Neutral Party

Kingdom of the Netherlands
Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or. [The seven arrows stand for the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht.] The shield is crowned with the (Dutch) royal crown and supported by two lions Or armed and langued gules. They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" (French for "I will maintain".)
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The Neutral Party (in Dutch: Neutrale Partij, NP) was a Dutch political party representing artists' interests. It played only a marginal role in Dutch politics.

History

The NP was founded by Henri ter Hall a well known variety artist. The 1918 elections were the first in the Netherlands to use a system of proportional representation. With about 7,000 votes (0,5% of the votes) the NP won one seat, as did several other one or two person parties. After the elections the election law became more restrictive. After the elections the NP initiated the formation of a neutral parliamentary party, which united several one and two person parties, namely the Neutral Party, Peasants' League, the Economic League, the Middle Class Party and the Alliance for Democratization of the Army. The parliamentary party was led by former minister Willem Treub. In 1921 several of these parties, including the Neutral Party merged into the Liberal State Party, together with two larger liberal parties. Until 1929 the party was an independent part in the Liberal State Party, campaigning with its own list.

Ideology and issues

The NP was a typical special-interest party. Its main goal was to represent the interests of artists and people employed in the entertainment sector. In all other questions it sought to supersede partisan interest and act from the general interest.

Leadership and support

This table show the NP's results in elections to the House of Representatives and 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, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader.

Year HoR S Lijsttrekker Fractievoorzitter
1918 1 0 Henri ter Hall Henri ter Hall
1919 1 0 no elections Henri ter Hall
1920 1 0 no elections Henri ter Hall

Electorate

The party drew most of its support from voters who were not aligned with any of the major pillars.

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