User:Bart Terpstra/sandbox

2012-2015

List leader in the 2012 House of Representatives elections and vice chairman was Henk Krol. In the parliamentary elections, the party won two seats, which were taken by Krol and Norbert Klein. On November 11, Willem Holthuizen became party chairman after the party was further expanded by Senator Nagel,[6]

On September 15, sympathizers and ex-employees founded the Elderly Politically Active (OPA) movement after 50PLUS decided not to participate in the 2014 municipal elections. On Sept. 20, Dick Schouw, founder of OPA, and board member Adriana Hernández (Schouw's life partner) were expelled from the party for, respectively, "repeatedly exceeding limits set by the party" and "breach of integrity."[7] Krol was unaware of the decision, which would lead to, among other things, the leaking of confidential emails, in which Jan Nagel also became involved.[8] Following the ensuing commotion, Schobre, chairman Holthuizen and treasurer Anke Nollen stepped down. The expulsion of Schouw and Hernández was converted into a suspension and completely reversed in November.[9][10]

On Oct. 4, Krol announced his immediate resignation as a member of the House of Representatives. This was prompted by a publication in newspaper de Volkskrant about unpaid pension contributions during the time he owned the Gay Krant,[11][12] and he was succeeded as group chairman by Klein and as a member by Martine Baay-Timmerman.

On November 2, a party congress elected Nagel as interim party chairman,[13] and in March 2014 John Struijlaard was elected chairman.

List leader for the 2014 European Parliament elections was Toine Manders, who had previously served for VVD in the European Parliament. Krol was also a list challenger. In the elections, 50PLUS did not gain a seat.

Group split in the Lower House

On May 28, 2014, Baay-Timmerman was expelled from the group by Klein. Following this, the board of 50PLUS withdrew its confidence in Klein. Since then, both MPs claimed to be the representative of 50PLUS, with Baay assured of the party's unanimous support and continued as 50PLUS/Baay-Timmerman. Klein continued as 50PLUS/Klein. A similar situation occurred earlier in the House of Representatives in 1925 with the Platters' Union. On Sept. 10, 2014, Krol temporarily returned to the Lower House as Baay-Timmerman temporarily left due to illness. Krol became group chairman of the 50PLUS/Baay-Timmerman group. On Nov. 13 that year, Klein indicated he would continue as an independent MP without association with 50PLUS. In December, it was announced that Baay-Timmerman was not returning to the House and that Krol permanently replaced her.

2015-2019

In the 2015 Provincial Council elections, the party won 14 seats in 11 provinces.

On October 8, 2016, at the general membership meeting in Hilversum, 50PLUS elected its sole candidate Krol as list leader for the March 2017 Lower House elections. Together with the Party for the Animals, 50PLUS explored a list connection for the elections, but it did not materialize. On November 14, 2016, 50PLUS announced its list of candidates; behind list leader Krol was former presenter Léonie Sazias and at number three was former state secretary of finance and current senator Martin van Rooijen.[14] In the 2017 Lower House elections, 50PLUS doubled from two to four seats.

In June 2017, Jan Zoetelief was elected party president.[15] In the 2018 municipal elections, the party gained 34 seats in 20 municipalities. In May 2018, a long-dormant conflict in the party leadership erupted. Seven of the eight members of the main executive committee resigned and subsequently chairman Zoetelief also stepped down,[16] the new party chairman became Geert Dales.

In the 2019 elections to the Senate, 50PLUS retained its two seats. In the 2019 European Parliament elections, the party was represented for the first time and joined the Group of the European People's Party (EPP) with one seat.

