The Reformed Political Party ( nl, Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) is a conservative
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...
[These sources describe the SGP as a Calvinist political party:
*
*
*
*
*] political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. The term ''Reformed'' is not a reference to political reform but is a synonym for
Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
—a major branch of
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
. The SGP is the oldest political party in the Netherlands existing in its present form, and has been in opposition for its entire existence. Since 1925, it has won between 1.6% and 2.5% of the votes in general elections. Owing to its orthodox political ideals and its traditional role in the opposition, the party has been called a
testimonial party
A testimonial party () is a political party that focuses on its principles, instead of adapting them to local or temporal issues in the pursuit of coalition government participation. In the Netherlands
It is a peculiar phenomenon in the Netherlan ...
. Since the
general election of 2012, it has held 3 of the 150 seats of 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 ...
.
Party history
Foundation
The SGP was founded on 24 April 1918, by several conservative members of the Protestant
Anti-Revolutionary Party
The Anti-Revolutionary Party ( nl, Anti-Revolutionaire Partij, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and mi ...
(ARP). They did not support
female suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
which the ARP had made possible. Furthermore, they were against the alliance the ARP had formed with the
General League of Roman Catholic Caucuses
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...
. The leading figure in the party's foundation was
Yerseke pastor
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
Gerrit Hendrik Kersten, who envisioned a Netherlands "without
cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
...
, sports,
vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...
and
social security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
".
1922–1945
The party entered the
1918 general elections, but was unable to win any seats. In the
1922 election, the party entered Parliament when Kersten won a seat 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 ...
. In this period the SGP became most noted for proposing, during the annual parliamentary debate on the budget of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, to abolish Dutch representation to the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
. Each year, the Protestant
Christian Historical Union
The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged i ...
(CHU) also voted in favour of this motion. The CHU was in cabinet with the Catholic General League, but many of its members and supporters still had strong feelings against the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. In 1925, the left-wing opposition (the
Free-thinking Democratic League
The Free-thinking Democratic League ( nl, Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond, VDB) was a progressive liberal political party in the Netherlands. Established in 1901, it played a relatively large role in Dutch politics, supplying one Prime Minister, ...
and
Social Democratic Workers' Party) also voted in favour of the motion. They were indifferent to the representation at the Holy See, but saw the issue as an opportunity to divide the
confessional cabinet. The cabinet fell over this issue, in what is known as the ''Nacht van Kersten'' ("Night of Kersten").
The party gained another seat in the
1925 election, and a third seat in the
1929 election. It retained three seats in the
1933 election, but lost a seat in the
1937 election, in which the ARP led by prime minister
Hendrikus Colijn
Hendrikus "Hendrik" Colijn (22 June 1869 – 18 September 1944) was a Dutch politician of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP; now defunct and merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from ...
performed particularly well. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Kersten cooperated with the German occupiers to allow his paper, the ''Banier'', to be printed. He also condemned the
Dutch Resistance, saying the German invasion was divine retribution for desecrating the Lord's Day. After the war, he was branded a collaborator and permanently stripped of his seat in the House of Representatives.
1945–present
![SGP logo (2000–2016)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/SGP_logo_%282000%E2%80%932016%29.svg)
Kersten was succeeded by , under whose leadership the SGP was very stable, continually getting 2% of votes.
In the 1956 election, the SGP profited from the enlargement of Parliament, and entered the
Senate for the first time. It lost that seat in 1960, but regained it in 1971. In 1961 Zandt died and was succeeded by , a chemist. After ten years he stood down in favour of Reverend Hette Abma, who also stepped down after ten years, in favour of Henk van Rossum, a civil engineer.
In the 1984 European Parliament election, the SGP joined the two other orthodox Protestant parties (the
Reformatory Political Federation
The Reformatory Political Federation ( nl, Reformatorische Politieke Federatie; RPF) was a minor Protestant Christian political party in the Netherlands.
History
The RPF was founded in 1975 by three groups of orthodox Christians. The first grou ...
