In 1963, Oud retired from politics, and was succeeded by the Minister of the InteriorEdzo Toxopeus. With Toxopeus as its leader, the VVD lost three seats in the1963 election, but remained in government after the1963 cabinet formation.[9] In 1962, a substantial group of disillusioned VVD members founded the Liberal Democratic Centre (Dutch:Liberaal Democratisch Centrum, LDC) which was intended to introduce a more twentieth-centuryliberal direction to theclassical liberal VVD.[citation needed]
In 1966, frustrated with their hopeless efforts, left-wing LDC members joined a new political party, theDemocrats 66 (D66). In 1965, there also occurred a conflict between VVD Ministers and their counterparts from the KVP and ARP in theMarijnen cabinet. The cabinet fell; without an election taking place, it was replaced bya KVP–ARP–PvdA cabinet underJo Cals, which itself fell during theNight of Schmelzer the following year. In the subsequent1967 election the VVD remained relatively stable and entered theDe Jong cabinet.[citation needed]
In theDutch general election of 1971, the VVD lost one seat and the cabinet lost its majority. A cabinet was formed by the Christian democratic parties, the VVD and the Labour Party offshootDemocratic Socialists '70. This cabinet collapsed after a few months. Meanwhile, the charismatic young MPHans Wiegel had attracted considerable attention. He became the new leader of the VVD. In 1971, he became the new parliamentary leader, and he was appointedlead candidate in 1972. Under Wiegel's leadership, the party oriented towards a new political course, aiming to reform the welfare state and cut taxes. Wiegel did not shrink from conflict with the Labour Party and thetrade unions.[citation needed] With this new course came a new electorate:working-class and middle-class voters who, because of individualisation anddepillarisation, were more easy to attract.[citation needed]
The course proved to be profitable: in the heavily polarisedgeneral election of 1972, the VVD gained six seats. The VVD was kept out of government by the social democratic and Christian democraticDen Uyl cabinet. Although the ties between the VVD and other organisations within the neutral pillar became ever looser, the number of neutral organisations friendly to the VVD grew.[citation needed] TheTROS and laterVeronica, new broadcasters which entered theNetherlands Public Broadcasting, were friendly to the VVD. In 1977, the VVD again won six seats, bringing its total to twenty-eight seats. When lengthy formation talks between the social democrats and Christian democrats eventually led to a final break between the two parties, the VVD formedcabinet with theChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA), with a majority of only two seats.
In thegeneral election of 1981, the VVD lost two seats and its partner the CDA lost even more. The cabinet was without a majority and a CDA, Labour and D66cabinet was formed, falling after only a few months. In 1982, Hans Wiegel left Parliament to becomeQueen's Commissioner inFriesland and was succeeded byEd Nijpels. In thegeneral election of 1982 Nijpels' VVD gained ten seats, bringing its total up to 36. Once again, it formed theFirst Lubbers cabinet with the CDA. The cabinet began a programme of radical reform of the welfare state, which is still in place today.[citation needed] The VVD lost nine seats in the1986 election but the cabinet nonetheless retained its majority. The losses were blamed on Nijpels, who stood down as leader of the VVD. He was succeeded byJoris Voorhoeve. In 1989 the CDA–VVD cabinet fell over a minor issue, and the VVD lost five seats in thesubsequent election, leaving only twenty-two. The VVD was kept out of government, and Voorhoeve stood down and was succeeded byFrits Bolkestein.[citation needed]
Bolkestein's VVD was one of the winners of thegeneral election of 1994: the party gained nine seats. It formed an unprecedented government with theLabour Party (PvdA) and the social liberalDemocrats 66. The so-called "purplecabinet" led byWim Kok was the first Dutch government without any Christian parties since 1918. Like many of his predecessors, Bolkestein remained in parliament. His political style was characterised as "opposition to one's own government.[10] This style was very successful[citation needed] and the VVD gained another seven seats in the1998 election, becoming the second largest party in parliament with thirty-eight seats. The VVD formed asecond Purple cabinet with the Labour Party and D66. Bolkestein left Dutch politics in 1999 to becomeEuropean Commissioner. He was replaced by the moretechnocratic and social liberalHans Dijkstal.
