Early general elections were held in the Netherlands on 12 September 2012 after Prime Minister Mark Rutte handed in his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix on 23 April. The 150 seats of the House of Representatives were contested using party-list proportional representation. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) received a plurality of the votes, followed by the Labour Party (PvdA).

Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010. He is currently acting in a demissionary capacity, scheduled to leave national politics following the installation of the next cabinet after the 2023 general election. Rutte was the leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 2006 through 2023. On 2 August 2022 he became the longest-serving prime minister in the history of the Netherlands.