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 that tries to promote private enterprise and economic liberalism.
The Labour Party is a social democratic political party in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands is 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.
The second Kok cabinet,also called the second Purple cabinet,was the executive branch of the Dutch government from 3 August 1998 until 22 July 2002.
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.
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.
The first Kok cabinet,also called the first Purple cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch government from 22 August 1994 until 3 August 1998. The cabinet was formed by the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA),the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),and the social-liberal Democrats 66 after the election of 1994. The cabinet was a centrist grand coalition and had a substantial majority in the House of Representatives with Labour Leader Wim Kok serving as Prime Minister. Prominent Liberal politician Hans Dijkstal served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior,while Progressive-Liberal Leader Hans van Mierlo served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th secretary-general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as the prime minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2024,and as the leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 2006 to 2023. Serving a total of almost 14 years,Rutte is the longest-serving prime minister in Dutch history.
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.
Lodewijk Frans Asscher is a Dutch politician and jurist who served as Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2016 to 2021 and parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021.
Purple is a common term in politics used to describe governments or other political entities consisting of parties that have red and blue as their political colours. It is of particular note in three countries. In the politics of the Netherlands and Belgium,purple is the term for a government coalition of social democrats and liberals,excluding christian democrats. It is derived from the combination of the colour of the social democrats (red) and liberals (blue).
Tamara van Ark is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). She served as Minister of Health from 9 July 2020 until 3 September 2021 and as State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment from 26 October 2017 until 9 July 2020 in the Cabinet Rutte III.
General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 15 March 2017 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives.
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.
Bastiaan "Bas" van 't Wout is a Dutch retired politician who served as Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy in 2021 in the Third Rutte cabinet. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),he was previously elected to the House of Representatives from 2012 to 2020,before he held the position of State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment from 2020 until 2021.
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.
Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius is a Dutch politician who has served as Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy since 2023. She also served as minister of justice and security in the fourth Rutte cabinet from 10 January 2022 to 2 July 2024. Yeşilgöz previously served as a member of the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021 and as State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy from 2021 until 2022.
Following the Dutch general election on 17 March 2021,a cabinet formation led to the establishment of the fourth Rutte cabinet in 2022. The coalition included the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),Democrats 66 (D66),Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union (CU),the same parties from the preceding third Rutte cabinet. This formation process,lasting 299 days,was the longest formation in Dutch history.
A process of cabinet formation took place in the Netherlands following the general election of September 2012. After 54 days this led to the Second Rutte cabinet,consisting of People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and Labour Party (PvdA). This made it one of the fastest cabinet formations. The formation was the first in which the monarch of the Netherlands did not play an active role.
