Second Rutte cabinet

Second Rutte cabinet Rutte–Asscher cabinet
Cabinet of the Netherlands
The installation of the second Rutte cabinet on 5 November 2012
Date formed	5 November 2012 (2012-11-05)
Date dissolved	26 October 2017 (2017-10-26) 4 years, 355 days in office (Demissionary from 14 March 2017 (2017-03-14))
People and organisations
Monarch	Queen Beatrix (2012–2013) King Willem-Alexander (2013–2017)
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte
Deputy Prime Minister	Lodewijk Asscher
No. of ministers	13
Ministers removed	4
Total no. of members	17
Member party	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) Labour Party (PvdA)
Status in legislature	Centrist Majority government (Grand coalition/Purple) 79/150 (52.6%)
History
Election	2012 election
Outgoing election	2017 election
Legislature terms	2012–2017
Incoming formation	2012 formation
Outgoing formation	2017 formation
Predecessor	First Rutte cabinet
Successor	Third Rutte cabinet

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This article is part of a series about Mark Rutte
Political career Prime Minister (2010–2024) Party Leader of the VVD (2006–2023) 2006 party leadership election Secretary for Education, Culture and Science (2004–2006) Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment (2002–2004) Member of the House of Representatives 2006 general election Prime Minister of the Netherlands International trips First Ministry and term 2010 general election 2010 cabinet formation Rutte I Second Ministry and term 2012 general election Rutte II Association Agreement referendum Third Ministry and term 2017 general election 2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident 2017 cabinet formation Rutte III Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Intelligence and Security Services referendum COVID-19 pandemic Frugal Four Fourth Ministry and term 2021 general election 2021–2022 cabinet formation Rutte IV Dutch childcare benefits scandal Nitrogen crisis in the Netherlands Affiliations People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy Media gallery
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The second Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Asscher cabinet, was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 5 November 2012 until 26 October 2017. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) after the election of 2012. The cabinet was a centrist grand coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives. VVD Leader Mark Rutte served as Prime Minister; prominent PvdA politician Lodewijk Asscher, a former alderman of Amsterdam, served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Employment.

The cabinet served in the middle of the 2010s. Domestically, it had to deal with the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disaster, in which 193 Dutch citizens on board were killed when that civilian aircraft was shot down over Ukraine by a surface-to-air missile; while internationally, climate change was a major point of attention. The cabinet suffered several major internal conflicts such as multiple cabinet resignations, including those of two Justice Ministers. The cabinet completed its entire term, and was succeeded by the third Rutte cabinet following the 2017 election. Having spent four years and 355 days in office, it is the longest-serving post-war cabinet in the Netherlands.^[1]