List of Dutch scouts, informateurs and formateurs

Scouts, informateurs and formateurs facilitate specific phases in a Dutch cabinet formation. Since 2012, the scout explores the possibilities for a coalition government in the scouting phase, which can later be done again by an informateur. Since 1951, the main responsibility of an informateur is facilitating the negotiations between political parties in the information phase. The formateur was until 1951 responsible for the entire formation, but its role has been limited since 1982 to finding the ministers and state secretaries of the cabinet in the formation phase.^[2] The roles are often filled by members of the largest party in the House of Representatives.^[3]

Herman Tjeenk Willink receives his assignment as informateur from Speaker of the House Vera Bergkamp during the 2021–2022 cabinet formation. He was also informateur during the 1994 (twice), 1999, 2010 and 2017 cabinet formation. As administrative secretary, he was also involved in the 1972–1973 and 1977 cabinet formation.^[1]

Historical development

The roles have changed throughout the years. The role of formateur has existed since the first cabinet formation in 1848.^[4] Formateurs were in general responsible for the entire formation, simply being instructed to form a cabinet. The (final) formateur is often the intended prime minister.^[a] However, some formateurs were instructed to do preliminary work (exploring coalition options and/or facilitating negotiations).^[b][4]

In 1951, a separate role was created for the preliminary work: the informateur. Since that year, there has not been a formation without an informateur, although this has been attempted five times. Since 1989, the initial informateur is tasked with exploring the possibilities for a coalition.^[5] The first exploratory round became the responsibility of a separate role, the scout, in 2012. Since that year, the monarch no longer has a role in the formation and thus no longer does the consultations at the start of the formation. The (in)formateurs and scouts have since then been appointed by the House of Representatives.