(RPF) and the
Reformed Political League
The Reformed Political LeagueTranslation used by Andeweg and Irwin in ''Governance and Politics of the Netherlands'' (2002: 45) ( nl, Gereformeerd Politiek Verbond, GPV) was an orthodox Protestant political party in the Netherlands. The GPV is o ...
(GPV)). They won one seat in the European Parliament, which was taken by SGP member
Leen van der Waal, a mechanical engineer. In 1986, Van Rossum was succeeded by
Bas van der Vlies
Bastiaan Johannis "Bas" van der Vlies (29 June 1942 – 7 November 2021) was a Dutch politician of the Reformed Political Party (SGP) and teacher.
He was an MP from 10 June 1981 to 17 June 2010. He was also both Parliamentary leader and Leader ...
, who led the party till March 2010, when he was succeeded by
Kees van der Staaij. In the
1994 election the party lost one seat in the House,
regained it in 1998, and
lost it again in 2002. After the
general election of 2003, the
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-Revolution ...
(CDA) and the
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...
(VVD) held talks with the SGP — the first time in memory that the SGP was seriously considered as a possible coalition partner. Ultimately, the
Democrats 66 joined the
second Balkenende cabinet
The second Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 27 May 2003 until 7 July 2006. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the conservative-liberal Peo ...
instead of the SGP, mostly because of the ideological differences between VVD and SGP.
On 7 September 2005, the district court of The Hague judged that the party could no longer receive subsidies from the government, because women were not allowed to hold positions in the party. This was found to be a violation of the 1981
UN Treaty on Women in which the Netherlands committed to fighting discrimination. It also was a violation of the first article of the
Dutch constitution
The Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Grondwet voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) is one of two fundamental documents governing the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as the fundamental law of the European territory of the ...
, the principle of non-discrimination. The Dutch Council of State overturned the decision nevertheless, maintaining that a party's political philosophy takes precedence, and that women have the opportunity to join other political parties where they can obtain a leadership role. Nevertheless, in two cassation cases brought by the State and the SGP, the Supreme Court confirmed the judgement of the district court on 9 April 2010. The complaint lodged by the SGP against the ruling of the Supreme Court with the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...
was declared inadmissible in 2012. The Court considered further action against the SGP desirable, but could not rule on this, because this was not at issue in this case.
Female members of the
Reformed Political Party Youth (SGPJ), which did allow female membership, said however that they did not feel discriminated or repressed. During a party congress on 24 June 2006, the SGP lifted the ban on female membership. Political positions inside and outside the party are open to women. On 19 March 2014, the first female SGP delegate was
elected to the municipal council in
Vlissingen
Vlissingen (; zea, label= Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river ...
.
Ideology and issues
As a
Protestant fundamentalist party,
the SGP draws much from its ideology from the
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...
tradition, specifically the ecclesiastical doctrinal standards known as the
Three Forms of Unity
The Three Forms of Unity is a collective name for the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort, and the Heidelberg Catechism, which reflect the doctrinal concerns of continental Calvinism and are accepted as official statements of doctrine by many Ca ...
, including an unamended version of the
Belgic Confession (''Nederlandse Geloofsbelijdenis''). The latter text is explicitly mentioned in the first principle of the party, where it is stated that the SGP strives towards a government totally based on the Bible. This first principle also states that the uncut version of the Belgic Confession is meant, which adds the task of opposing anti-Christian powers to the description of the government's roles and tasks. The party is a strict defender of the
separation between church and state
The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...
, rejecting "both the
state church and church state". Both church and state are believed to have distinct roles in society, while working towards the same goal, but despite this, some accuse the SGP of advocating for theocracy. The SGP opposes
freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...
, but advocates
freedom of conscience instead, noting that "the obedience to the Law of God cannot be forced".
The SGP opposes
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
and concludes, on Biblical grounds, that
men and women are of equal value (''gelijkwaardig'') but inherently different (''verschillend''). Men and women, so the party claims, have different places in society. This belief led to restricting party membership to men until 2006, when this restriction became subject to controversy and was eventually removed. It has traditionally opposed
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...
