The Party for the North ( nl, Partij voor het Noorden, ''PvhN'') is a regional

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 ...

founded in December 2002 representing the interests of the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

and

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nove ...

. The PvhN seeks a separate Parliament for these 3 northern provinces, and for 25% of the country's profits from

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...

to go directly to them.

Elections

Since 11 March 2003 the PvhN has had two seats on the

States-Provincial The provincial council (, PS), also known as the States Provincial, is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has ...

of Groningen, and (since 6 March 2006) one seat on the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

Delfzijl Delfzijl (; gos, Delfsiel) is a city and former municipality with a population of 25,651 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Delfzijl was a sluice between the Delf and the Ems, which became fortified settlement in ...

. In the States-Provincial elections of 7 March 2007 the Party remained stable, getting 3.6% of the vote and being reduced from 2 to 1 seat in Groningen due to the reduction in the total number of seats in each States-Provincial. In

and

, where the party fought for the first time in the 2007 elections, it won no seats that year. In the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

the Party for the North has allied with the

Independent Senate Group The Independent Politics Netherlands ( nl, Onafhankelijke Politiek Nederland, OPNL) formerly known as the Independent Senate Group (Onafhankelijke Senaatsfractie) is a political party in the Dutch Senate with one senator, representing several pro ...

(OSF). The OSF has won one seat in the Senate, by Henk ten Hoeve at

Stiens Stiens is a town in the municipality of Leeuwarden, Netherlands. As of January 2017, the town has a population of about 7,545. Between 1944 and 2018, it was the capital of the municipality of Leeuwarderadeel. History The village was first mentione ...

European Parliament

In 2004 the party participated in the elections for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

. The party obtained 18,234 votes (0.4% of the vote overall, though this rose to 4-5% of the vote in some northern municipalities), not enough for a seat.

City councils

In the March 2006 city-council (''Gemeenteraad'') elections, the PvhN for the first time contested in three cities (

and Emmen). In Delfzijl the party won one seat. {{DEFAULTSORT:Party For The North Regionalist parties in the Netherlands Politics of Drenthe Politics of Friesland Politics of Groningen (province) Political parties established in 2002 2002 establishments in the Netherlands