List

List of Dutch formateurs, informateurs and scouts

Name	Starting date[c]	Days	Role	Political affiliation	Formation	Ref.
Gerrit Schimmelpenninck	23 March 1848	1	Formateur	liberal	1848	[6]
Leonardus Antonius Lightenvelt	20 September 1849	37	Formateur	conservative	1849	[7]
Dirk Donker Curtius				liberal
Johan Rudolph Thorbecke	27 October 1849	3	Formateur	liberal
Jan Nedermeijer van Rosenthal				liberal
Floris Adriaan van Hall	16 April 1853	3	Formateur	liberal	1853	[8]
Justinus van der Brugghen	1 June 1856	30	Formateur	anti-revolutionary	1856	[9]
Jan Jacob Rochussen	3 March 1858	16	Formateur	conservative	1858	[10]
Floris Adriaan van Hall	17 February 1860	4	Formateur	liberal	1860	[11]
Schelto van Heemstra	21 February 1860	3	Formateur	conservative
Jan Jacob Rochussen	16 February 1861	24	Formateur	conservative	1861	[12]
Schelto van Heemstra				conservative
Jules van Zuylen van Nijevelt	12 March 1861	3	Formateur	anti-revolutionary
Johan Rudolph Thorbecke	18 January 1862	13	Formateur	liberal	1861–1862	[13]
Isaäc Dignus Fransen van de Putte	29 January 1866	7	Formateur	liberal	Jan–Feb 1866	[14]
Jules van Zuylen van Nijevelt	24 May 1866	7	Formateur	anti-revolutionary	May–Jun 1866	[15]
Æneas Mackay Sr.	17 April 1868	2	Formateur	anti-revolutionary	1868	[16]
Theo van Lynden van Sandenburg	29 April 1868	4	Formateur	conservative
Gerlach Cornelis Joannes van Reenen	4 May 1868	5	Formateur	conservative
Æneas Mackay Sr.	17 May 1868	5	Formateur	anti-revolutionary
Johan Rudolph Thorbecke	23 May 1868	11	Formateur	liberal
Cornelis Fock	24 November 1870	5	Formateur	liberal	1870–1871	[17]
Lodewijk Gerard Brocx				liberal
Johan Rudolph Thorbecke	1 December 1870	33	Formateur	liberal
Gerrit de Vries	25 June 1872	10	Formateur	liberal	1872	[18]
Jan Heemskerk	14 July 1874	43	Formateur	liberal	1874	[19]
Jan Kappeyne van de Coppello	16 October 1877	17	Formateur	liberal	1877	[20]
Theo van Lynden van Sandenburg	24 July 1879	9	Formateur	conservative	1879	[21]
Eppo Cremers	12 July 1879	11	Formateur	conservative
Isaäc Dignus Fransen van de Putte				liberal
Gerrit de Vries				liberal
Theo van Lynden van Sandenburg	8 August 1882	5	Formateur	conservative	1882	[21]
Johannes Tak van Poortvliet	31 July 1882	9	Formateur	liberal
Theo van Lynden van Sandenburg	3 July 1882	5	Formateur	conservative
Jan Heemskerk	4 March 1883	9	Formateur	liberal	1883	[22]
Otto van Rees	12 March 1883	7	Formateur	liberal
Johan George Gleichman	19 March 1883	5	Formateur	liberal
Jan Heemskerk	29 March 1883	23	Formateur	liberal
Æneas Mackay Jr.	30 March 1888	20	Formateur	ARP	1888	[23][24]
Gijsbert van Tienhoven	26 July 1891	22	Formateur	liberal	1891	[25]
Joan Röell	4 May 1894	4	Formateur	liberal	1894	[26]
Nicolaas Pierson	13 July 1897	10	Formateur	LU	1897	[27]
Abraham Kuyper	11 July 1901	15	Formateur	ARP	1901	[28][29]
Hendrik Goeman Borgesius	14 July 1905	34	Formateur	LU	1905	[30]
Jan Elias Nicolaas Schimmelpenninck van der Oye	27 February 1907	3	Formateur	CHP	1907	[30]
Pieter Cort van der Linden	17 March 1907	5	Formateur	liberal
Theo Heemskerk	16 January 1908	27	Formateur	ARP	1907–1908	[31][32]
Dirk Bos	11 July 1913	15	Formateur	VDB	1913	[33]
Pieter Cort van der Linden	2 August 1913	27	Formateur	liberal
Willem Hubert Nolens	13 July 1918	38	Formateur	RKSP	1918	[34][35]
Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck	29 August 1918	9	Formateur	RKSP
Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck	22 June 1921	35	Formateur	RKSP	1921	[34][36]
Dirk Jan de Geer	19 July 1922	4	Formateur	CHU	1922	[37][38]
Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck	22 July 1922	49	Formateur	RKSP
Dionysius Koolen	15 November 1923	10	Formateur	RKSP	1923-1924	[37][39]
Frans Beelaerts van Blokland	24 November 1923	12	Formateur	CHU
Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek	4 January 1924	3	Formateur	liberal
Hendrik Colijn	15 July 1925	18	Formateur	ARP	1925	[40][41]
Henri Marchant	24 November 1925	8	Formateur	VDB	1925-1926	[42][43]
Johannes Theodoor de Visser	8 December 1925	4	Formateur	CHU
Johannes Theodoor de Visser	12 December 1925	42	Formateur	CHU
Joseph Limburg	23 January 1926	35	Formateur	VDB[d]
