Independent Politics Netherlands

The Independent Politics Netherlands (Dutch: Onafhankelijke Politiek Nederland, OPNL), formerly known as the Independent Senate Group (Onafhankelijke Senaatsfractie, OSF), is a political party in the Dutch Senate with one senator, representing several provincial parties. OPNL differs from other Dutch political parties in that it does not allow for individual membership, but only grants membership to provincial parties, or municipal local parties that are members of a provincial party.[1] OPNL only contests the elections for the Senate and represents regionalist interests.

"Independent Senate Group" redirects here. For the Canadian parliamentary group, see Independent Senators Group.
Independent Politics Netherlands
Onafhankelijke Politiek Nederland
ChairpersonJabik van der Bij (ad interim)
Leader in the SenateAuke van der Goot
Founded22 March 1999 (1999-03-22)
HeadquartersRuysdaellaan 34, Geleen
Think tankWetenschappelijk Bureau OPNL
IdeologyRegionalism
SloganDe kracht van de regio ("The strength of the region")
Senate
1 / 75
Benelux Parliament
1 / 21
Website
www.opnl.nl

History

In 1995, several provincial parties and The Greens proposed their own independent list for the Senate elections, called the Platform of Independent Groups/The Greens (Platform van Onafhankelijke Groepen/De Groenen). Marten Bierman (a member of The Greens) was elected through preferential vote. In 1999 Bierman was reelected.

In 2003, Henk ten Hoeve became senator for the OSF. He was a member of the Friesland states-provincial representing the Frisian National Party. He remained senator until 2011. Ten Hoeve was succeeded by Kees de Lange. De Lange was elected on the OSF list, but was a member of the 50PLUS party, with which the OSF had a vote sharing agreement, as the OSF did not achieve enough votes to get a seat independently. In 2015 De Lange broke with the OSF due to a disagreement concerning the possible cooperation between the OSF and the People's Party of Limburg of Jos van Rey, a former VVD alderman and representative plagued by corruption scandals.[2]

In 2015, Henk ten Hoeve became senator of the OSF for a second time. Between 2019 and 2021 Gerben Gerbrandy, former mayor of Achtkarspelen, has been the senator representing the OSF. Gerbrandy left the Senate in January 2021 and was replaced by Ton Raven, a former alderman from Sittard-Geleen.[3]

In 2021, the party's name was changed to Independent Politics Netherlands.

Member parties

OPNL consists of the following regional parties:[4]

Province Party 2023 provincial election result
Votes  % Seats won
 Drenthe Sterk Lokaal Drenthe 7,485 2.84
1 / 43
 Flevoland Sterk Lokaal Flevoland 4,518 2.77
1 / 41
 Friesland Frisian National Party 27,298 8.05
4 / 43
Provincial Interest Fryslân 6,891 2.03
1 / 43
 Gelderland Local Parties Gelderland 16,512 1.59
0 / 55
 Groningen Groninger Interest 17,385 6.04
3 / 43
 Limburg Lokaal Limburg 20,128 4.30
2 / 47
 North Brabant Lokaal Brabant 45,723 4.17
2 / 55
 North Holland Independent Politics North Holland 11,916 1.00
0 / 55
 South Holland Independent Politics South Holland Did not participate
 Utrecht U26 Municipalities 7,646 1.17
0 / 49
 Zeeland Party for Zeeland 8,458 4.63
2 / 39

Electoral results

Senate elections
Election Lead candidate Result[5][6]
Weighted votes%Seats won
1995 Folkert Kuperus[7]
1 / 75
1999 Marten Bierman 3,8802.46
1 / 75
2003 Henk ten Hoeve 2,8741.78
1 / 75
2007 Henk ten Hoeve 2,8571.75
1 / 75
2011 Kees de Lange 2,1131.77
1 / 75
2015 Henk ten Hoeve 2,6522.46
1 / 75
2019 Gerben Gerbrandy 2,2651.31
1 / 75
2023 Auke van der Goot 3,1831.78
1 / 75

References
  1. "Statuten Onafhankelijke SenaatsFractie | osf.nl". www.osf.nl. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  2. "OSF-senator De Lange nu onafhankelijke eenling". parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  3. "Ton Raven nieuwe senator voor de onafhankelijken – osf.nl". www.osf.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  4. "Platform". Onafhankelijke Politiek Nederland (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  5. "Verkiezingsuitslagen". Verkiezingen (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  6. "Eerste Kamerverkiezingen 1983–2015". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  7. "Eerste Kamerverkiezingen 1995". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
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