50PLUS

50PLUS
Abbreviation50+
LeaderMartin van Rooijen
ChairmanWillem Dekker
Leader in the SenateMartin van Rooijen
Founded2009 (Onafhankelijke Ouderen en Kinderen Unie, OokU)
9 October 2010 (current name)
Preceded byParty for Justice, Action and Progress
HeadquartersKneuterdijk 2,
The Hague
Think tankWetenschappelijk Bureau 50PLUS
Membership (2024)Decrease 1,515[1]
IdeologyPensioners' interests[2][3]
Political positionCentre[4][5]
European affiliationEuropean Democratic Party (2023–present)[6]
Colours  Purple
Senate
1 / 75
House of Representatives
0 / 150
Provincial councils
8 / 572
Website
50pluspartij.nl

50PLUS (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈvɛiftəx plʏs]; abbreviated 50+) is a political party in the Netherlands that advocates pensioners' interests with a centrist political line.[2][3] The party was founded in 2009 by Maurice Koopman, Alexander Münninghoff and Jan Nagel.

The party first participated in the 2011 provincial elections, in which it won 9 provincial council seats, allowing it to be represented in the Senate by Nagel. Under Lead candidate Henk Krol, the party entered the House of Representatives for the first time at the 2012 general election. On 6 May 2021, party leader Liane den Haan, its sole member in the House of Representatives, left to sit as an Independent following an internal dispute.[7]

At the European level, 50PLUS was first affiliated with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), as its sole Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Toine Manders sat with the liberal ALDE group from 2013 to 2014. Following the 2019 European Parliament election, which saw Manders regain his seat, he sat with the conservative European People's Party group. Manders left the party in 2020 to join the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). In 2023, 50PLUS joined the European Democratic Party (EDP).[6]

  1. ^ "Ledentallen Nederlandse politieke partijen per 1 januari 2024" [Membership of Dutch political parties as of 1 January 2024]. University of Groningen (in Dutch). Documentation Centre Dutch Political Parties. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin Politics and Governance in the Netherlands, Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49.
  3. ^ a b Nordsieck, Wolfram (2021). "Netherlands". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  4. ^ Hans Keman (2008), "The Low Countries: Confrontation and Coalition in Segmented Societies", Comparative European Politics, Taylor & Francis, p. 221, ISBN 9780203946091
  5. ^ José Magone (3 July 2013). Contemporary European Politics: A Comparative Introduction. Routledge. p. 533. ISBN 978-1-136-93397-4.
  6. ^ a b 50PLUS, European Democratic Party (in French).
  7. ^ "50Plus verdwijnt uit de Kamer: Den Haan stapt op en neemt zetel mee". NOS (in Dutch). 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.