Dirk Jan de Geer	1 March 1926	4	Formateur	CHU
Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck	12 July 1929	18	Formateur	RKSP	1929	[45][46]
	3 August 1929	7	Formateur
Hendrik Colijn	2 May 1933	15	Formateur	ARP	1933	[47][48]
	16 May 1933	11	Formateur
Piet Aalberse	26 July 1935	2	Formateur	RKSP	1935	[49][50]
Hendrik Colijn	29 July 1935	2	Formateur	ARP
Hendrik Colijn	30 May 1937	25	Formateur	ARP	1937	[51][52]
Hendrik Colijn	30 June 1939	10	Formateur	ARP	Jun–Jul 1939	[53][54]
Dionysius Koolen	9 July 1939	6	Formateur	RKSP
Hendrik Colijn	14 July 1939	12	Formateur	ARP
Dirk Jan de Geer	4 August 1939	6	Formateur	CHU	Aug 1939	[55]
Pieter Gerbrandy	28 August 1940	3	Formateur	ARP	1940	[56]
Pieter Gerbrandy	1 July 1941	26	Formateur	ARP	1941	[56]
Pieter Gerbrandy	8 February 1945	15	Formateur	ARP	Feb 1945	[57]
Willem Drees	28 May 1945	27	Formateur	SDAP	May–Jun 1945	[58][59]
Willem Schermerhorn				VDB
Louis Beel	27 May 1946	36	Formateur	KVP	1946	[60][61]
Louis Beel	13 July 1948	10	Formateur[e]	KVP	1948	[62][63]
	22 July 1948	8	Formateur
Josef van Schaik	30 July 1948	8	Formateur	KVP
Dirk Stikker	28 January 1951	5	Informateur	VVD	1951	[64][65]
Willem Drees	1 February 1951	16	Formateur	PvdA
Josef van Schaik				KVP
Max Steenberghe	18 February 1951	7	Formateur	KVP
Carl Romme	13 March 1951	2	Formateur	KVP
	27 February 1951	15	Informateur
Willem Drees	27 June 1952	26	Formateur	PvdA	1952	[66][67]
Louis Beel	23 July 1952	13	Informateur	KVP
Leendert Antonie Donker	5 August 1952	17	Formateur	PvdA
Cornelis Staf	22 August 1952	5	Formateur	CHU
Willem Drees	29 August 1952	4	Formateur	PvdA
Jaap Burger	25 May 1955	9	Formateur	PvdA	1955	[68][69]
Willem Drees	16 June 1956	38	Formateur	PvdA	1956	[70][71]
Carl Romme	24 June 1956	9	Formateur	KVP
Piet Lieftinck	16 August 1956	5	Informateur	PvdA
	7 August 1956	9	Informateur
Wilhelm Friedrich de Gaay Fortman	22 August 1956	25	Informateur	ARP
Jaap Burger	20 September 1956	19	Informateur	PvdA
Willem Drees	9 October 1956	3	Formateur	PvdA
Louis Beel	12 December 1958	7	Informateur	KVP	1958	[72][73]
	19 December 1958	3	Formateur
Louis Beel	14 March 1959	13	Informateur	KVP	1959	[74][75]
Jan de Quay	28 March 1959	30	Formateur	KVP
Louis Beel	1 May 1959	13	Informateur	KVP
Jan de Quay	14 May 1959	5	Formateur	KVP
Wilhelm Friedrich de Gaay Fortman	27 December 1960	6	Informateur	ARP	1960–1961	[76][77]
Carl Romme	20 May 1963	16	Informateur	KVP	1963	[78][79]
Wim de Kort	6 June 1963	21	Formateur	KVP
Louis Beel	28 June 1963	7	Informateur	KVP
Jan de Quay	5 July 1963	11	Formateur	KVP
Victor Marijnen	16 July 1963	8	Formateur	KVP
Norbert Schmelzer	2 March 1965	11	Informateur	KVP	1965	[80][81]
Jo Cals	15 March 1965	29	Formateur	KVP
Norbert Schmelzer	18 October 1966	17	Informateur	KVP	1966	[82][83]
Louis Beel	4 November 1966	12	Informateur	KVP
Jelle Zijlstra	16 November 1966	6	Formateur	ARP
Jelle Zijlstra	18 February 1967	15	Informateur	ARP	1967	[84][85]
Louis Beel	6 March 1967	3	Informateur[f]	KVP
Barend Biesheuvel	9 March 1967	12	Formateur	ARP
Piet de Jong	21 March 1967	14	Formateur	KVP
Piet Steenkamp	15 May 1971	37	Informateur	KVP	1971	[87][88]
Barend Biesheuvel	21 June 1971	15	Formateur	ARP
Barend Biesheuvel	22 July 1972	18	Formateur	ARP	1972	[89][90]
Marinus Ruppert	4 December 1972	58	Informateur	ARP	1972–1973	[91][92]
Jaap Burger	1 February 1973	62	Formateur	PvdA
Dries van Agt	10 April 1973	13	Informateur	KVP
Wil Albeda				ARP
Jaap Burger	23 April 1973	18	Formateur	PvdA
Marinus Ruppert				ARP
Joop den Uyl	1 June 1977	45	Formateur	PvdA	1977	[93][94]
Wil Albeda	20 July 1977	7	Informateur	CDA
Joop den Uyl	27 July 1977	30	Formateur	PvdA
Gerard Veringa	26 August 1977	7	Informateur	CDA
	2 September 1977	35	Formateur
Joop den Uyl				PvdA
Maarten Vrolijk	11 October 1977	15	Informateur	PvdA
Koos Verdam				CDA
Joop den Uyl	26 October 1977	10	Formateur	PvdA
Wim van der Grinten	8 November 1977	29	Informateur	CDA
Dries van Agt	8 December 1977	11	Formateur	CDA
Ruud Lubbers	30 May 1981	66	Informateur	CDA	1981	[95][96]
Jan de Koning				CDA
Ed van Thijn	10 July 1981	25	Informateur	PvdA
	4 August 1981	16	Formateur
Sjeng Kremers				CDA
