View source for Independent Politics Netherlands

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Redirect|Independent Senate Group|the Canadian parliamentary group|Independent Senators Group}}
{{Infobox political party
| country       = the Netherlands
| colorcode     = {{Political party data|color}}
| name          = Independent Politics Netherlands
| native_name   = Onafhankelijke Politiek Nederland
| logo          = Independent Politics NL logo.png
| logo_size     = 250px
| chairperson   = {{nowrap|Jabik van der Bij (''ad interim'')}}
| leader1_title = Leader in the [[Senate (Netherlands)|Senate]]
| leader1_name  = [[Auke van der Goot]]
| foundation    = {{Start date|1999|03|22|df=yes}}
| merger        = 
| split         = 
| dissolved     = 
| merged        = 
<!-- Values obtained from Wikidata; to edit, see https://www.wikidata.org/-->
| seats1_title  = [[Senate (Netherlands)|Senate]]
| seats1        = {{Political party data|seat composition bar|ms-upper-house}}
| seats2_title  = [[House of Representatives (Netherlands)|House of Representatives]]
| seats2        = {{Political party data|seat composition bar|ms-lower-house}}
| seats3_title  = [[European Parliament]]
| seats3        = {{Political party data|seat composition bar|EP}}
| ideology      = [[Regionalism (politics)|Regionalism]]
| position      = 
| youth_wing    = 
| think_tank    = Wetenschappelijk Bureau OPNL
| slogan        = {{Lang|nl|De kracht van de regio}} ("The strength of the region")
| colours       = {{color box|{{Political party data|color}}|border=darkgray}} 
| headquarters  = Ruysdaellaan 34, [[Geleen]]
| website       = {{Political party data|website}}
}}

The '''Independent Politics Netherlands''' ({{langx|nl|Onafhankelijke Politiek Nederland}}, '''OPNL'''), formerly known as the '''Independent Senate Group''' ({{Lang|nl|Onafhankelijke Senaatsfractie}}, '''OSF'''), is a federation of local and regional [[List of political parties in the Netherlands|political parties in the Netherlands]] that competes in elections to the [[Dutch Senate]]. OPNL is composed of provincial and municipal-level parties, and has no individual members.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.osf.nl/osf/statuten.html|title=Statuten Onafhankelijke SenaatsFractie {{!}} osf.nl|website=www.osf.nl|access-date=27 September 2019|archive-date=29 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329104704/https://www.osf.nl/osf/statuten.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

OPNL only contests the elections for the Senate, where it represents [[Regionalism (politics)|regional politics]]. [[Auke van der Goot]], a member of the [[Frisian National Party]], represents OPNL in the Senate.

== History ==
In 1995, several provincial parties and [[The Greens (Netherlands)|The Greens]] proposed their own independent list for the Senate elections, called the Platform of Independent Groups/The Greens (''Platform van Onafhankelijke Groepen/De Groenen''). [[Marten Bierman]] (a member of [[The Greens (Netherlands)|The Greens]]) was elected through [[Open list|preferential vote]]. In 1999 Bierman was reelected.

In 2003, [[Henk ten Hoeve]] became senator for the OSF. He was a member of the [[Friesland]] [[states-provincial]] representing the [[Frisian National Party]]. He remained senator until 2011. Ten Hoeve was succeeded by [[Kees de Lange]]. De Lange was elected on the OSF list, but was a member of the [[50PLUS]] party, with which the OSF had a vote sharing agreement, as the OSF did not achieve enough votes to get a seat independently. In 2015 De Lange broke with the OSF due to a disagreement concerning the possible cooperation between the OSF and the [[People's Party of Limburg]] of [[Jos van Rey]], a former [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy|VVD]] [[Wethouder|alderman]] and [[House of Representatives (Netherlands)|representative]] plagued by corruption scandals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parlement.com/id/vju1istw09wj/nieuws/osf_senator_de_lange_nu_onafhankelijke|title=OSF-senator De Lange nu onafhankelijke eenling|website=[[parlement.com]]|language=nl|access-date=27 September 2019}}</ref>

In 2015, Henk ten Hoeve became senator of the OSF for a second time. Between 2019 and 2021 [[Gerben Gerbrandy]], former mayor of [[Achtkarspelen]], has been the senator representing the OSF. Gerbrandy left the Senate in January 2021 and was replaced by [[Ton Raven]], a former [[Wethouder|alderman]] from [[Sittard-Geleen]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ton Raven nieuwe senator voor de onafhankelijken – osf.nl|url=https://www.osf.nl/nieuws/nieuws-219-Ton-Raven-nieuwe-senator-voor-de-onafhankelijken.html|access-date=20 January 2021|website=www.osf.nl|language=nl}}</ref>

In 2021, the organisation's name was changed to Independent Politics Netherlands.

