The office of prime ministers of the Netherlands has existed since 1945, but the term has been retroactively applied to informal leaders of cabinets or chairmen of the Council of Ministers since 1848. The role is sometimes also referred to as premier.
From its inception in 1823, the Council of Ministers was chaired by the vice-president of the Council of State, while a referendary of the Council of State served as its secretary. This changed in the 1842, when the chairmanship started rotating among the ministers, while the secretariat was transferred to the director of the King's Office. After this latter functionary was removed from the Council of Ministers in 1862, the secretariat rotated among the ministers alongside the chairmanship. After 1880, ministers could refuse their term as chairman, which led to a permanent chairmanship in practice.
Abraham Kuyper (1901-1905) is generally seen as the starting point of the prime ministership, because he amended the rules of the Council so he would be chairman for the entire term. This was formally reverted after his term, but the practice remained. In 1922, the rules of the Council were amended so the chairmanship was no longer formally temporary. After the World War II in 1945, the term minister-president was used in the rules of the Council to refer to the chairman and in 1983 this title was formalised in the Constitution of the Netherlands.
The prime minister has also been head of the Ministry of General Affairs since its inception in 1937, with a break between 1940 and 1947.
Cabinet leader (1848-1874) Name(born and died) Portrait Term of office Political affiliationElection CabinetMonarch(Reign)Took officeLeft officeTenure(1794–1863) 1848 1848Independent Liberal—Schimmelpenninck Willem II(1840–1849)(1793–1870) 1848 1849Independent Liberal1848De Kempenaer—Donker Curtius Willem III(1849–1890)(1798–1872) 1849 1853Independent Liberal18501852Thorbecke I (1791–1866) 1853 1856Independent Liberal18531854Van Hall—Donker Curtius (1804–1863) 1856 1858Independent Antirevolutionary1856Van der Brugghen (1797–1871) 1858 1860Independent Conservative1858Rochussen (1791–1866) 1860 1861Independent Liberal1860Van Hall—Van Heemstra (1816–1890) 1861 1861Independent Liberal—Van Zuylen van Nijevelt—Van Heemstra (1807–1864) 1861 1862Independent Liberal(1798–1872) 1862 1866Independent Liberal18621864Thorbecke II (1822–1902) 1866 1866Independent Liberal—Fransen van de Putte (1819–1894) 1866 1868Independent ConservativeJun. 1866Oct. 1866Van Zuylen van Nijevelt (1809–1879) 1868 1871Independent Liberal18681869Van Bosse-Fock cabinet (1798–1872) 1871 1872Independent Liberal1871Thorbecke III (1818–1900) 1872 1874Independent Liberal1873De Vries-Fransen van de Putte
Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1874-1945)
Name(born and died) Portrait Term of office Political affiliationElection CabinetMonarch(Reign)Took officeLeft officeTenure(1818–1897) 1874 1877Independent Conservative1875Heemskerk–Van Lynden van Sandenburg Willem III(1849–1890)(1822–1895) 1877 1879Independent Liberal1877Kappeyne van de Coppello (1826–1885) 1879 1883Independent Antirevolutionary18791881Van Lynden van Sandenburg (1818–1897) 1883 1888Independent Conservative1883188418861887J. Heemskerk (1838–1909) 1888 1891Anti-Revolutionary Party1888MackayWilhelmina(1890–1948)(1841–1914) 1891 1894Independent Liberal1891Van Tienhoven 1894 1897Independent Liberal1894Röell(1839–1909) 1897 1901Liberal Union1897Pierson (1837–1920) 1901 1905Anti-Revolutionary Party1901Kuyper(1851–1919) 1905 1908Liberal Union1905De Meester(1852–1932) 1908 1913Anti-Revolutionary Party1909T. Heemskerk(1846–1935) 1913 1918Independent Liberal19131917Cort van der Linden 1918 1925 General League of Roman Associations1918Ruijs de Beerenbrouck I 1922Ruijs de Beerenbrouck II (1869–1944) 1925 1926Anti-Revolutionary Party1925Colijn I 1926 1929Christian Historical Union—De Geer I 1929 1933Roman Catholic State Party1929Ruijs de Beerenbrouck III (1869–1944) 1933 1939 Anti-Revolutionary Party1933Colijn II — Colijn III 1937Colijn IV —Colijn V 1939 1940Christian Historical Union—De Geer II (1885–1961) 1940 1945 Anti-Revolutionary Party—Gerbrandy I —Gerbrandy II —Gerbrandy III
Prime ministers (1945-present) Name(born and died) Portrait Term of office Political affiliationElection CabinetMonarch(Reign)Took officeLeft officeTenure (1894–1977) 1945 1946 Free-thinking Democratic League until 1946— Schermerhorn—Drees Wilhelmina(1890–1948)Labour Party from 1946—(1902–1977) 1946 1948Catholic People's Party1946Beel I (1886–1988) 1948 1958Labour Party1948Drees—Van Schaik Juliana(1948–1980)—Drees I 1952Drees II 1956Drees III (1902–1977) 1958 1959Catholic People's Party—Beel II (1901–1985) 1959 1963Catholic People's Party1959De Quay (1917–1975) 1963 1965Catholic People's Party1963Marijnen (1914–1971) 1965 1966Catholic People's Party—Cals (1918–2001) 1966 1967Anti-Revolutionary Party—Zijlstra (1915–2016) 1967 1971Catholic People's Party1967De Jong (1920–2001) 1971 1973 Anti-Revolutionary Party1971Biesheuvel I —Biesheuvel II (1919–1987) 1973 1977Labour Party1972Den Uyl (1931–2024) 1977 1982 Christian Democratic Appeal1977Van Agt I Beatrix(1980–2013)1981Van Agt II —Van Agt III (1939–2018) 1982 1994 Christian Democratic Appeal1982Lubbers I 1986Lubbers II 1989Lubbers III (1938–2018) 1994 2002 Labour Party1994Kok I 1998Kok II (born 1956) 2002 2010 Christian Democratic Appeal2002Balkenende I 2003Balkenende II —Balkenende III 2006Balkenende IV (born 1967) 2010 2024 People's Party 2010Rutte I 2012Rutte II Willem-Alexander(2013–present)2017Rutte III 2021Rutte IV (born 1957) 2024 2026Independent2023Schoof (born 1987) 2026IncumbentDemocrats 662025Jetten
Graphical timeline By political party
By ideology
See also Historical rankings of prime ministers of the Netherlands Religious affiliations of prime ministers of the Netherlands
References