Reformed Political League

Founding and early history, 1948–1963

The GPV was founded in 1948 as the result of a theological conflict within the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, which led to the creation of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated). On 11 August 1944, a group of around 80,000–90,000 orthodox Protestants left the mainstream Reformed Church following the defrocking of Klaas Schilder, as a result of theological differences over whether baptism was valid for one's entire life or only as long as one believed, the covenant of grace and the authority of the central synod.^[2]

In 1948, adherents of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands (Liberated) left the Anti-Revolutionary Party, the party linked to the Reformed Church in the Netherlands, convinced that the 1944 schism made political cooperation with members of the mainstream Reformed Church impossible. On 1 April 1948, they officially founded the Provisional League of Reformed Electoral Associations (Voorlopig Verband van Gereformeerde Kiesverenigingen), renamed the League of Reformed Electoral Associations (Verbond van Gereformeerde Kiesverenigingen) during a congress in Amersfoort. Former ARP MP Albertus Zijlstra chaired the congress, and also led the party in its early years. Attempts at reconciliation with the ARP by the congress would fail, and in 1949 all contact with the ARP was cut off following its refusal to take sides in ecclesiastical matters. That same year, the party had its first successes in the 1949 local elections, winning 13 seats in total.^[3]

The party participated without success in the 1948, 1952 and 1956 general elections. On 11 April 1950, the party officially adopted the Gereformeerd Politiek Verbond name, after several local electoral associations had already adopted the name during the local elections the year prior. After the 1956 elections, the number of seats in parliament was increased from 100 to 150; as a consequence the minimum number of votes needed to obtain a seat decreased from one percent of the vote to two-thirds of one percent of the vote. In the 1959 general election it appeared that the GPV had finally won a seat. Its lead candidate, Bert Laning, was asked to visit Queen Juliana to advise her on the formation of a new cabinet. After the results were recalculated, however, it became clear that the GPV had missed out on a seat by just 24 votes, largely as a result of internal party conflicts weakening the party's popularity.^[3]

Electoral success, 1963–1989

After the 1963 general election, the party finally entered the House of Representatives in the person of Piet Jongeling, the chief editor of the Nederlands Dagblad and a writer of children's books, who was made lead candidate on advice of prominent professor of theology Jaap Kamphuis. In the House, Jongeling quickly became a noted speaker, who spoke out in favor of political dualism, the right of small parties to exist and Christian moral values. Internationally, he supported the rights of Christian minorities in Indonesia and Apartheid in South Africa.^[3]

In the 1967 general election, they were able to retain their one seat. Whereas other Christian political parties were losing ground in an increasingly secular and depillarised country, the GPV was able to maintain its popularity by positioning itself as a bastion of conservative Christianity, with Jongeling in particular gaining popularity as a unwavering figure in opposition to the prevailing progressive zeitgeist.^[4]

During the early 1970s, a group called the Nationaal Evanglisch Verbond (NEV) had left the ARP because they opposed the party's alliance with the Catholic People's Party (KVP). They asked the board of the GPV whether they could join their party. This was rejected by the board of the GPV, who said that the party was open only to members of the liberated Reformed Church. This group would later become the Reformatory Political Federation (RPF). In the 1971 general election, the party was able to obtain a second seat, partially as a result of Jongeling's popularity among Reformed voters, which went to party ideologue Bart Verbrugh. The GPV managed to retain its second seat in 1972. In the 1977 general election, Jongeling was replaced by Verbrugh and the party lost one seat, the result of the uncharismatic Verbrugh's weakness as a public speaker as well as increased competition from the RPF and the newly united Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). In contrast to the more constructive Jongeling, Verbrugh harshly criticised the government, especially focusing on opposition to abortion and the need for a strong defence.^[3]

Before the 1981 general election, Verbrugh was replaced by Gert Schutte, who would lead the party until 2001. Schutte was more of a pragmatic figure, who similar to Jongeling supported political dualism between the government and the House of Representatives. The party would shift to the left on economics, proposing a National Recovery and Development Plan (Nationaal Herstel- en Ontwikkelingsplan) in 1981 which proposed that the state do more to address unemployment. In 1985, the GPV, along with the SGP and RPF, was able to help the first Lubbers cabinet pass a motion to agree to the placement of American cruise missiles over the opposition of several CDA dissidents. He was able to retain the one seat in the 1981, 1982 and 1986 general elections. Prior to the 1986 general election, some even speculated that the GPV (along with the other smaller Christian parties) might provide confidence and support for the CDA–VVD coalition, or even enter government for the first time by itself.^[3]