== Member parties ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+OPNL consists of the following regional parties:<ref>{{cite web |title=Platform |url=https://www.opnl.nl/platform/ |website=Onafhankelijke Politiek Nederland |access-date=16 April 2023 |language=nl}}</ref>
! rowspan="2" |Province
! rowspan="2" |Party
! colspan="3" |[[2023 Dutch provincial elections|2023 provincial election]] result
|-
! Votes
! %
! Seats won
|-
| {{flag|Drenthe}} 
| [[Strong Local Drenthe]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 7,485
| style="text-align: right;" | 2.84
| style="text-align: right;" | {{Composition bar compact|1|43|{{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
|{{flag|Flevoland}}
| Strong Local Flevoland
| style="text-align: right;" |4,518
| style="text-align: right;" |2.77
| style="text-align: right;" |{{Composition bar compact|1|41|{{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{flag|Friesland}} 
| [[Frisian National Party]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 27,298
| style="text-align: right;" | 8.05
| style="text-align: right;" | {{Composition bar compact|4|43|{{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
| Provincial Interest Fryslân 
| style="text-align: right;" | 6,891
| style="text-align: right;" | 2.03
| style="text-align: right;" | {{Composition bar compact|1|43|{{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
| {{flag|Gelderland}} 
| Local Parties Gelderland 
| style="text-align: right;" | 16,512
| style="text-align: right;" | 1.59
| style="text-align: right;" | {{Composition bar compact|0|55|{{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
| {{flag|Groningen}} 
| [[Groninger Interest]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 17,385
| style="text-align: right;" | 6.04
| style="text-align: right;" | {{Composition bar compact|3|43|{{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
| {{flag|Limburg (Netherlands)|name=Limburg}} 
| Local Limburg 
| style="text-align: right;" | 20,128
| style="text-align: right;" | 4.30
| style="text-align: right;" | {{Composition bar compact|2|47|{{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
| {{flag|North Brabant}} 
| [[Local Brabant]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 45,723
| style="text-align: right;" | 4.17
| style="text-align: right;" | {{Composition bar compact|2|55|{{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
|{{flag|North Holland}}
| Independent Politics North Holland
| style="text-align: right;" | 11,916
| style="text-align: right;" | 1.00
| style="text-align: right;" | {{Composition bar compact|0|55|{{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
| {{flag|South Holland}} 
| Independent Politics South Holland 
| colspan="3" {{N/A|''Did not participate''}}
|-
| {{flag|Utrecht}} 
| U26 Municipalities 
| style="text-align: right;" | 7,646
| style="text-align: right;" | 1.17
| style="text-align: right;" | {{Composition bar compact|0|49|{{party color|Independent Senate Group}}}}
|-
| {{flag|Zeeland}} 
| [[Party for Zeeland]] 
| style="text-align: right;" | 8,458
| style="text-align: right;" | 4.63
| style="text-align: right;" | {{Composition bar compact|2|39|{{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|}

== Electoral results ==
=== Senate elections ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
! rowspan="2" |Election
! rowspan="2" |[[Lead candidate]]
! colspan="3" |Result<ref>{{Cite web |title=Verkiezingsuitslagen |url=https://verkiezingsuitslagen.nl/verkiezingen?s=Eerste+Kamer |access-date=25 February 2019 |website=Verkiezingen |language=nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Eerste Kamerverkiezingen 1983–2015 |url=https://www.parlement.com/id/vimrii5o8ord/eerste_kamerverkiezingen_1983_2015 |access-date=25 February 2019 |website=[[Parlement.com]] |language=nl}}</ref>
|-
! Weighted votes !!% !! Seats won
|-
! 1995
| style="text-align:left;" |Folkert Kuperus<ref>{{cite web |title=Eerste Kamerverkiezingen 1995 |url=https://www.parlement.com/id/vjvrcbhtsggl/eerste_kamerverkiezingen_1995 |website=[[Parlement.com]] |access-date=16 April 2023 |language=nl}}</ref>
|  ||  || {{Composition bar compact|1|75|hex={{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
! 1999
| style="text-align:left;" |Marten Bierman
| 3,880 || 2.46 || {{Composition bar compact|1|75|hex={{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
! [[2003 Dutch Senate election|2003]]
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Henk ten Hoeve]] 
| 2,874 || 1.78 || {{Composition bar compact|1|75|hex={{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
! [[2007 Dutch Senate election|2007]]
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Henk ten Hoeve]]
| 2,857 || 1.75 || {{Composition bar compact|1|75|hex={{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
! [[2011 Dutch Senate election|2011]]
| style="text-align:left;" |Kees de Lange
| 2,113 || 1.77 || {{Composition bar compact|1|75|hex={{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
! [[2015 Dutch Senate election|2015]]
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Henk ten Hoeve]]
| 2,652 || 2.46 || {{Composition bar compact|1|75|hex={{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
! [[2019 Dutch Senate election|2019]]
| style="text-align:left;" |Gerben Gerbrandy 
| 2,265 || 1.31 || {{Composition bar compact|1|75|hex={{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|-
![[2023 Dutch Senate election|2023]]
| style="text-align:left;" |Auke van der Goot
| 3,183 || 1.78 || {{Composition bar compact|1|75|hex={{party color|Independent Politics Netherlands}}}}
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.opnl.nl/ Official website]

{{Political parties in the Netherlands}}

[[Category:Regionalist parties in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1999]]
[[Category:1999 establishments in the Netherlands]]