Den Uyl cabinet

Den Uyl cabinet
Cabinet of the Netherlands
The installation of the Den Uyl cabinet on 11 May 1973
Date formed	11 May 1973 (1973-05-11)
Date dissolved	19 December 1977 (1977-12-19) (Demissionary from 22 March 1977 (1977-03-22))
People and organisations
Head of state	Queen Juliana
Head of government	Joop den Uyl
Deputy head of government	Dries van Agt (1973–1977) Gaius de Gaay Fortman (1977)
No. of ministers	16
Ministers removed	3
Total no. of members	18
Member party	Labour Party (PvdA) Catholic People's Party (KVP) Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) Political Party of Radicals (PPR) Democrats 66 (D'66)
Status in legislature	Centre-left Majority government (Grand coalition)
History
Election	1972 election
Outgoing election	1977 election
Legislature terms	1972–1977
Incoming formation	1972–1973 formation
Outgoing formation	1977 formation
Predecessor	Second Biesheuvel cabinet
Successor	First Van Agt cabinet

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The Den Uyl cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 11 May 1973 until 19 December 1977. The cabinet was formed by the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA), the christian-democratic Catholic People's Party (KVP) and Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP), the progressive Political Party of Radicals (PPR) and the social-liberal Democrats 66 (D'66) after the election of 1972. The cabinet was a Centre-left^[1] grand coalition and had a substantial majority in the House of Representatives with Labour Leader Joop den Uyl serving as Prime Minister. Prominent Catholic politician Dries van Agt, the Minister of Justice from the previous cabinet, served as Deputy Prime Minister until his resignation. Prominent Protestant politician Gaius de Gaay Fortman the Minister of the Interior assumed the office of Deputy Prime Minister on 8 September 1977.

The cabinet served during the tumultuous 1970s and had to deal with several major crises such as the 1973 oil crisis, the Lockheed scandal, the Moluccans incidents and the fallout of the Yom Kippur War. Internally the cabinet suffered several conflicts, including the poor working relationship between Prime Minister Den Uyl and Deputy Prime Minister Van Agt, and multiple resignations. The cabinet fell on 22 March 1977, just before the end of its term, following a major political crisis, and continued in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced following the election of 1977.^[2][3][4]

After the 1972 election the Labour Party (PvdA) of Joop den Uyl was the winner of the election, winning four new seats and having now a total of 43 seats. Prior to the election the PvdA had formed a political alliance with the progressive Christian Political Party of Radicals and the social-liberal Democrats 66, but this alliance failed to achieve a majority in the House of Representatives. After lengthy negotiations the Christian-democratic Catholic People's Party (KVP) and Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) agreed to start talks about joining the coalition. During the formation negotiations between the parties were difficult because of disputes between uncompromising left-wing radicals and the moderate factions of the left-wing parties and the left-wing Christians. In the end both the KVP and the ARP joined the cabinet.

The Den Uyl cabinet was confronted with many problems, starting with the 1973 oil crisis following Dutch support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Prime Minister Joop den Uyl said in a speech on national television that "things would never return to the way they were" and implemented fuel rationing and a ban on Sunday driving.^[5]

Domestically the cabinet had several major conflicts, including the terrorist attacks by Moluccans seeking independence from Indonesia, the Lockheed affair (bribes accepted by the queen's husband) and the closing of the abortion clinic Bloemenhove. Many plans could not be implemented because of these problems.

The cabinet fell because of a disagreement over land development plans. A deeper cause was the left-wing distrust of the Christian ministers, especially in the case of war criminal Pieter Menten, where Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Dries van Agt was ridiculed (so believed Van Agt) by some party members of Prime Minister Joop den Uyl.^[6]

On 1 November 1973, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Tiemen Brouwer (KVP) resigned for reasons of health; shortly after he took office, he suffered a brain haemorrhage. That same day State Secretary for Finance Fons van der Stee (KVP) was installed as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. On 21 December 1973, Martin van Rooijen (KVP), who until then had been working as the head of the fiscal tax department for Royal Dutch Shell, was appointed as State Secretary for Finance.

