The Farmers' Party ( nl, Boerenpartij, BP) was a Dutch

agrarian Agrarian means pertaining to agriculture, farmland, or rural areas. Agrarian may refer to: Political philosophy *Agrarianism *Agrarian law, Roman laws regulating the division of the public lands *Agrarian reform *Agrarian socialism Society ...

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 political ideology ...

, with a strong

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

outlook and a

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develope ...

appeal. The BP was the first anti-establishment party elected into the Dutch

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after the

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History

Foundation

The precise foundation date of the BP is not known. In 1958 in several

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 ...

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 ...

"Free Farmers" lists contested in municipal elections. In 1959 the Farmers' Party officially applied at the Kiesraad to participate in the 1959 elections, although the party was unable to win a seat. The founder of the party was Hendrik Koekoek, the chair and founder of the Association for Freedom for Agricultural Business, also known as the "Free Farmers". The organization resisted increasing government intervention and the institutionalization of farming. These also became important issues for the Farmers' Party.

1963–1981

In the elections of 1963 the Farmers' Party won three seats in the

. The party had gained considerable attention when the police had forcibly seized farms whose owners had not paid their taxes. Koekoek, the party's leader, came from the same region and acted as spokesperson for these farmers. With its populist appeal the party had been able to get the support from farmers and non-farmers, even from urban areas. He headed the party's list and became the chairperson of the parliamentary party. In 1966 the party won two seats 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 e ...

. In parliament the Boerenpartij was troubled by internal struggles and splits. In 1966 it was revealed that one of the party's senators, Adams, had a

national socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

background, and had been a member of the National Socialist Movement and the SS. Koekoek protected Adams against the allegations. In reaction to that Voogd, one of the party's MPs, left the party. Also a group of members from the party founded their own party, Emergency Council (''Noodraad''). Both Emergency Council and Farmers' Party participated in the 1967 elections, as did Voogd with his own list. Only the Farmers' party managed to secure representation with a total of seven seats, whilst both the Emergency Council and the List-Voogd ended up with no seats. In the next years Koekoek was (again) unable to keep his parliamentary party together. His authoritarian leadership caused four of the seven MPs to leave the party and to organize their own party, Right Allegiance (''Binding Rechts''). They were led by Harmsen, one of the founders of the Farmers' Party. One of these four MPs left his new party soon to work as an independent. In 1971 one of Koekoek's MPs also left his party, leaving only two MPs. In the 1971 elections Koekoek obtained only one seat, and Right Allegiance none. In the

1972 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1972. Africa * 1972 Gambian general election * 1972 Guinea-Bissau legislative election * 1972 Malagasy presidential election * 1972 Swazi parliamentary election Asia * 1972 North Korean parliamentar ...

the party won two additional seats. In the 1977 elections the party lost those two seats again, leaving only Koekoek.

Dissolution

Before the elections of 1981 the BP was renamed to Right-wing People's Party ( nl, Rechtse Volkspartij, RVP) but they were unable to win a seat. In the municipality of

Heerde Heerde () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. Compared to the rest of the Netherlands, Heerde is fairly religious, as are many of the towns and cities in the Veluwe region. Population centres Politics The municipal counci ...

, a remnant of the party as ''Gemeentebelang Boerenpartij Heerde'' continues to have representation on the municipal council.

Ideology

The party's main issue was the increasing government interference in, and the institutionalization of, farming. Yet it was more than single issue agrarian interest party. It saw itself as a conservative party which championed

political 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 studi ...

and

economic freedom Economic freedom, or economic liberty, is the ability of people of a society to take economic actions. This is a term used in economic and policy debates as well as in the philosophy of economics. One approach to economic freedom comes from the ...

in general, on basis of

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and

Christian values Christian values historically refers to values derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. The term has various applications and meanings, and specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations and different school ...

. It had a strong

anti-establishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine '' New Statesman' ...

appeal. Although some members had been active with

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

organizations before 1945 the party rejected

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

and fascism. Piero Ignazi has defined its ideology as " a curious mixture of authoritarianism and individualism, anti-tax protest, and anti-parliamentarism, somewhat reminiscent of French ''

Poujadism Pierre Poujade (; 1 December 1920 – 27 August 2003) was a French populist politician after whom the Poujadist movement was named. Biography Pierre Poujade was born in Saint-Céré (Le Lot), France, and studied at Collège Saint-Eugène d'A ...

''". However he stressed that the party was not part of the extreme right.Piero Ignazi, ''Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe'', Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 163 The party had a strong nationalist message: it was in favour of the

Dutch monarchy The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...

, opposed

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic, political, legal, social, and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integration has primarily come about through the European Union and its ...

, wanted a strong defense, and believed that law and order should be maintained. On economic matters the party was very conservative. It wanted to protect private property and encourage private initiative. It sought to reduce government influence on the economy and

taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...

. It felt that the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitab ...

should be reduced to a minimum, agricultural subsidies should be cut, and that the agricultural sector would be able to support itself if the government interfered less.

Organisation

Leadership

This table shows the BP's results in elections to the

and

, 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, and these posts are normally taken by the party's leader.

Municipal and provincial government

The party has been able to win several seats in provincial legislatures and in municipal councils. In several rural municipalities such as

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. It is located about 60 km east of Utrecht, 60 km west of Enschede, 25 km north of Arnhem and 35 km south of Zwolle. The ...

the party was rather strong - Harmsen, one of the party's MPs, was a longtime

alderman 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 them ...

there. Especially in the period 1965–1970, the party also managed to win municipal council seats in cities such as Amsterdam, where they scored 9.4% (or 4 of 45 seats) in 1966.

Electorate

The party drew most of its support from farmers and small business owners in rural areas. With its populist appeal the party had also been able to get support from small business owners in urban areas. In the 1963 elections the party polled 6,000 votes from Amsterdam.

International comparison

As a conservative farmers' party, the Farmers' Party is similar to Eastern European farmers' parties, such as the Polish Peasant Party. The best comparison however can be made with the party of Pierre Poujade which was successful in the 1956 elections, but faded away afterwards. Like Poujade's party the Farmers' Party had a strong populist message which appealed to both farmers and small business.

References

External links

Gemeentebelang Boerenpartij Heerde
Municipal Interest Farmers' Party Heerde {{Authority control Defunct agrarian political parties Defunct nationalist parties in the Netherlands Conservative parties in the Netherlands Monarchist parties in the Netherlands Political parties disestablished in 1981 Right-wing populism in the Netherlands