2020

In late December 2019, Femke Merel van Kooten-Arissen, who had previously resigned from the Party for the Animals' Lower House faction, joined the political party 50PLUS. She indicated, to remain as an independent Member of Parliament with her own group but would like to stand as a 50PLUS member in the next elections to the House of Representatives.[17]

In February 2020, Krol raised the idea of Dales running for a seat in the Lower House. Other members of the party disagreed, and a period followed in which those involved treated each other unfairly in various ways. Party chief Nagel announced that he would report Krol to the police for committing a criminal offense,[18] and all the Upper and Lower House members of 50PLUS, except Krol, demanded Dales' immediate departure as chairman. The MPs blamed Dales's "autocratic and undemocratic style of leadership" and "coarse language." Members also turned against Dales and eventually,[19] on April 26, 2020, Dales announced on the television program Buitenhof that he would resign early as chairman.[20] On May 3, 2020, Krol, until then parliamentary group leader in the House of Representatives, left the party, but stayed on as an independent MP. He and Van Kooten-Arissen expressed a desire to found their own party, which would eventually take shape in the Party for the Future. The same day, Van Brenk took over Krol's group chairmanship.[21]

Dales announced after Krol's departure that he wanted to remain chairman of 50PLUS until August 1, 2020. He eventually resigned on May 24 that year.[22] After Dales' resignation, Bert Kannegieter became acting chairman. He remained so until August 1, 2020, when co-founder and honorary member Jan Nagel was again elected chairman at the party congress after a digital vote.[23]

On June 2, 2020, MEP and sole 50PLUS representative in the European Parliament Toine Manders transferred to the CDA representation within the EPP.[24]

Liane den Haan, director of the ANBO, was nominated by the board in August 2020 as a candidate list leader in the next elections to the House of Representatives, since, according to Chairman Nagel, she was very well versed in elderly issues and would also be good at conducting debates. Nevertheless, the choice of Den Haan was not uncontroversial: as director of the ANBO, she was accused of dictatorial behavior,[25] and moreover, in that role she had expressed her support for a revision of the pension system to which 50PLUS was vehemently opposed,[26] as well as not having previously been a member of 50PLUS. [27] On October 3, 2020, party members elected Den Haan as the new list leader,[28] dissatisfied with the choice of Den Haan and the manner in which it had come about, several party stalwarts left the party, including former party chairman Jan Zoetelief and program committee chairman Rob de Brouwer.[29]

2021-present

In the March 2021 parliamentary elections, the party lost three seats. Den Haan took the only remaining seat as list leader. On May 6, 2021, she quit 50PLUS out of dissatisfaction and took her seat with her.[30]

2012-2015
Lijsttrekker bij de Tweede Kamerverkiezingen 2012 en vicevoorzitter was Henk Krol. Bij de Kamerverkiezingen behaalde de partij twee zetels, die werden ingenomen door Krol en Norbert Klein. Op 11 november werd Willem Holthuizen partijvoorzitter nadat de partij door senator Nagel verder was uitgebouwd.

Op 15 september werd door sympathisanten en ex-medewerkers de beweging Ouderen Politiek Actief (OPA) opgericht, nadat 50PLUS had besloten niet mee te doen aan de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 2014. Op 20 september werden Dick Schouw, oprichter van OPA, en bestuurslid Adriana Hernández (levenspartner van Schouw) uit de partij gezet wegens respectievelijk "herhaalde overschrijding van door de partij vastgestelde grenzen" en "integriteitsschending". Krol was niet op de hoogte van het besluit, dat zou leiden tot onder meer het uitlekken van vertrouwelijke e-mails, waarbij ook Jan Nagel betrokken raakte. Na de ontstane commotie stapten Schobre, voorzitter Holthuizen en penningmeester Anke Nollen op. Het royement van Schouw en Hernández werd omgezet in een schorsing en in november volledig teruggedraaid.

Op 4 oktober maakte Krol bekend dat hij per direct opstapte als lid van de Tweede Kamer. De aanleiding hiervoor was een publicatie in dagblad de Volkskrant over niet betaalde pensioenpremies in de periode dat hij eigenaar van de Gay Krant was. Hij werd als fractievoorzitter opgevolgd door Klein en als lid door Martine Baay-Timmerman.

Op 2 november werd op een partijcongres Nagel verkozen tot interim-partijvoorzitter. In maart 2014 werd John Struijlaard tot voorzitter gekozen.

Lijsttrekker voor de Europese Parlementsverkiezingen 2014 was Toine Manders, die voor daarvoor al voor VVD in het Europees Parlement zat. Krol was tevens lijstduwer. Bij de verkiezingen behaalde 50PLUS geen zetel.

