Reformed Political Party
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Reformed Political Party
Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij |
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| Abbreviation | SGP |
| Leader | Kees van der Staaij |
| Chairman | Adri van Heteren |
| Leader in the Senate | Peter Schalk |
| Leader in the House of Representatives | Kees van der Staaij |
| Leader in the European Parliament | Bas Belder |
| Founded | 24 April 1918 |
| Split from | Anti-Revolutionary Party |
| Headquarters | Burgemeester van Reenensingel 101 Gouda |
| Youth wing | Reformed Political Party Youth |
| Thinktank | Guido de Brès-Foundation |
| Membership (2017) | 30,122 |
| Ideology |
Christian right Social conservatism Soft Euroscepticism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Religion |
Calvinism, Evangelicalism |
| European affiliation | European Christian Political Movement |
| European Parliament group | European Conservatives and Reformists |
| Colours | Blue and Orange |
| Seats in the Senate |
2 / 75
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| Seats in the House of Representatives |
3 / 150
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| States-Provincial |
14 / 570
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| Seats in the European Parliament |
1 / 26
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| Website | |
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www.sgp.nl (Offline on Sunday) |
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The Reformed Political Party (Dutch: Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) is an orthodox Calvinistpolitical party in the Netherlands. The term Reformed is not a reference to political reform, but is a synonym for Calvinism—a major branch of Protestantism. The SGP is the oldest political party in the Netherlands in its current form, and has for its entire existence been in opposition. The party has, owing to its orthodox political ideals and its traditional role in the opposition, been called a testimonial party.
The party has traditionally opposed universal suffrage, seeking to replace this with a form of "organic suffrage" (Dutch: huismanskiesrecht, "suffrage of the pater familias") restricted to male heads of households.
The SGP was founded on 24 April 1918, by several conservative members of the Protestant Anti Revolutionary Party (ARP). They did not support female suffrage, which the ARP had made possible. Furthermore, they were against the alliance the ARP had formed with the General League of Roman Catholic Caucuses. The party entered the 1918 general elections, but was unable to win any seats. The leading figure in the party's foundation was Yerseke pastor Gerrit Hendrik Kersten.
In the 1922 election the party entered Parliament when Kersten won a seat in the House of Representatives. In this period the SGP became most noted for proposing, during the annual parliamentary debate on the budget of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, to abolish Dutch representation to the Holy See. Each year the Protestant Christian Historical Union (CHU) also voted in favor of this motion. The CHU was in cabinet with the Catholic General League, but many of its members and supporters still had strong feelings against the Catholic Church. In 1925 the left-wing opposition (the Free-thinking Democratic League and Social Democratic Workers' Party) also voted in favor of the motion. They were indifferent to the representation at the Holy See, but saw this as a possibility to divide the confessional cabinet. And indeed the cabinet fell over this issue, in what is known as the Nacht van Kersten ("Night of Kersten").
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Wikipedia