The Farmers' Party (, BP) was a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

agrarian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

, with a strong

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

outlook and a

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

appeal. The BP was the first anti-establishment party elected into the Dutch

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after the

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. 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

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

"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 In sociology, institutionalisation (or institutionalization) is the process of embedding some conception (for example a belief, norm, social role, particular value or mode of behavior) within an organization, social system, or society as a w ...

of farming. These also became important issues for the Farmers' Party.

1963–1981

In the elections of 1963, the Farmers' Party won three seats in the

. The party had gained considerable attention through the so-called Revolt of the Braves, when police forcibly evicted three farmer families for a principled refusal to pay taxes. Koekoek, the party's leader, came from the same region and acted as spokesperson for these farmers. With its populist appeal the party had been able to get the support from farmers and non-farmers, even from urban areas. He headed the party's list and became the chairperson of the parliamentary party. In 1966 the party won two seats in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. 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 Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequen ...

background, and had been a member of the 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 following elections occurred in the year 1977. Africa * 1977 Afars and Issas Constituent Assembly election * 1977 Algerian legislative election * 1977 Gambian general election * 1976–1977 Guinea-Bissau legislative election * 1977 Malagasy ...

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 (, RVP) but they were unable to win a seat. In the municipality of

Heerde Heerde () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Gelderland, in the eastern Netherlands. Compared to the rest of the Netherlands, Heerde is fairly religious, as are many of t ...

, 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

of, farming. Yet it was more than

single issue Single-issue politics involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea. Political expression One weakness of such an approach is that effective political parties are usually coalitions of faction ...

agrarian interest party. It saw itself as a conservative party which championed

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

and economic freedom in general, on basis of

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and

Christian values Christian values historically refers to values derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. The term has various applications and meanings, and specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations, historical context ...

. It had a strong

anti-establishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958 by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...

appeal. Although some members had been active with

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

organizations before 1945, the party rejected

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and fascism. Piero Ignazi has defined its ideology as "a curious mixture of authoritarianism and individualism, anti-tax protest, and anti-parliamentarism, somewhat reminiscent of French '' Poujadism''". However he stressed that the party was not part of the extreme right.Piero Ignazi, ''Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe'', Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 163 The party had a strong nationalist message: it was in favour of the

Dutch monarchy The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the country's charter and constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and abdication; the roles and duties of the monarch; the formalities of communica ...

, opposed

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

, wanted a strong

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

, and believed that law and order should be maintained. On economic matters, the party was very right-wing. It wanted to protect

private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental Capacity (law), legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property, which is owned by a state entity, and from Collective ownership ...

and encourage private initiative. It sought to reduce government influence on the economy and

taxation A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal person, legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to Pigouvian tax, regulate and reduce nega ...

. It felt that the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal oppor ...

should be reduced to a minimum,

agricultural subsidies An agricultural subsidy (also called an agricultural incentive) is a government incentive paid to agribusinesses, agricultural organizations and farms to supplement their income, manage the supply of agricultural products, and influence the ...

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

and

, 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.

Municipal and provincial government

The party has been able to win several seats in provincial legislatures and in municipal councils. In several rural municipalities such as

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. The municipality of Apeldoorn, including the villages of Beekbergen, Loenen (Apeldoorn), Loenen, Ugchelen and Hoenderloo ...

the party was rather strong - Harmsen, one of the party's MPs, was a longtime

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

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 Pierre Poujade (; 1 December 1920 – 27 August 2003) was a French right-wing populist politician after whom the Poujadist movement was named. Biography Pierre Poujade was born in Saint-Céré (Le Lot), France, and studied at Collège Saint- ...

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

{{Authority control Defunct agrarian political parties in Europe Defunct nationalist parties in the Netherlands Conservative parties in the Netherlands Monarchist parties in the Netherlands Political parties disestablished in 1981 Right-wing populism in the Netherlands