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.
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 is currently acting in a demissionary capacity, scheduled to leave national politics following the installation of the next cabinet after the 2023 general election. Rutte was the leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 2006 through 2023. On 2 August 2022 he became the longest-serving prime minister in the history of the Netherlands.
General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 9 June 2010. This was triggered by the fall of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's fourth cabinet on 20 February with Queen Beatrix accepting the resignation of the Labour Party (PvdA) ministers on 23 February. The conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), led by Mark Rutte, won the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives while the social-democratic PvdA, led by Job Cohen, came a narrow second. The election was also noted for the rise of the Party for Freedom (PVV), which came third, led by controversial politician Geert Wilders. On the other hand, Balkenende's Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) saw a poor result, losing half its seats and dropping from first to fourth place. The Socialist Party (SP) also lost seats. Notably, the 31 seats won by the VVD was its most since 1998, and the one-seat margin between the VVD and PvdA is the closest on record.
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.
Wouter Koolmees is a Dutch economist and politician and of the Democrats 66 (D66) party who served as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the Third Rutte cabinet from 2017 to 2022. He also served as second Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 2019 to 2020 during Kajsa Ollongren's medical leave of absence. He is also the CEO of Nederlandse Spoorwegen.
Jkvr. Karin Hildur "Kajsa" Ollongren is a Dutch-Swedish politician serving as the Netherlands' Minister of Defence since 10 January 2022. A member of the Democrats 66 (D66), she previously served as Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and Deputy Prime Minister in the third Rutte cabinet (2017–2022), and briefly as Mayor of Amsterdam.
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.
Sophia Theodora Monique "Sophie" Hermans is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) who has sat in the House of Representatives since 2017. As of 11 January 2022 she is the VVD's parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives.
Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius is a Dutch politician who has served as Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy since 2023. She has also served as Minister of Justice and Security in the fourth Rutte cabinet since 10 January 2022. 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.
Early general elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 November 2023 to elect the members of the House of Representatives. The elections 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 immigration policy disagreements between the coalition parties. The incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that he would not lead his party into the election and that he would retire from politics.
Eelco Heinen is a Dutch politician, serving as a member of the House of Representatives since March 2021. He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and previously worked as a party staffer.
Ruben Pieter Brekelmans is a Dutch politician who has served as a member of the House of Representatives since 2021 on behalf of the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). He previously worked as a political assistant and civil servant at a few government ministries. As a parliamentarian, he focuses his work on foreign affairs and migration.
Ulysse Ellian is an Afghan-born Dutch lawyer and politician. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2021 general election on behalf of the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). Ellian also served as a municipal councilor in Almere between 2018 and 2021.
Mariëlle Lucienne Josepha Paul is a Dutch politician. A member of the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), she was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2021 general election, and she became Minister for Primary and Secondary Education as part of the fourth Rutte cabinet in July 2023. She previously worked as a communications director for several multinational corporations.
Peter Christiaan de Groot is a Dutch politician, who has been serving as a member of the House of Representatives since the 2021 general election. He is a member of the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), and he also served on the Harderwijk municipal council between 2014 and 2021.
Rudolf "Ruud" Verkuijlen is a Dutch police commissioner, civil servant, and politician. A member of the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he was appointed to the House of Representatives in September 2021 after having participated in the 2021 general election. He previously worked for the National Police and served on the Hilversum municipal council in the years 2014–21.
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.
Kim Putters is a Dutch public administrator, former politician and administrator. From 2003 to 15 June 2013 he was a Member of the Dutch Senate for the Labour Party. Since his retirement from the Dutch Senate, he was director of The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) until June 2022. Since September 16, 2022, he has been chairman of the Social and Economic Council (SER).
The Spreidingswet is a Dutch statute intended to better distribute asylum seekers across municipalities. Introduced by Minister for Migration Eric van der Burg, it was passed by the House of Representatives in October 2023 and by the Senate in January 2024.