On 1 March 1974, State Secretary for Defence Joep Mommersteeg (KVP) resigned because of health problems. On 11 March 1974, brigadier general Cees van Lent (KVP), who until then had been working as Chief of the Personnel Department of the Royal Netherlands Army, was installed as his successor.

On 27 May 1975, State Secretary for Justice Jan Glastra van Loon (D'66) resigned due to a conflict with top officials at the Ministry of Defence after criticizing the department's leadership in an interview. On 6 June 1975, former Utrecht Alderman Henk Zeevalking (D'66) was appointed his successor.

On 1 September 1975, State Secretary for Education and Sciences Antoon Veerman (ARP) resigned because of health reasons. That same day, Klaas de Jong (ARP), who until then had been working as rector of the Christian school in Amersfoort, was installed as his successor.

On 1 January 1977, Minister of Defence Henk Vredeling (PvdA) resigned after he was appointed as European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs. That same day, State Secretary for Defence Bram Stemerdink (PvdA) was appointed as his successor.

On 1 May 1977, State Secretary for the Interior Wim Polak (PvdA) resigned after he was appointed Mayor of Amsterdam; because the cabinet was already demissionary he was not replaced.

On 8 September 1977, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Dries van Agt (KVP) resigned because of the dualism of the constitutional convention in the States General of the Netherlands after he was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives. Minister of the Interior Gaius de Gaay Fortman (ARP) took over both positions until the new cabinet was installed on 19 December 1977.

For the same reason, on 8 September 1977 State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (D'66), State Secretary for Justice Henk Zeevalking (D'66), State Secretary for Economic Affairs Ted Hazekamp (KVP), State Secretary for Education and Sciences Ger Klein (PvdA), State Secretaries for Housing and Spatial Planning Jan Schaefer (PvdA) and Marcel van Dam (PvdA) and State Secretary for Culture, Recreation and Social Work Wim Meijer (PvdA) also resigned.

