Union 55+ (in Dutch: ''Unie 55+'') was a Dutch pensioners' political party. The Union was somewhat successful in the 1994 elections but disappeared four years later.

Party History

Union 55+ was founded on 24 September 1992. During the 1994 election campaign one of the governing parties, CDA announced that it would cut

government pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

s. This made Union 55+ very attractive to the elderly. The party won one seat. The

General Elderly Alliance The General Elderly Alliance (in Dutch: ''Algemeen Ouderen Verbond'', AOV) was a Dutch pensioners' political party. The AOV was very successful in the 1994 elections but disappeared four years later. Party History The AOV was founded on December ...

(Algemeen Ouderen Verbond, AOV), another party seeking to represent the elderly won six seats. The two parties had formed an electoral alliance. The party's sole representative was Bertus Leerkes. While the six members of the AOV spent their time fighting with each other, Leerkes became a well-respected spokesperson for the elderly.Bertus Leerkes
on parlement.com "had als Kamerlid meer aanzien dan zijn collega's van het AOV." "had more respect from his fellow MPs than his colleagues of the AOV" The party continually sought to cooperate with the AOV. In 1995 they formed communal lists for the 1995 provincial elections. Before the 1998 general elections Union 55+ formed a new party with the AOV, the Elderly Union (Ouderenunie). They were unable to win a seat.

Ideology & Issues

The party was a typical

one issue party Single-issue politics involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea. Political expression One weakness of such an approach is that effective political parties are usually coalitions of factio ...

: it sought to better the position of the elderly with higher government pensions, better

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

and improved facilities for elderly and handicapped. Other issues it spoke out on were increasing youth criminality, directly elected mayors and a restrictive immigration policy. Some of the party's founders had been active within other parties such as the social-democratic PvdA and the socialist SP, but they felt that the larger parties neglected the interests of the elderly. They thought that it was time for the formation of 'horizontal' parties, which were not based on certain ideologies, but certain age groups.

Representation

This table shows Union 55+'s results in elections to the House of Representatives and

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 ...

, as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter, is the chair of the parliamentary party and the lijsttrekker is the party's top candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader.

Electorate

The party was supported by elderly, especially by former CDA-voters from the Southern provinces, North Brabant and Limburg.

International Comparison

The party can be compared to other small elderly parties, who often don't get a seat, but because of the extreme proportional representation in the Netherlands the party was able to win one seat.

References