, seeking to replace this with a form of "organic suffrage" ( nl, huismanskiesrecht, "suffrage of the
pater familias
The ''pater familias'', also written as ''paterfamilias'' (plural ''patres familias''), was the head of a Roman family. The ''pater familias'' was the oldest living male in a household, and could legally exercise autocratic authority over his ext ...
") restricted to male heads of households.
In the
2018 local elections, the party for the first time allowed several women to lead
lists.
In controversial discussions in the Dutch House of Representatives ''(Tweede Kamer)'', the SGP often stresses the importance of the
rule of law,
parliamentary procedure
Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Its object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense ...
and
rules of order
Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Its object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense or ...
, regardless of ideological agreement. The party favours the re-introduction of the
death penalty in the Netherlands. They base this on the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
, specifically on
Genesis 9:6, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man", and
Exodus 21:12, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death."
The party also supports a ban on the
burqa
A burqa or a burka, or , and ur, , it is also transliterated as burkha, bourkha, burqua or burqu' or borgha' and is pronounced natively . It is generally pronounced in the local variety of Arabic or variety of Persian, which varies. Examp ...
in certain public places, but argues this from a security rather than religious standpoint. In foreign policy, the SGP calls for a radical reform of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
and opposes any further political or geographical expansion of the EU. It also calls for only the Dutch flag to be flown from official government buildings, a cut in Dutch financial contributions to the EU and opposes the potential
accession of Turkey to the European Union
Turkey is negotiating its accession to the European Union (EU) as a member state, following its application to become a full member of the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the EU, on 14 April 1987.
After the ten founding ...
.
Electoral results
House of Representatives
Provincial government
In provincial governments, the party participates in the
Zeeland
, nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge")
, anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem")
, image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg
, map_alt =
, m ...
provincial executive. There, the party is the strongest, with over 10% of the vote. It has 18 members of
provincial legislature independently, while another two seats were won by combined lists with the
Christian Union.
The table below shows the election results of the
2019 provincial election in each province. It shows the areas where the Reformed Political Party is strong, especially in the
Bible Belt
The Bible Belt is a region of the Southern United States in which socially conservative Protestant Christianity plays a strong role in society and politics, and church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's a ...
, which is a string of
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
stretching from Zeeland, via parts of South Holland, Utrecht and Gelderland, up to Overijssel.
* result of combined
ChristianUnion
The Christian Union ( nl, ChristenUnie, CU) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU is a centrist party, maintaining more progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues while holding more social ...
/SGP lists.
Municipal government
6 of the 342
mayors of the Netherlands are members of the SGP, and the party participates in several
local executives, usually in municipalities located within the Bible Belt. The party has 40
aldermen
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members the ...
and 244 members of
local legislature. In many municipalities where the SGP is weaker, it cooperates with the
ChristenUnie, presenting common lists.
Representation
This is a list of representations of Reformed Political Party in the Dutch parliament, as well as the provincial, municipal and European elections. The party's ''
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 ...
'' has been the same as the ''
fractievoorzitter
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 their ...
'' (parliamentary group leader) of that year in every election.
Leadership
House of Representatives
The party has three representatives 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 ...
:
*
Kees van der Staaij,
Parliamentary group 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 their ...
*
Roelof Bisschop
Roelof Bisschop (born 30 November 1956 in Staphorst) is a Dutch historian and politician. As a member of the Reformed Political Party (SGP) he has been an House of Representatives (Netherlands), MP since 20 September 2012. Previously he was a memb ...
*
Chris Stoffer)
Senate
Since the
2015 Senate elections, the party has had two representatives in the
Senate:
*
Peter Schalk,
Senate group 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 legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. T ...
*
Diederik van Dijk
Diederik J.H. van Dijk (born 22 November 1971 in Driebergen-Rijsenburg) is a Dutch non-executive director and a politician of the Reformed Political Party (SGP). Since 9 June 2015 he has been a member of the Senate.
Van Dijk studied law at Ut ...
