Jump to content

Historical rankings of prime ministers of the Netherlands

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following is a series of historical rankings of prime ministers of the Netherlands.

States General of the Netherlands (2002)

[edit]

An opinion poll conducted by the States General of the Netherlands in 2002 had the following results for the best and the worst prime minister of the twentieth century. Of the 225 MPs, 200 responded. Of them, 110 (49 per cent of MPs) handed in a list, the others did not participate for various reasons. The participation by political parties is as follows: Labour Party 57%, People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 44%, Christian Democratic Appeal 43%, Democrats 66 39%, GroenLinks 58%, Socialist Party 43%, Reformed Political Party 20%, Christian Union 44% and the Independent Senate Group 100%.[1]

Pieter Cort van der Linden is highly rated for keeping the Netherlands neutral during World War I
Willem Drees is highly rated for his post-war leadership and social and welfare reforms
Ruud Lubbers is highly rated for his Cold War leadership and revitalising the economy
Wim Kok is highly rated for his social reforms and further stimulating the economy
Best ranking Prime Minister Term Political party
1st Pieter Cort van
der Linden 		1913–1918 Independent (Liberal)
2nd Willem Drees 1948–1958 Labour Party
3rd Joop den Uyl 1973–1977 Labour Party
4th Ruud Lubbers 1982–1994 Christian Democratic Appeal
5th Wim Kok 1994–2002 Labour Party
6th Jelle Zijlstra 1966–1967 Anti-Revolutionary Party
7th Hendrikus Colijn 1925–1926 / 1933–1939 Anti-Revolutionary Party
Willem Schermerhorn 1945–1946 Labour Party
8th Piet de Jong 1967–1971 Catholic People's Party
9th Charles Ruijs de
Beerenbrouck 		1918–1925 / 1929–1933 Roman Catholic State Party
Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy 1940–1945 Anti-Revolutionary Party
Barend Biesheuvel 1971–1973 Anti-Revolutionary Party
Dries van Agt 1977–1982 Christian Democratic Appeal
Worst ranking Prime Minister Term Political party
1st Joop den Uyl 1973–1977 Labour Party
2nd Dirk Jan de Geer 1926–1929 / 1939–1940 Christian Historical Union
3rd Dries van Agt 1977–1982 Christian Democratic Appeal
4th Hendrikus Colijn 1925–1926 / 1933–1939 Anti-Revolutionary Party
5th Ruud Lubbers 1982–1994 Christian Democratic Appeal
6th Victor Marijnen 1963–1965 Catholic People's Party
Wim Kok 1994–2002 Labour Party
7th Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy 1940–1945 Anti-Revolutionary Party
Jan de Quay 1959–1963 Catholic People's Party
8th Willem Schermerhorn 1945–1946 Labour Party
Willem Drees 1948–1958 Labour Party
Jo Cals 1965–1966 Catholic People's Party
Barend Biesheuvel 1971–1973 Anti-Revolutionary Party

VPRO (2006)

[edit]

In 2006 Dutch public broadcaster VPRO conducted an opinion poll for the best prime minister after World War II.[2]

Ranking Prime Minister Term Political party
1st Willem Drees 1948–1958 Labour Party
2nd Joop den Uyl 1973–1977 Labour Party
3rd Ruud Lubbers 1982–1994 Christian Democratic Appeal
4th Wim Kok 1994–2002 Labour Party
5th Jan Peter Balkenende 2002–2010 Christian Democratic Appeal
6th Piet de Jong 1967–1971 Catholic People's Party
7th Dries van Agt 1977–1982 Christian Democratic Appeal
8th Jelle Zijlstra 1966–1967 Anti-Revolutionary Party
9th Willem Schermerhorn 1945–1946 Labour Party
10th Jo Cals 1965–1966 Catholic People's Party
11th Barend Biesheuvel 1971–1973 Anti-Revolutionary Party
12th Jan de Quay 1959–1963 Catholic People's Party
13th Louis Beel 1946–1948
1958–1959 		Catholic People's Party
14th Victor Marijnen 1963–1965 Catholic People's Party

NRC Handelsblad (2013)

[edit]

In 2013 newspaper NRC Handelsblad conducted two opinion polls, one with fifty experts and one with their readers. The polls asked respondents to give their opinion on who was the best prime minister since 1900.[3]

Ranking Prime Minister Term Political party
1st Willem Drees 1948–1958 Labour Party
2nd Ruud Lubbers 1982–1994 Christian Democratic Appeal
3rd Pieter Cort van
der Linden 		1913–1918 Independent (Liberal)
4th Piet de Jong 1967–1971 Catholic People's Party
5th Joop den Uyl 1973–1977 Labour Party
6th Wim Kok 1994–2002 Labour Party
7th Hendrikus Colijn 1925–1926 / 1933–1939 Anti-Revolutionary Party
8th Willem Schermerhorn 1945–1946 Labour Party
9th Abraham Kuyper 1901–1905 Anti-Revolutionary Party
10th Jan Peter Balkenende 2002–2010 Christian Democratic Appeal

Maurice de Hond (2013)

[edit]

An opinion poll conducted by Maurice de Hond from the polling site peil.nl had the following results.[4]

Ranking Prime Minister Term Political party
1st Ruud Lubbers 1982–1994 Christian Democratic Appeal
2nd Wim Kok 1994–2002 Labour Party
3rd Willem Drees 1948–1958 Labour Party
4th Joop den Uyl 1973–1977 Labour Party
5th Mark Rutte 2010–2024 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
6th Jan Peter Balkenende 2002–2010 Christian Democratic Appeal

I&O Research (2020)

[edit]

An opinion panel conducted by I&O Research with fifty experts had the following results when asked on who was the best prime minister since 1945.[5]

Ranking Prime Minister Term Political party
1 Mark Rutte 2010–2024 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
2 Wim Kok 1994–2002 Labour Party
3 Ruud Lubbers 1982–1994 Christian Democratic Appeal
4 Joop den Uyl 1973–1977 Labour Party
5 Jan Peter Balkenende 2002–2010 Christian Democratic Appeal
6 Willem Drees 1948–1958 Labour Party

See also

[edit]
Other countries

References

[edit]
  1. ^ (in Dutch) Kamerleden kiezen de beste en de slechtste minister-president van de twintigste eeu, Historischnieuwsblad.nl, 2 February 2002
  2. ^ (in Dutch) Willem Drees gekozen tot ‘Dé premier na WO II’, Geschiedenis24.nl, 15 January 2006
  3. ^ (in Dutch) NRC-enquête: Drees en Lubbers beste premiers sinds 1900, NRC Handelsblad, 28 September 2013
  4. ^ (in Dutch) Kiezers oneens met Rutte: niet beste kabinet sinds oorlog, BN DeStem, 26 May 2013
  5. ^ (in Dutch) I&O Research, I&O Research, 13 March 2020
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Historical_rankings_of_prime_ministers_of_the_Netherlands&oldid=1255553626"