Independent Senate Group
The Independent Senate Group is a political party in the Dutch Senate with one senator, representing several provincial parties. The OSF differs from other Dutch political parties in that it does not have individual membership, but only grants membership to provincial parties, or municipal local parties that are members of a provincial party. The OSF only contests the elections for the Eerste Kamer and represents regionalist interests.
History
In 1995, several provincial parties and The Greens proposed their own independent list for the Senate elections, called the Platform of Independent Groups/Greens.'' Marten Bierman was elected through preferential vote. In 1999 Bierman was reelected.In 2003, Henk ten Hoeve became senator for the OSF. He was a member of the Friesland states-provincial representing the Frisian National Party. He remained senator until 2011. Ten Hoeve was succeeded by Kees de Lange. De Lange was elected on the OSF list, but was a member of the 50PLUS party, with which the OSF had a vote sharing agreement. In 2015 De Lange broke with the OSF due to a disagreement concerning the possible cooperation between the OSF and the People's Party of Limburg of Jos van Rey, a former VVD alderman and representative plagued by corruption scandals.
In 2015, Henk ten Hoeve became senator of the OSF for a second time. Since 2019 Gerben Gerbrandy, former mayor of Achtkarspelen, has been the senator representing the OSF.
Members
The OSF consists of the following provincial parties:| Party | Province | Seats in the States-provincial | Notes |
| Frisian National Party | |||
| Provincial Interest Fryslân | |||
| Party for the Eldery NH | |||
| Groninger Interest | |||
| Local Brabant | |||
| Strong Local | |||
| Party for Zeeland | |||
| Local Limburg | |||
| Local Parties Gelderland | Observer member | ||
| Local Parties South Holland | Observer member | ||
| U26 Municipalities | Observer member |