European Parliament
Since the
1984 European Parliament election
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
the party has one elected representative in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
. From 1984 to 1997
Leen van der Waal was the representative, from
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
Bas Belder
Bastiaan "Bas" Belder (born 25 October 1946) is a Dutch politician and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands. He is a member of the Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, part of the European Conservatives and Reformists.
...
was the party's representative, succeeded by
Bert-Jan Ruissen in the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peop ...
. In the European elections, the SGP formed one parliamentary candidate list with the
Christian Union, called
Christian Union-SGP. Currently the SGP is in the
European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament.
*
Bert-Jan Ruissen, member
Electorate
![Sgpstemmen1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Sgpstemmen1.png)
The SGP has had a very stable electorate since first entering the States-General in 1922. Since winning a second seat in 1926, it has usually varied between two and three seats in the House of Representatives. The party has been called “an almost perfect illustration of Duverger's category of 'fossilised' minor party."
Most of its electorate is formed by so-called "bevindelijk gereformeerden", Reformed Christians for whom personal religious experience is very important. This group is formed by several smaller churches such as the
Christian Reformed Churches
The Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands ( nl, Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland) is a Protestant church in the Netherlands.
History
The original name of the church was Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands ('' ...
,
Reformed Congregations
The Reformed Congregations (in Dutch: Gereformeerde Gemeenten, abbreviated GerGem) is a conservative Reformed church with 152 congregations in the Netherlands, 1 in Randburg, South Africa and 1 congregation in Carterton, New Zealand. The ...
,
Restored Reformed Church
The Restored Reformed Church ( nl, Hersteld Hervormde Kerk, abbreviated HHK) is a Calvinist denomination in the Netherlands. It was founded in 2004, from congregations which made up the orthodox-reformed wing of the Dutch Reformed Church; t ...
, and
Old-Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands, as well as the conservative wing of the
Protestant Church in the Netherlands, the
Reformed Association. However, not all members of these churches / church wings vote SGP.
The SGP's support is concentrated geographically in the
Dutch bible belt, a band of strongly Reformed and mostly rural municipalities ranging from
Zeeland
, nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge")
, anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem")
, image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg
, map_alt =
, m ...
in the South via
Goeree-Overflakkee
Goeree-Overflakkee () is the southernmost delta island of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is separated from Voorne-Putten and Hoeksche Waard by the Haringvliet, from the mainland of North Brabant by the Volkerak, and from Schou ...
and the
Alblasserwaard
The Alblasserwaard () is a polder in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is mainly known for the windmills of Kinderdijk, located near the village of Kinderdijk in the polder's northwestern part.
History
The first human inhabita ...
in
South Holland and the
Veluwe
The Veluwe () is a forest-rich ridge of hills (1100 km2) in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. The Veluwe features many different landscapes, including woodland, heath, some small lakes and Europe's largest sand drifts.
The Ve ...
in
Gelderland
Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...
to the Western part of
Overijssel, around
Staphorst
Staphorst () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands.
History
The villages of Staphorst and its southern neighbour Rouveen came into existence as in the 13th century monks started to bring the bogs and swamps into culture.
All ...
. The SGP also performs well on the former island
Urk
Urk () is a municipality and a town in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands.
Urk is first mentioned in historical records dating to the 10th century, when it was still an island in the Zuiderzee, an inland sea that would become part ...
as well as in
Uddel
Uddel is a village in the Netherlands, on the Veluwe, in the municipality of Apeldoorn, Gelderland, Netherlands. Uddel is located on the N310 from Elburg to Arnhem. The oldest mention of Uddel dates back to the year 792, as the settlement Uttiloc ...
; in both places it received an outright majority of the vote in 2017, as well as in 2021.
Organisation
Organisational structure
The highest organ of the SGP is the congress, which is formed by delegates from the municipal branches. It convenes once every year. It appoints the party board and decides the order of the Senate, House of Representatives, European Parliament candidates list and has the last say over the party program. The SGP chairman is always a
minister. Since 2001 this position is ceremonial, as the general chair leads the party's organisation.
The party has 245 municipal branches and has a provincial federation in each province, except for
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
.