Splitsing fractie in de Tweede Kamer
Op 28 mei 2014 werd Baay-Timmerman door Klein uit de fractie gezet. Hierop zegde het bestuur van 50PLUS het vertrouwen in Klein op. Beide Kamerleden claimden sindsdien de vertegenwoordiger van 50PLUS te zijn, waarbij Baay zich verzekerd wist van de unanieme steun van de partij en doorging als 50PLUS/Baay-Timmerman. Klein ging door als 50PLUS/Klein. Een dergelijke situatie deed zich in de Tweede Kamer eerder voor in 1925 bij de Plattelandersbond. Op 10 september 2014 keerde Krol tijdelijk terug in de Tweede Kamer, aangezien Baay-Timmerman wegens ziekte tijdelijk vertrok. Krol werd fractievoorzitter van de fractie 50PLUS/Baay-Timmerman. Op 13 november dat jaar gaf Klein aan als onafhankelijk Kamerlid verder te gaan zonder associatie met 50PLUS. In december werd bekendgemaakt dat Baay-Timmerman niet terugkeerde naar de Kamer en dat Krol haar definitief verving.

2012-2015
List leader in the 2012 House of Representatives elections and vice chairman was Henk Krol. In the parliamentary elections, the party won two seats, which were taken by Krol and Norbert Klein. On November 11, Willem Holthuizen became party chairman after the party was further expanded by Senator Nagel.

On September 15, sympathizers and ex-employees founded the Elderly Politically Active (OPA) movement after 50PLUS decided not to participate in the 2014 municipal elections. On Sept. 20, Dick Schouw, founder of OPA, and board member Adriana Hernández (Schouw's life partner) were expelled from the party for "repeatedly exceeding limits set by the party" and "violation of integrity," respectively. Krol was not aware of the decision, which would lead, among other things, to the leaking of confidential emails, which also involved Jan Nagel. Following the ensuing commotion, Schobre, chairman Holthuizen and treasurer Anke Nollen stepped down. The expulsion of Schouw and Hernández was converted to a suspension and completely reversed in November.

On Oct. 4, Krol announced his immediate resignation as a member of the House of Representatives. This was prompted by a publication in newspaper de Volkskrant about unpaid pension contributions during the time he owned the Gay Krant. He was succeeded as group chairman by Klein and as a member by Martine Baay-Timmerman.

On Nov. 2, a party congress elected Nagel as interim party chairman. In March 2014, John Struijlaard was elected chairman.

List leader for the 2014 European Parliament elections was Toine Manders, who had previously served for VVD in the European Parliament. Krol was also a list challenger. In the elections, 50PLUS did not gain a seat.

Group split in the Lower House

On May 28, 2014, Baay-Timmerman was expelled from the group by Klein. Following this, the board of 50PLUS withdrew its confidence in Klein. Since then, both MPs claimed to be the representative of 50PLUS, with Baay assured of the party's unanimous support and continued as 50PLUS/Baay-Timmerman. Klein continued as 50PLUS/Klein. A similar situation occurred earlier in the House of Representatives in 1925 with the Platters' Union. On Sept. 10, 2014, Krol temporarily returned to the Lower House as Baay-Timmerman temporarily left due to illness. Krol became group chairman of the 50PLUS/Baay-Timmerman group. On Nov. 13 that year, Klein indicated he would continue as an independent MP without association with 50PLUS. In December, it was announced that Baay-Timmerman was not returning to the House and that Krol permanently replaced her.

2015-2019
In the 2015 Provincial Council elections, the party won 14 seats in 11 provinces.

On October 8, 2016, 50PLUS elected its sole candidate Krol as list leader for the March 2017 Lower House elections at the general members' meeting in Hilversum. Together with the Party for the Animals, 50PLUS explored a list connection for the elections, but it did not materialize. On November 14, 2016, 50PLUS announced its list of candidates; behind list leader Krol was former presenter Léonie Sazias and at number three was former state secretary of finance and current senator Martin van Rooijen. In the 2017 Lower House elections, 50PLUS doubled from two to four seats.

