Editing Livable Netherlands (section)

==History==
Historically there have always been parties in [[Provincial council (Netherlands)|States Provincial]] (provincial legislatures) and [[Municipal council (Netherlands)|municipal councils]] that were independent from the national party system. In the predominantly [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] south of the Netherlands during the 1950s, the [[Catholic People's Party]] gained eighty percent of the vote in national elections, local and provincial groups of independents were organised.

During the 1980s, independent parties began to spread to other parts of the Netherlands. Some successful groups like [[Rijswijk|Independent Rijswijk]] began to move towards a national movement. A congress for this purpose held in 1989 did not result in much progress towards this goal, although independent parties were still very successful in municipal elections especially in [[Hilversum]] and [[Utrecht]].

Some of them chose the name ''Leefbaar'' ("liveable"). It became a distinct political movement. It was not a party in itself but consisted of many municipal branches. These branches had no formal ties, and often had radically different programs, sharing only their disdain for the political establishment.

In 1999, prominent media personalities [[Henk Westbroek]] and [[Jan Nagel]], chairs of the highly successful [[Leefbaar Utrecht]] and [[Leefbaar Hilversum]] parties respectively, founded Leefbaar Nederland as a spin-off from their local parties. Nagel became the party's chair. Nagel had previously been chair of the [[Omroepvereniging VARA|VARA]], a broadcaster linked to the [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Labour Party]].

In 2001, the party's support and visibility began to increase. They came to be seen as an opposition movement against the [[second Kok cabinet]]. In November 2001 [[Pim Fortuyn]] was elected as the party's [[lead candidate]] and LN saw rapid growth in opinion polls. On 10 February, a few months before the election, he was discharged because of a controversial interview published in the [[Volkskrant]] newspaper. Fortuyn subsequently organised his own party, the [[Pim Fortuyn List]], taking several former LN parliamentary candidates and members with him. On 10 March the Amsterdam public prosecutor [[Fred Teeven]] was chosen as new lead candidate. In the election of May [[2002 Dutch general election|2002]], the party won only two seats in the [[House of Representatives (Netherlands)|House of Representatives]] while the Pim Fortuyn List polled in second place with 26 seats.

In the [[2003 Dutch general election|election of 2003]], self-help guru [[Emile Ratelband]] was put forward by the party board as their candidate for the lead candidate position. Teeven, who had gained some recognition as MP, withdrew his candidacy for the position when a motion of no confidence was not supported by the party's congress. During a tumultuous congress, the 22-year-old Haitske van der Linde, the daughter of TV personality Wubbo van der Linde and candidate of the party's youth movement J@L, was elected lead candidate. She was unable to hold on to the two seats the party held, and the party left parliament. Ratelband, who had formed his own list, was still less successful in the polls. The party tried to dissolve itself, but there were not enough members present at the congress to do that, and the party left the public spotlight. In 2006, the party announced that it would disband itself: it owed a large debt to the [[Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations|Ministry of the Interior]], who had lent them money for the 2003 election, and only a handful of paying members were left.

{{Politics of the Netherlands}}