Linked organisations
The party publishes the Banner two-weekly since 1921. The scientific institute of the party is called the , which publishes the magazine Zicht (Sight). The youth organisation of the SGP is called the
Reformed Political Party Youth (SGPJ), which with its approximately 12,000 members is the largest political youth organization in the Netherlands.
The SGP participates in the
Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, a democracy assistance organisation of seven Dutch political parties.
Pillarised organisations
The SGP has close links with several other orthodox Protestant organisations, such as several reformed churches and the newspaper ''
Reformatorisch Dagblad
The ''Reformatorisch Dagblad'' (; " Reformed Daily") is a Dutch Protestant newspaper with a circulation of around 60,000, headquartered in Apeldoorn. The conservative newspaper was founded in 1971 and is associated with the Reformed Political Par ...
''. Together they form a small but strong orthodox-reformed
pillar
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
.
Relationships to other parties
Until 1963, the SGP was relatively isolated in parliament. The strongly antipapal SGP refused to cooperate with either the
Catholic People's Party
The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...
or the secular
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...
(VVD) and
Labour Party (PvdA). The also Protestant, larger
Anti-Revolutionary Party
The Anti-Revolutionary Party ( nl, Anti-Revolutionaire Partij, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and mi ...
(ARP) had some sympathy for the SGP, but cooperated more tightly with the KVP and the other Protestant party, the
Christian Historical Union
The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged i ...
(CHU). In 1963 another orthodox Protestant party, the
Reformed Political League
The Reformed Political LeagueTranslation used by Andeweg and Irwin in ''Governance and Politics of the Netherlands'' (2002: 45) ( nl, Gereformeerd Politiek Verbond, GPV) was an orthodox Protestant political party in the Netherlands. The GPV is o ...
(GPV) entered parliament, in 1981 they were joined by the
Reformatory Political Federation
The Reformatory Political Federation ( nl, Reformatorische Politieke Federatie; RPF) was a minor Protestant Christian political party in the Netherlands.
History
The RPF was founded in 1975 by three groups of orthodox Christians. The first grou ...
(RPF). Together these three parties formed the "Small Christian parties". They shared the same orthodox Protestant political ideals and had the same political strategy, as
testimonial parties. They cooperated in municipalities, both in
municipal executives, where the parties were strong, as well as in common municipal parties, where the parties were weak. In the
1984 European Parliamentary election the parties presented a common list and they won one seat in parliament. After 1993 the cooperation between the GPV and the RPF intensified, but the SGP's position at the time on
female suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
prevented the SGP joining this closer cooperation. However, in 2000 the GPV and RPF merged to form the
ChristianUnion
The Christian Union ( nl, ChristenUnie, CU) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU is a centrist party, maintaining more progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues while holding more social ...
(CU). Traditionally the SGP and the CU worked together closely as they were both based on Protestant Christian
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
. Recently however, as the CU has moved more towards the centre-left, discernible differences of philosophy between the SGP and CU have caused the parties to not join in elections. The most notable example was the 2011 senate election where the SGP and CU did not combine their votes.
Prime Minister
Mark Rutte
Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006.
After a business career working for Unileve ...
's
first government depended on the SGP's support in the
Senate to pass legislation where it fell one seat short of a majority in the
2011 provincial elections. As a result, the party was able to achieve a number of its own political objectives: continuing child support for larger families, and restricting business hours on Sundays.
As previously mentioned, it was seriously considered as a coalition partner in 2003. These are among the few times in recent memory that the SGP has had any national impact.
Notes
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External links
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{{Authority control
Anti-suffragist organizations
European Conservatives and Reformists member parties
Calvinism in the Netherlands
Confessional parties in the Netherlands
Conservative parties in the Netherlands
Dutch Reformed Church
Political parties established in 1918
Political parties in the Netherlands
Protestant political parties
Social conservative parties
1918 establishments in the Netherlands
Monarchist parties in the Netherlands
Eurosceptic parties in the Netherlands
Organisations based in South Holland
Gouda, South Holland