Heart for Freedom

Heart for Freedom (Dutch: Hart voor Vrijheid, Dutch pronunciation: [ɦɑrt voːr ˈvrɛi.ɦɛi̯t]), formerly known as List30 (Lijst30) is a political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded on 17 June 2021 and emerged from the blank list 30 during the 2021 House of Representatives elections when it split from Free and Social Netherlands. The party mainly profiled itself through its criticism of Dutch COVID-19 policy.

For the 2011 autobiography, see A Heart for Freedom.
Heart for Freedom
Hart voor Vrijheid
ChairpersonPeter van den Neste
Founded17 June 2021
Split fromFree and Social Netherlands
IdeologySocial liberalism
COVID-19 skepticism
Antivax
Political positionCentre
Colors  Red
Municipal council of Kerkrade
1 / 29
Website
hartvoorvrijheid.nl

History

Foundation
Willem Engel

The party emerged from a split of the political party Free and Social Netherlands (VSN), founded in September 2020. The split arose after Anna Zeven was deregistered from the Chamber of Commerce by party leader Bas Filippini. By her own admission, Zeven was not informed of this, which later turned out not to be true.[1]

Filippini, initiator of VSN, ultimately did not agree with the candidacy of conspiracy thinker Willem Engel proposed by Zeven in the House of Representatives elections of 17 March 2021 and announced on 17 January 2021 that Engel was no longer on the electoral list.[2][3] This led to an internal conflict.[4] After Filippini had arranged the deregistration with the Chamber of Commerce, he also deregistered Zeven from the Electoral Council, where she was, in her opinion, registered as a deputy representative and submitter. The Electoral Council agreed with her view and as a result, the majority of the declarations of support and the declarations of agreement were regarded as not submitted by VSN but by the new, blank list number 30 of Anna Zeven.

Despite an appeal to the Council of State, the two lists were not merged.[5] The blank list was published in the Staatscourant as 'Lijst 30', without party name.[6] The movement then chose the name Lijst30 as the party name and used it in combination with the hashtag #hartvoorvrijheid.

On 9 March 2021, the preliminary relief judge ruled in favor of VSN after summary proceedings. The VSN statutes showed that the members' meeting could not have been held due to the missing party council. As a result, the current interim board of VSN (consisting of Filippini, Carina Braams and Henk Diepbrink) had the decisive and leading vote, the judgment ruled. The seceded members were ordered to hand over all social media channels.

The formal establishment of the Heart for Freedom party took place on 17 June 2021.

Elections
Ab Gietelink

Heart for Freedom participated in the House of Representatives elections of 17 March 2021.[7] The electoral list contained 21 candidates, including Anna Zeven as lead candidate, Willem Engel and Ab Gietelink. The party program did not state a position on Dutch COVID-19 policy, although Engel, frontman of COVID-19 skeptic movement Viruswaarheid, clearly seemed to be of the opinion that all COVID-19 measures should be stopped immediately.

Candidates on the list Theo Vos, Christian Kromme and Felix Tangelder indicated that they did not want to be part of Heart for Freedom, but of the Free and Social Netherlands party.[8][9]

In the elections the party received 8,277 votes (0.08%). The best result was achieved in the municipality of Landsmeer (52 votes, 0.69%). After the disappointing results, Engel reported election fraud, but this claim was dismissed by the Public Prosecution Service.[10]

In March 2022, Heart for Freedom participated in the municipal elections in Alkmaar (0.85%), Amsterdam (0.74%), Den Helder (0.8%), Kerkrade (3.4%, 1 seat), Nederweert (3.06%), Tilburg (0.74%) and Tynaarlo (2.71%).[11] In March 2023, the party participated in the provincial elections in Limburg, receiving 0.05% of the votes.