In June 2017, Jan Zoetelief was elected party chairman. In the 2018 municipal elections, the party gained 34 seats in 20 municipalities. In May 2018, a long-dormant conflict in the party leadership erupted. Seven of the eight members of the executive committee resigned, and then chairman Zoetelief also stepped down. The new party chairman became Geert Dales.

In the 2019 elections to the Senate, 50PLUS retained its two seats. In the 2019 European Parliament elections, the party was represented for the first time and joined the Group of the European People's Party (EPP) with one seat.

2020
At the end of December 2019, Femke Merel van Kooten-Arissen, who had previously resigned from the Party for the Animals parliamentary group, joined the political party 50PLUS. She indicated, to remain as an independent member of the Lower House with her own group but wanted to stand as a 50PLUS member in the next Lower House elections.

In February 2020, Krol floated the idea of Dales running for a seat in the Lower House. Other members of the party disagreed, and a period followed in which those involved treated each other unfairly in various ways. Party centrist Nagel announced that he would report Krol to the police for committing a criminal offense, and all the Upper and Lower House members of 50PLUS except Krol demanded Dales' immediate departure as chairman. The MPs blamed Dales's "autocratic and undemocratic style of leadership" and "coarse language." Members also turned against Dales and eventually, on April 26, 2020, Dales announced on the television program Buitenhof that he would resign early as chairman. On May 3, 2020, Krol, until then group chairman in the House of Representatives, left the party but stayed on as an independent member of the House of Representatives. He and Van Kooten-Arissen said they wanted to found their own party, which would eventually take shape in the Party for the Future. That same day, Van Brenk took over Krol's group chairmanship.

Dales announced after Krol's departure that he wanted to remain chairman of 50PLUS until August 1, 2020. He eventually resigned on May 24 that year. After Dales' resignation, Bert Kannegieter became acting chairman. He remained so until Aug. 1, 2020, when co-founder and honorary member Jan Nagel was again elected chairman at the party congress after a digital vote.

On June 2, 2020, MEP and sole 50PLUS representative in the European Parliament Toine Manders transferred to the CDA representation within the EPP.

Liane den Haan, director of the ANBO, was nominated by the board in August 2020 as a candidate list leader in the next elections to the House of Representatives, since, according to Chairman Nagel, she was very well versed in elderly issues and would also be good at conducting debates. Still, the choice of Den Haan was not uncontroversial: as director of the ANBO, she had been accused of dictatorial behavior and, moreover, in that role she had expressed her support for a revision of the pension system to which 50PLUS was vehemently opposed. She was also previously not a member of 50PLUS. On Oct. 3, 2020, party members elected Den Haan as the new list leader. Dissatisfied with the choice of Den Haan and the way it had come about, several party stalwarts left the party, including former party chairman Jan Zoetelief and program committee chairman Rob de Brouwer.

2021-present
In the March 2021 parliamentary elections, the party lost three seats. Den Haan took the only remaining seat as list leader. On May 6, 2021, she quit 50PLUS out of dissatisfaction and took her seat with her.

2015-2019
Bij de Provinciale Statenverkiezingen in 2015 haalde de partij veertien zetels in elf provincies.

Op 8 oktober 2016 verkoos 50PLUS tijdens de algemene ledenvergadering in Hilversum zijn enige kandidaat Krol tot lijsttrekker voor de Tweede Kamerverkiezingen in maart 2017. Samen met de Partij voor de Dieren onderzocht 50PLUS een lijstverbinding voor de verkiezingen, maar deze kwam er niet. Op 14 november 2016 maakte 50PLUS haar kandidatenlijst bekend; achter lijsttrekker Krol stond oud-presentatrice Léonie Sazias en op nummer drie oud-staatssecretaris van Financiën en huidig senator Martin van Rooijen. Bij de Tweede Kamerverkiezingen 2017 verdubbelde 50PLUS van twee naar vier zetels.

In juni 2017 werd Jan Zoetelief tot partijvoorzitter verkozen. Bij de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen 2018 haalde de partij 34 zetels in 20 gemeenten. In mei 2018 kwam een al langer sluimerend conflict in het partijbestuur tot uitbarsting. Zeven van de acht leden van het hoofdbestuur stapten op en vervolgens stapte ook voorzitter Zoetelief op. De nieuwe partijvoorzitter werd Geert Dales.

