Democratic Party (Netherlands)

The Democratic Party (Dutch: Democratische Partij) was a left liberal political party in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1921 by Jan Ernst Heeres when the Liberal Union, of which he was president, failed to merge with the Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB), and instead merged with the more conservative League of Free Liberals and Economic League.[1][2][3]

Democratic Party
Democratische Partij
AbbreviationDP
FounderJan Ernst Heeres
Founded13 November 1921
Dissolved1932

At the party's first general election, the 1922 election, with Heeres leading the candidates list, it failed to attract enough votes for a seat in the House of Representatives.[4] Its highest vote tally was at the 1925 election when it received 11,000 votes, which, at less than half a per cent of the total votes, was still insufficient to earn a seat. While members of the Democratic Party did manage to earn seats in the Provincial council and various city councils, it failed at the subsequent general elections in 1929. When Heeres died in 1932, the Democratic Party ceased to exist.[1][3]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mr. J.E. Heeres". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  2. ^ Klijnsma 2007, p. 258.
  3. ^ a b "Heeres, Jan Ernst (1858-1932)". KNAW (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  4. ^ Voerman 1989, p. 122.

Sources

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  • Klijnsma, Meine Henk (2007). Om de Democratie: de Geschiedenis van de Vrijzinnig-Democratische Bond, 1901-1946 [About Democracy: the History of the Free-thinking Democratic League, 1901-1946] (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Bert Bakker. ISBN 978-90-351-3239-9.
  • Voerman, G. (1989). "Liberalen op een tweesprong: Liberale Unie, Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond en Bond van Vrije Liberalen aan het begin van deze eeuw (1901-1921)". Jaarboek Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen 1988 (in Dutch). Groningen. pp. 102–130.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)