Resignation by individual cabinet ministers is a major political event. Little is known, however, about the incidence, the patterns and the causes of ministerial resignations. This article works towards a political survival model of individual (junior and senior) ministers in the Netherlands, a country characterized by proportional representation and coalition governments. It does so on the basis of data for all 719 cabinet members serving between 1946 and 2010. It first establishes the turnover rate of individual cabinet members. On average, 15.0 per cent of all ministers step down individually before the end of their term. A total of 5.3 per cent resigns for political reasons, such as an internal conflict within the cabinet or losing the confidence of the party or parliament. With regard to political resignations, the Balkenendeera was the most turbulent of Dutch post-war political history. We then tried to explain the resignation hazard for individual ministers on the basis of recent comparative research. The analysis shows that previous experience in parliament makes the largest difference. Ministers lacking such experience are currently 51 per cent less likely to survive in office. Acta Politica advance online publication, 21 February 2014; doi:10.1057/ap.2014.1 Keywords: cabinet government; ministers; accountability; duration; Dutch politics Ministerial Resignation and SurvivalResignations by cabinet members are major political events. Invariably, a ministerial resignation is covered on the front page of newspapers and is prime time footage for the television networks. It is a source of speculation and a hotly debated topic. In the Netherlands, these debates are highly normative in nature. Many political commentators argue that cabinet members should step down more often. Resignation is seen as the ultimate, and in fact, mandatory sanction in the system of ministerial responsibility and political accountability to parliament. However, in the Netherlands the system of coalition government arguably stands in the way of politically motivated resignations.