Thegeneral election of 2006 did not start off well for the VVD: Mark Rutte was criticised by his ownparliamentary party for being invisible in the campaign, and he was unable to break the attention away from the duel between then-Prime MinisterJan Peter Balkenende of the Christian democrats andWouter Bos of the Labour Party. However, the VVD's campaign started relatively late.[12] Theelection polls showed losses for the VVD; the former VVD deputy Prime MinisterHans Wiegel blamed a poor VVD campaign for this, caused by the heavily contested VVD leadership run-off between Mark Rutte and Rita Verdonk earlier in the year. Verdonk had her eyes on the deputy-minister post, while cabinet posts are normally decided upon by the political leader of the VVD.[13] On election day, the party received enough votes for twenty-two seats, a loss of six seats. When the official election results were announced on Monday 27 November 2006, preferential votes became known as well, showing that Rita Verdonk, the second candidate on the list, had obtained more votes than the VVD'slead candidate, Mark Rutte. Rutte had received 553,200 votes, while Verdonk had received 620,555.[14] This led Verdonk to call for a party commission that would investigate the party leadership position, as a consequence of the situation of her obtaining more votes in the general election than Rutte, creating a short-lived crisis in the party.[15] A crisis was averted when Rutte called for an ultimatum on his leadership, which Verdonk had to reconcile to, by rejecting her proposal for a party commission.[16] During 2007, signs of VVD infighting continued to play in the media. In June 2007, the former VVD minister Dekker presented a report on the previous election, showing that the VVD lacked clear leadership roles, however the report did not single out individuals for blame for the party's losses.[17]
Mark Rutte, leader from 2006 until 2023 and Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 2010 until 2024.
After Verdonk renewed her criticism of the party in September 2007, she was expelled from the parliamentary faction, and subsequently relinquished her membership of the party, after reconciliation attempts had proven futile.[18][19] Verdonk started her own political movement,Proud of the Netherlands, subsequently. In opinion polls held after Verdonk's exit, the VVD was set to lose close to ten parliamentary seats in the next election.[20][21][22]
After the2010 general election the VVD became the largest party with 31 seats and was the senior party in acentre-right minorityFirst Rutte cabinet with theChristian Democratic Appeal supported by theParty for Freedom (PVV) ofGeert Wilders to obtain a majority. Rutte was sworn in as Prime Minister on 21 October 2010. Not only was it the first time that the VVD had led a government, but it was the first liberal-led government in 92 years. However, on 21 April 2012, after failed negotiations with the PVV on renewed budget cuts, the government became unstable and Mark Rutte deemed it likely that a new election would be held in 2012.[23] On election day, 12 September 2012, the VVD remained the largest party in parliament, winning 41 seats, a gain of 10 seats.
After the2012 general election, the VVD entered into a ruling coalition with theLabour Party as its junior coalition partner. This coalition lasted a full term, but lost its majority at the2017 election; the VVD itself lost eight seats, though remained the largest party with 33.[24] Rutte became Prime Minister again, forming a centre-right greencabinet with theChristian Democratic Appeal,Democrats 66 and theChristian Union. In March 2021, VVD was the winner of thegeneral election, securing 34 out of 150 seats. Prime Minister Mark Rutte, in power since 2010, formed his fourth VVD-led coalition.[25]
After thefourth Rutte cabinet broke down due to disagreements over migration policy, a new election was called for 22 November 2023. Rutte announced that he would step down as leader of the VVD.[26]Dilan Yeşilgöz became the new leader of the party in August 2023 after running unopposed in the leadership election.[27] Following the2023 general election, the VVD was reduced to 24 seats in the House of Representatives. It enteredformation talks with the Party for Freedom, the election winner, and the new partiesNew Social Contract andFarmer–Citizen Movement, leading to the right-wingSchoof cabinet.[28]
The principles of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy were outlined in the "Liberal Manifesto" (Dutch:Liberaal Manifest) and latterly the election programmes. The Liberal Manifesto was a general outlook on the direction of the party would like to mirror itself and is an extension of the party's foundational principles. The election programmes are more oriented to practical politics, for example, winning the elections on-the-day and by any means possible. The last Liberal Manifesto of the VVD was published in September 2005. It developed a broad outline around the themes ofdemocracy,security,freedom andcitizenship, along with a vision of the future of party's internal structure. Below some of the points from the Manifesto are presented:[37]
Historically, the VVD electorate consisted mainly ofsecularmiddle-class[43] andupper-class voters, with a strong support from entrepreneurs. Under the leadership of Wiegel, the VVD started to expand its appeal toworking class voters.
The highest organ of the VVD is the General Assembly, in which all members present have a single vote. It convenes usually twice every year. It appoints the party board and decides on the party programme.
The order of the First Chamber, Second Chamber and European Parliament candidates list is decided by areferendum under all members voting by internet, phone or mail. If contested, thelead candidate of a candidates lists is appointed in a separate referendum in advance. Since 2002 the General Assembly can call for a referendum on other subjects too.
About 90 members elected by the members in meetings of the regional branches form the Party Council, which advises the Party Board in the months that the General Assembly does not convene. This is an important forum within the party. The party board handles the daily affairs of the party.
The education institute of the VVD is theHaya van Someren Foundation. TheTelders Foundation is the party's scientific institute and publishes the magazineLiberaal Reveil every two months. The party published the magazineLiber bi-monthly.
Petia Kostadoniva; Robert Thomson (2024)."Parties in Government". In Neil Robinson; Rory Costello (eds.).Comparative European Politics: Distinctive Democracies, Common Challenges (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 115.ISBN978-0-19-286644-8.
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