The 2012

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

leadership election was called to elect the new

Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal The Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal is the most senior politician within the Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, CDA) in the Netherlands.The current leader has been Wopke Hoekstra since 10 December 2020. H ...

after incumbent

Maxime Verhagen Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen (; born 14 September 1956) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and historian. Verhagen studied Contemporary history at the Leiden University obtaining a Master of Arts degre ...

announced his retirement from national politics. Verhagen who had been the acting leader of the party since the resignation of

Jan Peter Balkenende Jan Pieter "Jan Peter" Balkenende Jr. (; born 7 May 1956) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010. Balkenende studied H ...

on 9 June 2010 did not stand for the leadership election.

Sybrand van Haersma Buma Sybrand van Haersma Buma (; born 30 July 1965) is a Dutch politician serving as Mayor of Leeuwarden since 2019. Until 2019, he was a member of the House of Representatives from 2002 who also served as the parliamentary leader of the Christian D ...

the

Parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are the ...

of the

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

beat the other candidates in the first round with 51.4% of the votes.

Background

For the Dutch general election of 2010, Balkenende, for a fourth time as

Lijsttrekker In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the leader of a political party in an election to a legislative body. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government. In open list electoral systems, it is t ...

, resigned his position as leader on 9 June 2010, taking political responsibility for the CDA's disappointing results in the election. He remained as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

until the new Rutte cabinet I was installed on 14 October 2010. After the formation of the 2010 Dutch cabinet,

the unofficial Deputy leader of the CDA, and Mark Rutte the

Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is the most senior politician within the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, VVD) in the Netherlands. The post is currently held by Mar ...

agreed on a coalition with the

Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...

(PVV). Verhagen became

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation in the Rutte cabinet I. Verhagen shared some of the party leadership with

Ruth Peetoom Gerhardine Ruth Peetoom (born 25 July 1967) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). She is the Party Chair of the Christian Democratic Appeal since 2 April 2011. Biography Peetoom is born in the province of North Braba ...

, the Party chair and

, the

of the

in the

. The coalition was a minority cabinet, but with the support of the

, it had a small majority in the

House of Representatives of the Netherlands The House of Representatives (, pronounced ; commonly referred to as the ', literally "Second Chamber of the States General") is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General, the other one being the Senate. ...

until 20 March 2012, the day

Hero Brinkman Hero Brinkman (born 29 December 1964, in Almelo) is a police officer and former Netherlands, Dutch politician. He was a House of Representatives of the Netherlands, member of parliament from 30 November 2006 to 19 September 2012, after being ele ...

left the PVV. Although Brinkman had stated he would continue supporting the minority cabinet as an independent politician, the PVV withdrew its support on 21 April 2012 after negotiations on new austerity measures collapsed. His withdrawal paved the way for early elections.

Candidates

Candidates were able to participate until 5 May 2012. The following CDA members announced their candidacy.

Results

On 18 May 2012

got 51.4% of the votes, and a second round was not necessary.Buma gekozen tot lijsttrekker CDA
'' NOS''

Declined to run

The following people, who were speculated to be potential candidates for the leadership election but publicly denied interest, declared that they would not run, or decided to retire from politics. *

** Current: Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation and

*** Former:

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Minister for Development Cooperation The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation ( nl, Minister voor Buitenlandse Handel en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking) is a Minister without Portfolio (Netherlands), Minister without Portfolio in the Netherlands. The officeholder, who i ...

, Member of the House of Representatives,

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

Jan Kees de Jager Jan Cornelis "Jan Kees" de Jager (born 10 February 1969) is a former Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and businessman. He was State Secretary for Finance between 2007 and 2010 and later Minister for Finance betwe ...

** Current:

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

*** Former: State Secretary for

Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

, Member of the House of Representatives *

Marja van Bijsterveldt Janneke Marlene "Marja" van Bijsterveldt-Vliegenthart (born 27 June 1961) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). She has been mayor of Delft since 2 September 2016. Early life Van Bijsterveldt attended nursing scho ...

** Current: Minister of Education, Culture and Science *** Former: State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science, Member of the House of Representatives, Party chair,

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Schipluiden Schipluiden is a village in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is the seat of the council of the municipality of Midden-Delfland. The village was founded relatively late in the 15th century and evolved around the Keen ...

Camiel Eurlings Camiel Martinus Petrus Stephanus Eurlings (; born 16 September 1973) is a Dutch politician and businessman. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he served as Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management from 2007 to 201 ...

** Former: Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Member of the House of Representatives,

* Ab Klink ** Former: Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, Member of the House of Representatives, Member of the Senate

References

External links

*
Official site
''Christian Democratic Appeal'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Christian Democratic Appeal leadership election, 2012 Christian Democratic Appeal 2012 elections in the Netherlands Political party leadership elections in the Netherlands Christian Democratic Appeal leadership election