# Independent Politics Netherlands

The Independent Politics Netherlands (Dutch: Onafhankelijke Politiek Nederland, OPNL), formerly known as the Independent Senate Group (Onafhankelijke Senaatsfractie, 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.
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.

## History

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.
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.
In 2021, the organisation's name was changed to Independent Politics Netherlands.

## Member parties

OPNL consists of the following regional parties: :
| Province | Party | 2023 provincial election result | 2023 provincial election result | 2023 provincial election result |
| Province | Party | Votes | % | Seats won |
| Drenthe | Strong Local Drenthe | 7,485 | 2.84 | 1 / 43 |
| Flevoland | Strong Local Flevoland | 4,518 | 2.77 | 1 / 41 |
| Friesland | Frisian National Party | 27,298 | 8.05 | 4 / 43 |
| Friesland | Provincial Interest Fryslân | 6,891 | 2.03 | 1 / 43 |
| Gelderland | Local Parties Gelderland | 16,512 | 1.59 | 0 / 55 |
| Groningen | Groninger Interest | 17,385 | 6.04 | 3 / 43 |
| Limburg | Local Limburg | 20,128 | 4.30 | 2 / 47 |
| North Brabant | Local Brabant | 45,723 | 4.17 | 2 / 55 |
| North Holland | Independent Politics North Holland | 11,916 | 1.00 | 0 / 55 |
| South Holland | Independent Politics South Holland | Did not participate | Did not participate | Did not participate |
| Utrecht | U26 Municipalities | 7,646 | 1.17 | 0 / 49 |
| Zeeland | Party for Zeeland | 8,458 | 4.63 | 2 / 39 |

## Electoral results
### Senate elections

| Election | Lead candidate | Result | Result | Result |
| Election | Lead candidate | Weighted votes | % | Seats won |
| 1995 | Folkert Kuperus | | | 1 / 75 |
| 1999 | Marten Bierman | 3,880 | 2.46 | 1 / 75 |
| 2003 | Henk ten Hoeve | 2,874 | 1.78 | 1 / 75 |
| 2007 | Henk ten Hoeve | 2,857 | 1.75 | 1 / 75 |
| 2011 | Kees de Lange | 2,113 | 1.77 | 1 / 75 |
| 2015 | Henk ten Hoeve | 2,652 | 2.46 | 1 / 75 |
| 2019 | Gerben Gerbrandy | 2,265 | 1.31 | 1 / 75 |
| 2023 | Auke van der Goot | 3,183 | 1.78 | 1 / 75 |