Election results

House of Representatives elections
Election year House of Representatives
# of
overall votes		  % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/–
2021 8,277[12] 0.08%[13]
0 / 150
 Steady

Provincial elections
Election year States-Provincial
# of
overall votes		  % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/–
2023 228[14] 0.0%[13]
0 / 566
 Steady

Municipal elections
Advertisement used during the Amsterdam municipal elections
Election year Municipal council
Municipality Votes % # of
overall seats won		 +/−
2022
 Alkmaar 391[15] 0.85%
0 / 39
 Steady
 Amsterdam 2,399[16] 0.74%
0 / 45
 Steady
 Den Helder 161[17] 0.8%
0 / 31
 Steady
 Kerkrade 559[18] 3.4%
1 / 29
 New
 Nederweert 238[19] 3.06%
0 / 17
 Steady
 Tilburg 538[20] 0.74%
0 / 45
 Steady
 Tynaarlo 447[21] 2.71%
0 / 23
 Steady

References
  1. "Oprichting Hart voor Vrijheid" [Founding Heart for Freedom]. Peilingen Nederland (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  2. "Willem Engel derde op kieslijst Vrij en Sociaal Nederland" [Willem Engel third on electoral list Free and Social Netherlands]. NOS (in Dutch). 4 January 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  3. Quekel, Sebastiaan (17 January 2021). "Nu al ruzie in partij van Willem Engel: 'Niet op de kieslijst? Ik weet van niets'" [Already arguing in Willem Engel party: 'Not on the electoral list? I don't know anything']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  4. Lammers, Esther (15 February 2021). "Chaos bij partij Willem Engel: wil het echte Vrij en Sociaal Nederland opstaan?" [Chaos in party Willem Engel: will the real Free and Social Netherlands please stand up?] (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  5. "Uitspraken beroepszaken kandidaatstelling Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2021" [Rulings on appeals for candidacy for the 2021 House of Representatives election]. Kiesraad (in Dutch). 16 February 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  6. "Kandidatenlijsten verkiezing van de leden van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal" [Candidacy lists of the members of the House of Representatives of the States-General]. Staatscourant (in Dutch). 23 February 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  7. "Vouwblad partijen ontbreekt" [Folding page parties is missing]. Vlietnieuws (in Dutch). 27 February 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  8. "Kandidatenlijst" [Candidacy list]. Vrij en Sociaal Nederland (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  9. "Uitspraak 202100860/1/A2, 202100938/1/A2, 202100950/1/A2, 202100957/1/A2, 202100959/1/A2 en 202100974/1/A2". Raad van State (in Dutch). 16 February 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  10. Rosman, Cyril; Quekel, Sebastiaan (19 March 2021). "OM seponeert aangifte Willem Engel, Facebook plaatst disclaimer: 'Geen bewijs van verkiezingsfraude'" [Public Prosecution Service dismisses report Willem Engel, Facebook places disclaimer: 'No evidence of electoral fraud']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  11. "Gemeenteraadsverkiezingen" [Municipal elections]. Lijst30 (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  12. "Model P 22-1 Proces-verbaal van de verkiezingsuitslag van de Tweede Kamer" [Model P 22-1 Official report of the results of the House of Representatives election] (PDF). Staatscourant (in Dutch). 16 April 2021. p. 5. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  13. "Verkiezingsuitslagen voor Nederland" [Election results for the Netherlands]. Alle Cijfers (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  14. "Model P 22-1. Proces-verbaal van de uitslag van de verkiezing van de provinciale staten. De verkiezing van de leden van de provinciale staten van Limburg" [Model P 22-1. Official report of the results of the provincial council election. The election of the members of the provincial council of Limburg] (PDF). Provincie Limburg (in Dutch). 23 March 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  15. "Tellingsbestand Gemeenteraadsverkiezingen 2022" [Counting file Municipal Elections 2022]. Gemeente Alkmaar (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  16. "Verkiezingsuitslagen voor de gemeente Amsterdam" [Election results for the municipality of Amsterdam]. Alle Cijfers (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  17. "Verkiezingsuitslagen voor de gemeente Den Helder" [Election results for the municipality of Den Helder]. Alle Cijfers (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  18. "Verkiezingsuitslagen voor de gemeente Kerkrade" [Election results for the municipality of Kerkrade]. Alle Cijfers (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  19. "Verkiezingsuitslagen voor de gemeente Nederweert" [Election results for the municipality of Nederweert]. Alle Cijfers (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  20. "Verkiezingsuitslagen voor de gemeente Tilburg" [Election results for the municipality of Tilburg]. Alle Cijfers (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  21. "Verkiezingsuitslagen voor de gemeente Tynaarlo" [Election results for the municipality of Tynaarlo]. Alle Cijfers (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
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