Farmers' Party (Netherlands)

Farmers' Party

Boerenpartij
Farmers' Party Boerenpartij
Abbreviation	BP
Leader	Hendrik Koekoek
Founded	1958
Dissolved	1981
Merged into	Right Wing People's Party
Ideology	Agrarianism; Conservative liberalism; Dutch nationalism; Social conservatism; Right-wing populism
Political position	Right-wing
	Politics of the Netherlands; Political parties; Elections;

The Farmers' Party (

Second World War

.

The BP was founded by Hendrik Koekoek. The party gained prominence in several Gelderland municipalities under the "Free Farmers" lists. The BP officially applied to participate in the 1959 elections, focusing on issues such as government intervention in farming and promoting political and economic freedom. In the 1963 elections, the BP won three seats in the House of Representatives, followed by two seats in the Senate in 1966. However, internal struggles and leadership issues led to the party's decline. In the 1981 elections, the BP was renamed the Right-wing People's Party but failed to win a seat. The BP drew support from farmers and small business owners, both rural and urban. Comparisons can be made to Eastern European farmers' parties and the French party led by Pierre Poujade.

History

Foundation

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

municipalities "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

Senate

.

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 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 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 (Dutch: Rechtse Volkspartij, RVP) but they were unable to win a seat. In the municipality of Heerde, 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

Poujadism". However he stressed that the party was not part of the extreme right.^[1]

The party had a strong nationalist message: it was in favour of the

defense

, and believed that law and order should be maintained.

On economic matters the party was very right-wing. It wanted to protect

taxation. It felt that the welfare state 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

Senate

, 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.

Year	HoR	S	Lijsttrekker	Fractievoorzitter
1963	3	0	Hendrik Koekoek	Hendrik Koekoek
1964	3	0	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek
1965	3	0	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek
1966	3	2	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek
1967	7	2	Hendrik Koekoek	Hendrik Koekoek
1968	3	2	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek
1969	3	3	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek
1970	3	3	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek
1971	1	0	Hendrik Koekoek	Hendrik Koekoek
1972	3	0	Hendrik Koekoek	Hendrik Koekoek
1973	3	0	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek
1974	3	1	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek
1975	3	1	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek
1976	3	1	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek
1977	1	1	Hendrik Koekoek	Hendrik Koekoek
1978	1	1	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek
1979	1	1	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek
1980	1	1	no elections	Hendrik Koekoek

Municipal and provincial government

The party has been able to win several seats in

alderman

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

^ Piero Ignazi, Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 163

External links

Gemeentebelang Boerenpartij Heerde Municipal Interest Farmers' Party Heerde

[1] Piero Ignazi, Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 163

[1]

v t e Defunct political parties in the Netherlands
Governing parties appear in bold. Only parties represented in parliament are shown.
Catholic	General League Roman Catholic People's Party Roman Catholic State Party Catholic People's Party Catholic National Party Political Party of Radicals Roman Catholic Party of the Netherlands
Liberal	Liberal Union Radical League Free-thinking Democratic League League of Free Liberals Liberal Party Economic League Middle Class Party Neutral Party Liberal State Party Freedom Party
Reformed	Anti-Revolutionary Party Christian Historical Voters' League Free Anti Revolutionary Party Christian Historical Party Frisian League Christian Historical Union League of Christian Socialists Christian Democratic Party Christian Social Party Christian Democratic Union Reformed Reformed State Party Reformed Political Alliance Reformatory Political Federation Evangelical People's Party
Socialist	Social Democratic League Social Democratic Workers' Party Socialist Party Revolutionary Socialist Party Pacifist Socialist Party Democratic Socialists '70
Other	Alliance for the Democratisation of the Army Middle Party for City and Country Alliance for National Reconstruction New Middle Party Livable Netherlands Independent Citizens' Party
Communist	Communist Party of the Netherlands Communist Party of Holland – Central Committee
Far-right	National Socialist Movement Centre Party Centre Democrats
Nationalist	Peasants' League Farmers' Party Nederlandsche Unie Pim Fortuyn List
Pensioners	General Elderly Alliance Union 55+