded by a political party in May 2014. After failing to garner win a single seat in the 2017 general election the party disbanded.
Forza! Nederland is a Dutch right-wing populist political organisation active in the Netherlands. Despite the name, the party has no connection nor is part of Forza Italia. Forza! is active in several municipalities in the Netherlands and was represented in the States-Provincial of North Holland until 2015. Forza! is known to be the successor of the former Pim Fortuyn List and very outspoken against Islam, refugees and for referendums and can be considered as a local counterpart of the Party for Freedom and Forum voor Democratie although Forza! denies this.
A.C.M. "Ton" Raven is a Dutch politician, who served as a member of the Senate between 2021 and 2023. In that body, he was the only member of Independent Politics Netherlands. Before he became a senator, Raven had been active in Sittard-Geleen politics as a municipal councilor and alderman since 1990, representing the local parties Stadspartij Burgerbelangen Geleen and Stadspartij.
