| Country: | the Netherlands |
| Independent Politics Netherlands | |
| Native Name: | Onafhankelijke Politiek Nederland |
| Leader1 Title: | Leader in the Senate |
| Leader1 Name: | Auke van der Goot |
| Seats1 Title: | Senate |
| Seats2 Title: | Benelux Parliament |
| Ideology: | Regionalism |
| Wing1 Title: | Think tank |
| Wing1: | Wetenschappelijk Bureau OPNL |
| Slogan: | ("The strength of the region") |
| Headquarters: | Ruysdaellaan 34, Geleen |
The Independent Politics Netherlands (Dutch; Flemish: Onafhankelijke Politiek Nederland, OPNL), formerly known as the Independent Senate Group (OSF), is a federation of local and regional political parties in the Netherlands that competes in elections to the Dutch Senate. OPNL is composed of provincial- and municipal-level parties, and has no individual members.[1]
OPNL only contests the elections for the Senate, where it represents regional politics. Auke van der Goot, a member of the Frisian National Party, represents OPNL in the Senate.
In 1995, several provincial parties and The Greens proposed their own independent list for the Senate elections, called the Platform of Independent Groups/The Greens (Platform van Onafhankelijke Groepen/De Groenen). Marten Bierman (a member of The Greens) was elected through preferential vote. In 1999 Bierman was reelected.
In 2003, Henk ten Hoeve became senator for the OSF. He was a member of the Friesland states-provincial representing the Frisian National Party. He remained senator until 2011. Ten Hoeve was succeeded by Kees de Lange. De Lange was elected on the OSF list, but was a member of the 50PLUS party, with which the OSF had a vote sharing agreement, as the OSF did not achieve enough votes to get a seat independently. In 2015 De Lange broke with the OSF due to a disagreement concerning the possible cooperation between the OSF and the People's Party of Limburg of Jos van Rey, a former VVD alderman and representative plagued by corruption scandals.[2]
In 2015, Henk ten Hoeve became senator of the OSF for a second time. Between 2019 and 2021 Gerben Gerbrandy, former mayor of Achtkarspelen, has been the senator representing the OSF. Gerbrandy left the Senate in January 2021 and was replaced by Ton Raven, a former alderman from Sittard-Geleen.[3]
In 2021, the organisation's name was changed to Independent Politics Netherlands.
OPNL consists of the following regional parties:[4]
| Province | Party | 2023 provincial election result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats won | |||
| Sterk Lokaal Drenthe | 7,485 | 2.84 | |||
| Sterk Lokaal Flevoland | 4,518 | 2.77 | |||
| Frisian National Party | 27,298 | 8.05 | |||
| Provincial Interest Fryslân | 6,891 | 2.03 | |||
| Local Parties Gelderland | 16,512 | 1.59 | |||
| Groninger Interest | 17,385 | 6.04 | |||
| Lokaal Limburg | 20,128 | 4.30 | |||
| Lokaal Brabant | 45,723 | 4.17 | |||
| Independent Politics North Holland | 11,916 | 1.00 | |||
| Independent Politics South Holland | colspan="3" | ||||
| U26 Municipalities | 7,646 | 1.17 | |||
| 8,458 | 4.63 | ||||
| Election | Lead candidate | Result[5] [6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weighted votes | % | Seats won | |||
| 1995 | Folkert Kuperus[7] | ||||
| 1999 | Marten Bierman | 3,880 | 2.46 | ||
| 2003 | 2,874 | 1.78 | |||
| 2007 | Henk ten Hoeve | 2,857 | 1.75 | ||
| 2011 | Kees de Lange | 2,113 | 1.77 | ||
| 2015 | Henk ten Hoeve | 2,652 | 2.46 | ||
| 2019 | Gerben Gerbrandy | 2,265 | 1.31 | ||
| 2023 | Auke van der Goot | 3,183 | 1.78 | ||