50PLUS
Abbreviation50+
LeaderMartin van Rooijen
ChairmanJorien van den Herik
Leader in the SenateMartin van Rooijen
Founded2009 (Onafhankelijke Ouderen en Kinderen Unie, OokU)
9 October 2010 (current name)
Preceded byParty for Justice, Action and Progress
HeadquartersKneuterdijk 2,
The Hague
Think tankWetenschappelijk Bureau 50PLUS
Membership (2023)Decrease 2,730[1]
IdeologyPensioners' interests[2][3]
Populism[4]
Soft Euroscepticism[5][6][7]
Political positionCentre[8][9]
European affiliationEuropean Democratic Party (2023–present)[10]
Colours  Purple
Senate
1 / 75
House of Representatives
0 / 150
King's commissioners
0 / 12
Provincial councils
8 / 572
European Parliament
0 / 29
Website
50pluspartij.nl

50PLUS (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈvɛiftəx plʏs]; abbreviated 50+) is a political party in the Netherlands that advocates pensioners' interests with a centrist political line.[2][3] The party was founded in 2009 by Maurice Koopman, Alexander Münninghoff and Jan Nagel. Since 2021, Martin van Rooijen has served as party leader.

The party first participated in the 2011 provincial elections, in which it won 9 provincial council seats, allowing it to be represented in the Senate by Nagel. Under lijsttrekker Henk Krol, the party entered the House of Representatives for the first time at the 2012 general election. On 6 May 2021, party leader Liane den Haan, its sole member in the House of Representatives, left to sit as an Independent following an internal dispute.[11]

At the European level, 50PLUS was first affiliated with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), as its sole Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Toine Manders sat with the liberal ALDE group from 2013 to 2014. Following the 2019 European Parliament election, which saw Manders regain his seat, he sat with the conservative European People's Party group. Manders left the party in 2020 to join the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). In 2023, 50PLUS joined the European Democratic Party (EDP).[10]

History

2009-2011

The party was founded under the name Onafhankelijke Ouderen en Kinderen Unie (Independent Elderly and Children Union) in 2009, succeeding the Partij voor Rechtvaardigheid, Daadkracht en Vooruitgang (Party for Justice, Vigour and Progress). It was an initiative of Maurice Koopman, Alexander Münninghoff and Jan Nagel.[12] The party decided not to enter elections for the House of Representatives in 2010.[13] During autumn that same year the name was changed to 50PLUS.

Leading up to the 2011 Dutch Senate election, 50PLUS made an agreement with the Onafhankelijke Senaatsfractie (Independent Senate Faction). The regional parties had too little seats in the Provincial council to collectively get a seat in the Senate, and the members of 50PLUS promised to vote for the OSF (Onafhankelijke Staatsfractie) to help them gain one. In return for this, 50PLUS member Kees de Lange would be the OSF's first candidate on the electoral list. On the 23rd of May 2011, he was chosen as a senator on behalf of the OSF. 50PLUS member Jan Nagel also won one seat. From then on, it was possible for individuals to become member of the party.[14]

Electoral results

House of Representatives

Election Lijsttrekker Votes  % Seats +/– Government
2012 Henk Krol 177,631 1.88 (#11)
2 / 150
 Increase 2 Opposition
2017 327,131 3.11 (#10)
4 / 150
 Increase 2 Opposition
2021 Liane den Haan 106,658 1.02 (#15)
1 / 150
 Decrease 3 Opposition
2023 Gerard van Hooft 51,043 0.49 (#17)
0 / 150
 Decrease 1 Extra-parliamentary

Senate

Election Votes  % Seats +/– Government
2011 2,193 1.3
1 / 75
 Increase 1 Opposition
2015 4,388 2.6
2 / 75
 Increase 1 Opposition
2019 5,251 3.0
2 / 75
 Steady 0 Opposition
2023 3,264 1.8
1 / 75
 Decrease 1 Opposition

European Parliament

Election List Votes  % Seats +/– Notes
2014 List 175,343 3.69 (#10)
0 / 26
 New
2019 List 215,199 3.91 (#9)
1 / 26
 Increase 1

Provincial councils

Election Votes  % Seats +/– Notes
2011 (#10)
9 / 566
 New
2015 (#10)
14 / 570
 Increase 5

Organization

Leadership

Representation

House of Representatives

Senate

See also

  • Union 55+, Defunct Dutch pensioners' interests party active from 1992 until 1998.
  • General Elderly Alliance, Defunct Dutch pensioners' interests party active from 1993 until 1998.

References

  1. ↑ "VijftigPlus (50PLUS)". Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (in Dutch). 27 July 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin Politics and Governance in the Netherlands, Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49.
  3. 1 2 Nordsieck, Wolfram (2021). "Netherlands". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  4. ↑ "De opmars van 50Plus". AD. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  5. ↑ Benjamin LeRuth; Yordan Kutiyski; André Krouwel; Nicholas J Startin (2017). "Does the Information Source Matter? Newspaper Readership, Political Preferences and Attitudes Toward the EU in the UK, France and the Netherlands". In Manuela Caiani; Simona Guerra (eds.). Euroscepticism, Democracy and the Media: Communicating Europe, Contesting Europe. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 105. ISBN 978-1-137-59643-7.
  6. ↑ Jort Statema; Paul Aarts. Timo Behr; Teija Tiilikainen (eds.). The Netherlands: Follow Washington, Be a Good European. note on p. 237. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  7. ↑ Rudy B. Andeweg; Galen A. Irwin (2014). Governance and Politics of the Netherlands (4th ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. p. 74.
  8. ↑ Hans Keman (2008), "The Low Countries: Confrontation and Coalition in Segmented Societies", Comparative European Politics, Taylor & Francis, p. 221, ISBN 9780203946091
  9. ↑ José Magone (3 July 2013). Contemporary European Politics: A Comparative Introduction. Routledge. p. 533. ISBN 978-1-136-93397-4.
  10. 1 2 50PLUS, European Democratic Party (in French).
  11. ↑ "50Plus verdwijnt uit de Kamer: Den Haan stapt op en neemt zetel mee". NOS (in Dutch). 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  12. ↑ "Een kat met negen levens. De politieke carrière van Jan Nagel". www.montesquieu-instituut.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  13. ↑ Nagel: OokU doet niet mee aan verkiezingen, Telegraaf.nl, 20 maart 2010
  14. ↑ Het succes van de partij 50 plus

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