Cooperation and merger, 1989–2003

The GPV managed to win a second seat in 1989, which went to Eimert van Middelkoop. In 1993 the GPV officially opened itself to non-liberated members. This started a slow process of cooperation between the GPV and the RPF, another orthodox Protestant party. In the 1994 general election the party retained its two seats, but did not manage to profit from the decline of the CDA. In combination with the decline of religious tensions between different orthodox Reformed churches, this would gradually lead to a process whereby the two orthodox Protestant parties would grow closer together.^[3]

From the 1998 general election onwards, the two parliamentary parties began to cooperate, holding common meanings and appointing common spokespersons. The fact that the GPV had only two seats and the RPF three inhibited the cooperation. The GPV's stricter adherence to the Three Forms of Unity in its statutes as well as the more homogenous composition of the GPV as compared to the RPF further complicated matters. Yet throughout the 1990s support for further cooperation began to grow both among party prominents within the Groen van Prinsterer Foundation and figures like Bart Verbrugh as well as among ordinary party members. A 1998 poll showed 82% of GPV voters supporting a full merger.^[3][5]

In 1999, their parliamentary parties in the Senate officially merged, forming one parliamentary party. That same year, the two parties formally committed to a political union, running on a shared electoral list and platform in elections while leaving the possibility of a full merger open. On 22 January 2000, this union was formalised. In 2001, the two parliamentary groups in the House of Representatives merged as well. In the 2002 general election the GPV and RPF therefore presented a common electoral list of candidates for the House, entering the elections as the Christian Union: they obtained four seats. In 2003, the GPV officially disbanded, making its merger into the Christian Union final.^[5]

House of Representatives

Members of the House of Representatives

Senators

Organisational structure

The GPV's organisation was modeled on that of the Reformed Church (Liberated). As such, the party did not have individual members, but was composed of relatively autonomous local Reformed electoral associations which freely associated with the party, and could largely determine their own regulations. These associations could only be expelled from the party by a national congress of party members. The party was initially headed by an Association Council (Verbondsraad), which was tasked with maintaining contact between the different local electoral associations. After repeated internal conflicts in the early 1950s, the Association Council was split into two parts. The first was the Central Association Council (Centrale Verbondsraad; CVR), responsible for the day-to-day management of the party, and the second General Association Council (Generale Verbondsraad; GVR), consisting of the members of the CVR and two representatives for every Provincial Contact Council (Provinciale Contactraad; PCR). The GVR met yearly and selected candidates for elections to the House of Representatives.^[3]

In practice however, the relative power of the two councils differed by period. In the 1950s, the CVR made most important decisions which were rubber stamped by the GVR, but when the CVR started opening up to non-Liberated Reformed groups from the 1960s onward the GVR took more of a leading role, blocking all efforts at cooperation with the RPF and SGP up to the 1980s.^[3]

The party secretariat was located in Dordrecht and later in Amersfoort.

Linked organisations

The party published Ons Politeuma ("Our Citizenship"). Its scientific institute was the Groen van Prinsterer Stichting ("Groen van Prinsterer Foundation") and its education institute was Mandaat - Gereformeerd Politiek Vormingswerk ("Mandate, Reformed Political Education work"). Its youth organisation was the Gereformeerde Politieke Jongeren Club ("Reformed Political Youth Club"), which published Plein ("Square") and Stand-By.

Pillarised organisations

The party was part of a small liberated Reformed pillar, consisting of like-minded organisations. Most prominent was the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated), with which the party was largely synonymous for most of its existence. The paper Nederlands Dagblad was closely linked to the GPV, Pieter Jongeling, who also led the parliamentary party from 1963 to 1977, led the paper until 1974. The Kampen Theological University of the Reformed Church (Liberated) was also linked to the liberated Reformed Church.

Relationships to other parties

Before 1981, the party was very isolated, which was caused by their own dogmatic position on non-liberated Reformed Christians. Nonetheless the knowledge and conscience of its MPs was respected throughout parliament.

After 1981, the party began to cooperate with more with other parties, especially with the orthodox Protestant Political Reformed Party (SGP) and Reformatory Political Federation (RPF). In 1981, the GPV allowed municipal branches to cooperate with branches of other parties, this led to the formation of several combined lists with either the SGP or RPF or both. In 1984, the party entered in the European elections with a combined list alongside the RPF and SGP. It won only one seat. In 1994. they were more successful and won two seats, one of which was taken by the GPV.

In 1993, the party allowed non-liberated Reformed protestants to become member of the party, which started a slow cooperation process with the RPF and ultimately resulted in the fusion in the Christian Union in 2003.