Bij de Eerste Kamerverkiezingen 2019 behield 50PLUS haar twee zetels. Bij de Europese Parlementsverkiezingen 2019 werd de partij voor het eerst vertegenwoordigd en sloot zich met één zetel aan bij de fractie van de Europese Volkspartij (EVP).

2020
Eind december 2019 werd Femke Merel van Kooten-Arissen, die eerder uit de Tweede Kamerfractie van de Partij voor de Dieren was gestapt, lid van de politieke partij 50PLUS. Ze gaf aan, aan te blijven als onafhankelijk Tweede Kamerlid met haar eigen fractie maar zich wel als 50PLUS-lid te willen kandideren bij de eerstvolgende Tweede Kamerverkiezingen.

In februari 2020 kaartte Krol het idee aan om Dales te kandideren voor een plek in de Tweede Kamer. Andere leden van de partij waren het hiermee niet eens, en er volgde een periode waarin de betrokkenen elkaar op verschillende manieren onheus bejegenden. Partijcoryfee Nagel kondigde aan bij de politie aangifte tegen Krol te doen wegens het plegen van een strafbaar feit, en alle Eerste en Tweede Kamerleden van 50PLUS, behalve Krol, eisten het onmiddellijke vertrek van Dales als voorzitter. De parlementsleden verweten Dales "autocratische en weinig democratische stijl van leidinggeven" en "grof taalgebruik". Ook leden keerden zich tegen Dales en uiteindelijk maakte Dales op 26 april 2020 in het televisieprogramma Buitenhof bekend vervroegd op te zullen stappen als voorzitter. Op 3 mei 2020 verliet Krol, tot dan fractievoorzitter in de Tweede Kamer, de partij, maar bleef aan als onafhankelijk Tweede Kamerlid. Hij en Van Kooten-Arissen gaven aan een eigen partij te willen stichten, die uiteindelijk vorm zou krijgen in de Partij voor de Toekomst. Dezelfde dag nog nam Van Brenk het fractievoorzitterschap van Krol over.

Dales kondigde na het vertrek van Krol aan tot 1 augustus 2020 voorzitter van 50PLUS te willen blijven. Uiteindelijk trad hij op 24 mei dat jaar af. Na het aftreden van Dales werd Bert Kannegieter waarnemend voorzitter. Dit bleef hij tot 1 augustus 2020, toen medeoprichter en erelid Jan Nagel op het partijcongres na een digitale stemming wederom tot voorzitter werd gekozen.

Op 2 juni 2020 stapte Europarlementariër en enig 50PLUS-vertegenwoordiger in het Europees Parlement Toine Manders over naar de CDA-vertegenwoordiging binnen de EVP.

Liane den Haan, directeur van de ANBO, werd in augustus 2020 door het bestuur voorgedragen als kandidaat-lijsttrekker bij de eerstkomende Tweede Kamerverkiezingen, aangezien ze volgens voorzitter Nagel heel goed thuis was in de ouderenproblematiek en bovendien goed in staat zou zijn debatten te voeren. Toch was de keuze voor Den Haan niet onomstreden: als directeur van de ANBO werd haar dictatoriaal gedrag verweten en bovendien had ze in die rol haar steun uitgesproken voor een herziening van het pensioenstelsel waar 50PLUS fel tegen was. Ook was ze eerder nog geen lid van 50PLUS. Op 3 oktober 2020 kozen de partijleden Den Haan tot nieuwe lijsttrekker. Uit onvrede over de keuze voor Den Haan en de wijze waarop deze tot stand was gekomen stapten meerdere partijprominenten uit de partij, onder wie voormalig partijvoorzitter Jan Zoetelief en de voorzitter van de programmacommissie Rob de Brouwer.

2021-heden
Bij de Tweede Kamerverkiezingen van maart 2021 verloor de partij drie zetels. Den Haan nam als lijsttrekker de enig overgebleven zetel in. Op 6 mei 2021 stapte zij uit onvrede uit 50PLUS en nam haar zetel mee.