The Libertarian Party (, also before 2019; LP) is a

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

political party in the Netherlands founded in 1993. It intends to develop "a free world, a world in which no one is forced to sacrifice his or her life and property for the benefit of others". The party's inaugural leader and chairman was the controversial jurist and tax consultant

Toine Manders Antonius Jozef Maria "Toine" Manders (born 14 March 1956) is a Dutch lawyer and politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the periods 1999–2014 and 2019–2024. He represented the People's Party for Freedom and Demo ...

History

Founding

The LP was founded as the in 1993 by Barthold van Doorn, Hub Jongen, and Stefan van Glabbeek. They sympathized with the Libertarian Centre Netherlands, founded in the 1970s, and were very involved in the libertarian magazine ''de Vrijbrief''. The trio found the necessary help through that medium to start the party. In forming it, they were mainly inspired by the Libertarian Party of the United States.

Representation

The LP has participated in a total of eight Dutch general and local elections between 1994 and 2023, but it has yet to win official representation.

General elections

The Libertarian Party took part in the general election of 1994, receiving only 2,754 votes and no seats. After this, the party spent nearly two decades in 'hibernation', organizing lectures and events to spread its message, but not partaking in national elections. It was reactivated in 2012, and participated in the general elections of 2012 and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, receiving 4,205 and 1,492 votes, respectively. It again failed to win any seats in the general election of 2021, when it received 5,608 votes. In the general election of 2023, the party won 4,129 votes, again not enough for a seat.

Provincial and municipal elections

The LP has participated in local elections in thirteen municipalities in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. In 2014, it was the first political party in the Netherlands to accept

Bitcoin Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; Currency symbol, sign: ₿) is the first Decentralized application, decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 when an unknown entity published a white paper under ...

. The party also participated in the provincial elections of 2015.

LP elects in other parties

In addition to electoral participation for the Libertarian Party, a number of members have won representation for other parties. For example, LP member Stefanie Vulders was also a member of the municipal council faction of Progressive Oisterwijk in

Oisterwijk Oisterwijk () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the south of the Netherlands. Population centres *Haaren, North Brabant, Haaren *Heukelom, North Brabant, Heukelom *Moergestel *Oisterwijk Topography ''Dutch top ...

, until she split due to substantive differences of opinion. This seat was lost in the redistricting elections in November 2020, when Vulders and her newly founded party WIJ! Oisterwijk failed to obtain any seats. In

Rijswijk Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was 59.642 in 2024, and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also i ...

, LP member Romy de Man was faction leader of , but this party did not participate in the 2022 municipal elections. During the redistricting elections in

Haarlemmermeer Haarlemmermeer () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The ...

in 2018, LP member Erik Vermeulen from

Zwanenburg Zwanenburg () is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, and lies about 11 km west of Amsterdam. Zwanenburg has a population of around 7,670.Statistics Netherlands (CBS), ''Gemeente ...

was elected councilor on behalf of local party Forza! Haarlemmermeer. In the 2022 elections, Vermeulen was

lead candidate In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the candidate placed first on a party list. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government, and the party chair or party leader. Usage by country Neth ...

on behalf of that party and faction leader after those elections. Also in the 2022 elections, Tom van Lamoen was elected to the

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

municipal council for the local party Amersfoort for Freedom.

Ideology

Positions

* A

negative income tax In economics, a negative income tax (NIT) is a system which reverses the direction in which tax is paid for incomes below a certain level; in other words, earners above that level pay money to the state while earners below it receive money. NIT ...

* More autonomy for

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

and

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' ...

Electoral results

House of Representatives

States Provincial

Municipal councils

Leadership

Party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a politica ...

s **

(1994–2014) ** Robert Valentine (May 2016 – June 2021) **

Tom van Lamoen Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * Tom (1973 film), ''Tom'' (1973 film), or ''The Bad Bunch'', a blaxploitation film * Tom ...

Party chair In politics, a party chair (often party chairperson/-man/-woman or party president) is the presiding officer of a political party. The nature and importance of the position differs from country to country, and also between political parties. Th ...

s **

(1994–2014) ** Robert Valentine (May 2016 – 12 June 2021) ** Paul Schreurs (12 June 2021 – 18 June 2022) ** Emma van Zoelen (since 18 June 2022) * Party secretaries ** Robert Valentine (May 2015 – April 2016) ** Tom Wentzel ** Rik Kleinsmit ** Rody Mens

Membership

The LP's membership has grown significantly since 2012, increasing from 27 in April 2012 to 550 in the third quarter of 2021.

Honorary members

Two honorary members were appointed at the 7 July 2012 congress for helping to continue the party during its 'hibernation' from 1994 to 2012. * Paul Schreurs * Otto Vrijhof

Structure

The party has a board, standing committees and working groups, municipal departments and a scientific bureau, the Bernard de Mandeville Institute. Internationally, the party is part of the European Party for Individual Liberty (EPIL) and the

International Alliance of Libertarian Parties The International Alliance of Libertarian Parties (IALP) is an alliance of libertarian political parties around the world. Its mission is to promote libertarian politics internationally. At the 2014 Libertarian National Convention in the United ...

(IALP). Since 1 November 2016, the party has had an official youth wing, the 'Young Libertarians' ().

Notable supporters

Publicist and financial analyst gave voting advice in a tweet in 2012 to vote for the LP in the elections. In the 2014 municipal elections, MEP

Daniël van der Stoep Daniël Teunis van der Stoep (born 12 September 1980, Delft) is a Dutch politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) during two periods from July 2009 to August 2011 and from December 2011 to July 2014. Career He was elected to ...

, from the

Article 50 Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) provides for the possibility of an EU member state leaving the European Union "in accordance with its own constitutional requirements". Currently, the United Kingdom is the only state to hav ...

party, advised people to vote for the Libertarian Party wherever possible. Author was the for the party in the 2021 general election.

References

External links

* * {{Political parties in the Netherlands 1993 establishments in the Netherlands

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Libertarian parties Libertarian parties in the Netherlands Political parties established in 1993