Wilhelm Friedrich de Gaay Fortman	20 August 1981	13	Informateur	CDA
Dries van Agt	2 September 1981	9	Formateur	CDA
Cees de Galan	16 October 1981	19	Informateur	PvdA
Victor Halberstadt				PvdA
Piet Steenkamp	14 May 1982	12	Informateur	CDA	May–Jun 1982	[97][98]
Dries van Agt	25 May 1982	4	Formateur	CDA
Jos van Kemenade	10 September 1982	21	Informateur	PvdA	Sep–Nov 1982	[99][100]
Willem Scholten	1 October 1982	29	Informateur	CDA
Ruud Lubbers	30 October 1982	5	Formateur	CDA
Jan de Koning	23 May 1986	50	Informateur	CDA	1986	[101][102]
Ruud Lubbers	11 July 1986	3	Formateur	CDA
Jan de Koning	8 September 1989	5	Informateur	CDA	1989	[103][104]
Ruud Lubbers	13 September 1989	45	Informateur	CDA
	27 October 1989	9	Formateur
Herman Tjeenk Willink	6 May 1994	8	Informateur	PvdA	1994	[105][106]
Jan Vis	14 May 1994	44	Informateur	D66
Gijs van Aardenne				VVD
Klaas de Vries				PvdA
Herman Tjeenk Willink	27 June 1994	9	Informateur	PvdA
Wim Kok	6 July 1994	23	Informateur	PvdA
	29 July 1994	22	Formateur
Klaas de Vries	8 May 1998	6	Informateur	PvdA	1998	[107][108]
Gerrit Zalm	14 May 1998	67	Informateur	VVD
Els Borst				D66
Wim Kok				PvdA
	20 July 1998	14	Formateur
Herman Tjeenk Willink	22 May 1999	18	Formateur	PvdA	1999	[109][110]
Piet Hein Donner	17 May 2002	48	Informateur	CDA	2002	[111][112]
Jan Peter Balkenende	4 July 2002	18	Formateur	CDA
Piet Hein Donner	24 January 2003	11	Informateur	CDA	2003	[113][114]
	5 February 2003	66	Informateur
Frans Leijnse				PvdA
Rein Jan Hoekstra	15 April 2003	35	Informateur	CDA
Frits Korthals Altes				VVD
Jan Peter Balkenende	20 May 2003	7	Formateur	CDA
Ruud Lubbers	1 July 2006	4	Informateur	CDA	2006	[115][116]
Jan Peter Balkenende	5 July 2006	3	Formateur	CDA
Rein Jan Hoekstra	25 November 2006	25	Informateur	CDA	2006–2007	[117][118]
Herman Wijffels	20 December 2006	51	Informateur	CDA
Jan Peter Balkenende	9 February 2007	13	Formateur	CDA
Uri Rosenthal	12 June 2010	14	Informateur	VVD	2010	[119][120]
Herman Tjeenk Willink	26 June 2010	10	Informateur	PvdA
Uri Rosenthal	5 July 2010	16	Informateur	VVD
Jacques Wallage				PvdA
Ruud Lubbers	21 July 2010	14	Informateur	CDA
Ivo Opstelten	4 August 2010	32	Informateur	VVD
Herman Tjeenk Willink	7 September 2010	7	Informateur	PvdA
Ivo Opstelten	13 September 2010	25	Informateur	VVD
Mark Rutte	7 October 2010	8	Formateur	VVD
Henk Kamp	13 September 2012	6	Scout	VVD	2012	[121][118]
	20 September 2012	42	Informateur
Wouter Bos				PvdA
Mark Rutte	31 October 2012	5	Formateur	VVD
Edith Schippers	16 March 2017	11	Scout	VVD	2017	[122][123]
	28 March 2017	63	Informateur
Herman Tjeenk Willink	30 May 2017	29	Informateur	PvdA
Gerrit Zalm	28 June 2017	105	Informateur	VVD
Mark Rutte	12 October 2017	14	Formateur	VVD
Annemarie Jorritsma	18 March 2021	8	Scout	VVD	2021–2022	[124][125]
Kajsa Ollongren				D66
Tamara van Ark	25 March 2021	8	Scout	VVD
Wouter Koolmees				D66
Herman Tjeenk Willink	6 April 2021	24	Informateur	PvdA
Mariëtte Hamer	12 May 2021	113	Informateur	PvdA
Johan Remkes	7 September 2021	23	Informateur	VVD
	5 October 2021	71	Informateur
Wouter Koolmees				D66
Mark Rutte	16 December 2021	25	Formateur	VVD
Gom van Strien	24 November 2023	4	Scout	PVV	2023–2024	[126]
Ronald Plasterk	28 November 2023	14	Scout	PvdA
	13 December 2023	62	Informateur
Kim Putters	14 February 2024	30	Informateur	PvdA
Elbert Dijkgraaf	20 March 2024	58	Informateur	SGP
Richard van Zwol				CDA
	22 May 2024	41	Formateur

See also

• List of Dutch cabinet formations

Notes

1. Exceptions include 1905, 1951 and 2023-2024.
2. Such as Gijsbert van Tienhoven in 1891, Jan Elias Nicolaas Schimmelpenninck van der Oye in 1907, Willem Hubert Nolens in 1918 and Dionysius Koolen in June–July 1939.
3. For formateurs, this not always reflects the day they have formally accepted the assignment, but instead the day they have asked the monarch to consider the assignment.
4. His party did not participate in the negotiations. Some in his party criticised his appointment, which led hem to leave the part.^[44]
5. Sources from that time refer to him as formateur. However, Parlement.com describes him as informateur.
6. Formally as advisor to the queen.^[86]