Editing Christian Union (Netherlands) (section)

=== Cabinet participation ===
In the [[2006 Dutch general election|2006 election]] the party doubled its seat count and joined the [[fourth Balkenende cabinet]]. CU leader [[André Rouvoet]] became [[Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands|Deputy Prime Minister]] and [[minister without portfolio]] for [[Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport|family and youth]], while Middelkoop became Minister of Defence and Huizinga junior minister (''staatssecretaris'') of Transport and Water management. Since the party has entered government, there has been some controversy about the conservative Christian ethical views of some of its members. In 2007 [[Yvette Lont]], a CU municipal council member for [[Amsterdam]], expressed the view that homosexuals should not be admitted to representative functions within the party. Also in 2007, municipal council member Monique Heger decided to resign from office, because she had recently discovered that she was a lesbian, and she and her (female) partner moved in together.

After the collapse of the Balkenende cabinet, the Christian Union no longer had representatives in government; Rouvoet returned to parliament as leader of the CU parliamentary group until he left politics in April/May 2011. Arie Slob succeeded him as the party leader.

[[File:Gert-Jan Segers 2018 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|[[Gert-Jan Segers]] Leader of the Christian Union from 2015 to 2023]]

In October 2013, the [[second Rutte cabinet]] (VVD and PvdA), lacking a majority in the [[Senate (Netherlands)|Senate]], reached a budgetary agreement with the CU, the [[Reformed Political Party]] (SGP) and the [[Democrats 66]] (D66). This occasional coalition was nicknamed "purple with the Bible" (''Paars met de Bijbel'') as it included the secular parties VVD, PvdA and D66 plus the religiously-oriented parties Christian Union and SGP. The term "purple with the Bible" had already been used in February that year, when the same parties reached an agreement on modernising the housing market. Although the cabinet was quite unpopular and the VVD and PvdA lost many municipal seats during the [[2014 Dutch municipal elections|municipal elections of 19 March 2014]], the parties that provided tactical support to the government won many seats.

After the [[2017 Dutch general election|2017 general election]], the Christian Union became part of the [[third Rutte cabinet]], as a minor coalition partner to the VVD, CDA and D66. The party has three representatives in the current cabinet: minister [[Carola Schouten]] for the [[Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality]], [[Arie Slob]], [[Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Netherlands)|Minister for Primary Education, Secondary Education and Media]] and [[Paul Blokhuis]], [[Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (Netherlands)|State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sports]].

Following the [[2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands|2019 European Parliament election]], the Christian Union left the [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group]] in the [[European Parliament]] (of which it had been a founding member) arguing that the ECR was moving too far to the right by including MEPs of far-right parties such as the Dutch [[Forum for Democracy]] and the [[Sweden Democrats]]. The party instead joined the [[European People's Party Group]].

In January 2023, [[Mirjam Bikker]] succeeded Segers as the party leader.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-13 |title=Wie is Mirjam Bikker, de nieuwe ChristenUnie-leider? 'Slim en betrouwbaar' |url=https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/politiek/artikel/5359143/wie-mirjam-bikker-de-opvolger-van-gert-jan-segers-bij-christenunie |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=RTL Nieuws |language=nl}}</ref> During the [[2023 Dutch general election]] the Christian Union lost two of their five seats, getting 2% of the votes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NOS - Uitslagen Tweede Kamerverkiezingen 2023 |url=https://app.nos.nl/nieuws/tk2023/ |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=app.nos.nl |language=nl}}</ref>