The Neutral Party was a Dutch

Politics of the Netherlands

The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state...

 political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 representing artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

s' interests. It played only a marginal role in Dutch politics.

History

The NP was founded by Henri ter Hall a wellknown variety

Variety show

A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...

 artist. The 1918 elections

Dutch general election, 1918

A general election of the House of Representatives of the Dutch Parliament was held in the Netherlands on July 3, 1918. It was the first election in which universal male suffrage was applied, and the first in which a system of proportional representation was used...

 were the first in the Netherlands to use a system of proportional representation

Proportional representation

Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

. With about 7,000 votes (0,5% of the votes) the NP won one seat, as did several other one or two person parties. After the elections the election law became more restrictive. After the elections the NP initiated the formation of a neutral parliamentary party, which united several one and two person parties, namely the Neutral Party, Peasants' League

Peasants' League

The Peasants' League was a Dutch agrarian political party. The League played only a minor role in Dutch politics.-Party History:...

, the Economic League

Economic League (Netherlands)

The Economic League was a Dutch liberal political party. It played only a marginal role in Dutch politics.-Party History:...

, the Middle Class Party

Middle Class Party

The Middenstandspartij was a Dutch political party representing middle class interests. It played only a marginal role in Dutch politics.-Party History:...

 and the Alliance for Democratization of the Army. The parliamentary party was led by former minister Willem Treub

Willem Treub

Marie Willem Frederik Treub was a Dutch politician.-References:* in the Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland...

. In 1921 several of these parties, including the Neutral Party merged into the Liberal State Party

Liberal State Party

The Liberal State Party, "the Freedom League" , was a Dutch conservative liberal political party from 1921 to 1948...

, together with two larger liberal parties. Until 1929 the party was an independent part in the Liberal State Party, campaigning with its own list.

Ideology and issues

The NP was a typical special-interest party. Its main goal was to represent the interests of artists and people employed in the entertainment sector. In all other questions it sought to supersede partisan interest and act from the general interest.

Leadership and support

This table show the NP's results in elections to the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter, is the chair of the parliamentary party and the lijsttrekker is the party's top candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader.

Year	HoR	S	Lijsttrekker Lijsttrekker Lijsttrekker is a Dutch term for the top candidate of a party on a party list. He or she is almost always the party's political leader. After an election, this person usually leads the party's faction in the States-General, or serves in a senior position in the Cabinet if his party is part of...	Fractievoorzitter
1918 Dutch general election, 1918 A general election of the House of Representatives of the Dutch Parliament was held in the Netherlands on July 3, 1918. It was the first election in which universal male suffrage was applied, and the first in which a system of proportional representation was used...	1	0	Henri ter Hall	Henri ter Hall
1919	1	0	no elections	Henri ter Hall
1920	1	0	no elections	Henri ter Hall

Electorate

The party drew most of its support from voters who were not aligned with any of the major pillars.