Ministers			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Joop den Uyl (1919–1987)	Prime Minister	General Affairs		11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Labour Party
		Dries van Agt (1931–2024)	Deputy Prime Minister	Justice		11 May 1973 – 8 September 1977 [Res]	Catholic People's Party
			Minister			6 July 1971 – 8 September 1977 [Retained] [Res]
		Dr. Gaius de Gaay Fortman (1911–1997)	Deputy Prime Minister	Justice		8 September 1977 – 19 December 1977	Anti-Revolutionary Party
			Minister
			Minister	Interior		11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977
			Minister		• Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs	11 May 1973 – 25 November 1975
					• Netherlands Antilles Affairs	25 November 1975 – 19 December 1977
		Max van der Stoel (1924–2011)	Minister	Foreign Affairs		11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Labour Party
		Dr. Wim Duisenberg (1935–2005)	Minister	Finance		11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Labour Party
		Ruud Lubbers (1939–2018)	Minister	Economic Affairs		11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Catholic People's Party
		Henk Vredeling (1924–2007)	Minister	Defence		11 May 1973 – 1 January 1977 [App]	Labour Party
		Captain Bram Stemerdink (born 1936)				1 January 1977 – 19 December 1977	Labour Party
		Irene Vorrink (1918–1996)	Minister	Health and Environment		11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Labour Party
		Jaap Boersma (1929–2012)	Minister	Social Affairs		6 July 1971 – 19 December 1977 [Retained]	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Dr. Jos van Kemenade (1937–2020)	Minister	Education and Sciences		11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Labour Party
		Tjerk Westerterp (1930–2023)	Minister	Transport and Water Management		11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Catholic People's Party
		Tiemen Brouwer (1916–1977)	Minister	Agriculture and Fisheries		11 May 1973 – 1 November 1973 [Res]	Catholic People's Party
		Fons van der Stee (1928–1999)				1 November 1973 – 5 March 1980 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Hans Gruijters (1931–2005)	Minister	Housing and Spatial Planning		11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Democrats 66
		Harry van Doorn (1915–1992)	Minister	Culture, Recreation and Social Work		11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Political Party of Radicals
Ministers without portfolio			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Jan Pronk (born 1940)	Minister	Foreign Affairs	• Development Cooperation	11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Labour Party
		Boy Trip (1921–1990)	Minister	Education and Sciences	• Science Policy	11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Political Party of Radicals
State Secretaries			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Wim Polak (1924–1999)	State Secretary	Interior	• Municipalities • Civil Service	11 May 1973 – 1 May 1977 [App]	Labour Party
		Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (born 1937)	State Secretary	Foreign Affairs	• European Union • Benelux • NATO	11 May 1973 – 8 September 1977 [Res]	Democrats 66
		Dr. Pieter Kooijmans (1933–2013)			• United Nations • International Organizations	11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Fons van der Stee (1928–1999)	State Secretary	Finance	• Fiscal Policy • Tax and Customs	11 May 1973 – 1 November 1973 [App]	Catholic People's Party
		Martin van Rooijen (born 1942)				21 December 1973 – 14 October 1977 [Res]	Catholic People's Party
		Aar de Goede (1928–2016)			• Governmental Budget	11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Democrats 66
		Dr. Jan Glastra van Loon (1920–2001)	State Secretary	Justice	• Immigration and Asylum • Civil Law • Judicial Reform • Youth Justice	13 June 1973 – 27 May 1975 [Res]	Democrats 66
		Henk Zeevalking (1922–2005)				6 June 1975 – 8 September 1977 [Res]	Democrats 66
		Ted Hazekamp (1926–1987)	State Secretary	Economic Affairs	• Small and Medium-sized Businesses • Regional Development • Consumer Protection • Tourism	11 May 1973 – 11 September 1981 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Joep Mommersteeg (1917–1991)	State Secretary	Defence	• Human Resources	11 May 1973 – 1 March 1974 [Res]	Catholic People's Party
		Brigadier general Cees van Lent (1922–2000)				11 March 1974 – 11 September 1981 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Captain Bram Stemerdink (born 1936)			• Equipment • Justice	11 May 1973 – 1 January 1977 [App]	Labour Party
		Jo Hendriks (1923–2001)	State Secretary	Health and Environment	• Primary Healthcare • Elderly Care • Disability Policy	11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Catholic People's Party
		Jan Mertens (1916–2000)	State Secretary	Social Affairs	• Social Security • Occupational Safety	11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Ger Klein (1925–1998)	State Secretary	Education and Sciences	• Higher Education	11 May 1973 – 8 September 1977 [Res]	Labour Party
		Dr. Antoon Veerman (1916–1993)			• Secondary Education • Special Education	11 May 1973 – 1 September 1975 [Res]	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Klaas de Jong (1926–2011)				1 September 1975 – 11 September 1981 [Continued]	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Dr. Michel van Hulten (born 1930)	State Secretary	Transport and Water Management	• Public Infrastructure • Public Transport • Postal Service	11 May 1973 – 19 December 1977	Political Party of Radicals
		Jan Schaefer (1940–1994)	State Secretary	Housing and Spatial Planning	• Urban Planning • Spatial Planning	11 May 1973 – 8 September 1977 [Res]	Labour Party
		Marcel van Dam (born 1938)			• Public Housing	11 May 1973 – 8 September 1977 [Res]	Labour Party
		Wim Meijer (born 1939)	State Secretary	Culture, Recreation and Social Work	• Social Services • Environmental Policy • Nature • Recreation	11 May 1973 – 8 September 1977 [Res]	Labour Party
Source: (in Dutch) Rijksoverheid

^Resigned

^{Retained from the previous cabinet}

^{Continued in the next cabinet}

^{Appointed as European Commissioner}

^{Appointed as Mayor of Amsterdam}

^{Appointed as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries}

^{Appointed as Minister of Defence}

• Den Uyl shadow cabinet

Official

• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Den Uyl Parlement & Politiek
• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Den Uyl Rijksoverheid

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