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Freedom Party Partij van de Vrijheid | |
|---|---|
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| Leader | Steven Bierema |
| Founded | 23 March 1946 |
| Dissolved | 24 January 1948 |
| Preceded by | Liberal State Party |
| Merged into | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy |
| Ideology | Conservative liberalism Classical liberalism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| International affiliation | Liberal International |
| Colors | Blue |
TheFreedom Party (Dutch:Partij van de Vrijheid, PvdV) was a short-livedconservative liberal[1]political party in the Netherlands active from 1946 to 1948. The PvdV was the successor of theLiberal State Party and a predecessor of the modern-dayPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).[1]
The PvdV was founded on 23 March 1946 by a group around the young liberal Korthals and the director ofHeineken. After the foundation they were joined by the rest of the top of the pre-warLiberal State Party. The party was supposed to be lessconservative and more modern that its predecessor. In 1948 it merged withsocial liberal dissidents from theLabour Party, led byPieter Oud, to become thePeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). In the 1946 elections it received six seats and it was confined to a minor position in opposition.
The PvdV wasclassical liberal party with progressive leanings, committed toindividual freedom andfree market economics.
This table shows the PvdV's results in elections to theHouse of Representatives,Senate andStates-Provincial, as well as the party's political leadership: thefractievoorzitter, is the chair of the parliamentary party and the lead candidate is the party's top candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader.
| Year | HoR | S | SP | Parliamentary leader | Lead candidate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | 6 | 3 | 37 | Steven Bierema | multiple including Bierema |
| 1947 | 6 | 3 | 37 | Steven Bierema | no elections |
The PvdV mainly received support fromatheists orlatitudinarianProtestants fromhigher classes: businessmen, civil servants, wealthy farmers, and voters with free professions (such as lawyers and doctors). The party performed particularly well in the major trading citiesAmsterdam andRotterdam, the rich municipalities aroundHilversum andThe Hague and in northern rural provinces, likeGroningen andDrenthe.
The PvdV lacked a real system ofpillarized organisations around it. 'Neutral' organisations, which were not linked to a pillar, often had friendly relations with the PvdV. This included the general broadcasting associationAVRO (Algemene Verenigde Radio Omroep, General United Radio Broadcasting Organisation), the general unionANWV (Algemene Nederlandse Werkelieden Vereniging, the General Dutch Workers' Association), furthermore the neutral employers' organisationVNO and the financial paperHet Handelsblad had good relations with the party.
