2018 Dutch municipal elections
Municipal elections were held on 21 March 2018 in 335
municipalities in the
Netherlands . This election determined the composition of the
municipal councils for the following four years.
[1] The election coincided with the
Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum .
[2]
Background
PvdA campaign poster
In the previous municipal elections, local political parties won by far most votes and seats. Nationally, all local political parties won 28% of the votes and a third of municipal council seats.
[3] Local parties have seen a steady rise since the 1990s. In 2018,
Vlieland will be the only municipality in which no national political parties will contest the election.
[4]
Of all national political parties, the
Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) will contest most municipal elections; the party will be on the ballot in all but three (
Rozendaal ,
Vlieland and
Schiermonnikoog ). The
Labour Party (PvdA) comes second, contesting over 320 elections, albeit on a joint list with allied parties in some municipalities. The
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) will participate in over 315 elections, and the
Democrats 66 in over 270, followed by
GroenLinks in 220, the
Christian Union in 169, the
Socialist Party in 118 and the
Reformed Political Party (SGP) in 99.
The
Party for Freedom (PVV), which had previously only participated in
The Hague and
Almere , initially planned to expand to a total of sixty municipalities, but has only been able to find suitable candidates in thirty, including
Rotterdam .
50PLUS will expand to twenty municipalities, while the
Party for the Animals (PvdD) will contest fifteen elections. Two new national political parties will make their entrance to municipal politics.
Denk will contest the elections in fourteen municipalities, while the
Forum for Democracy will only contest in
Amsterdam . Additionally, the latter has endorsed the local party
Livable Rotterdam .
[5]
45 municipalities did not have elections on 21 March due to mergers.
Electoral system
Municipal councils are elected using
party-list proportional representation . The number of seats depends on the population of the municipality, ranging from nine seats for municipalities with a population below 3,000, to 45 seats for municipalities with a population over 200,000.
Overall results
Party Votes % Seats Local Parties 1,945,904 28.65 2,612
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 916,930 13.50 1,131
Christian Democratic Appeal 910,441 13.41 1,293
Democrats 66 623,671 9.18 602
GroenLinks 602,157 8.87 527
Labour Party 510,527 7.52 549
Socialist Party 301,600 4.44 285
Christian Union 260,007 3.83 303
Reformed Political Party 129,181 1.90 173
Party for Freedom 94,118 1.39 75
Christian Union – Reformed Political Party 87,762 1.29 107
Party for the Animals 80,904 1.19 30
DENK 70,832 1.04 24
GroenLinks –
Labour Party 65,566 0.97 114
50PLUS 55,786 0.82 33
D66 –
GroenLinks –
Labour Party 22,251 0.33 43
Forum for Democracy 20,015 0.29 3
NIDA 16,870 0.25 3
Frisian National Party 13,848 0.20 22
D66 –
GroenLinks 8,368 0.12 14 United Seniors Party 7,933 0.12 8
General Elderly Alliance 7,310 0.11 9 Elderly Politically Active 6,104 0.09 2
Trots op Nederland 6,066 0.09 3
Pirate Party 5,713 0.08 0
D66 –
Labour Party 4,596 0.07 5
D66 –
GL –
PvdA –
SP 4,528 0.07 10
D66 –
VVD 3,491 0.05 8
Jesus Lives 2,348 0.03 0
New Communist Party 2,346 0.03 3
Ubuntu Connected Front 1,587 0.02 0
Libertarian Party 923 0.01 0
Basic Income Party 635 0.01 0 Peace and Justice 616 0.01 0
TROTS –OPA 510 0.01 0 QUEER 260 0.00 0 Total 6,791,704 100.00 7,991 Valid votes 6,791,704 99.15 Invalid/blank votes 58,084 0.85 Total votes 6,849,788 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 12,461,540 54.97 Source:
Kiesraad
Amsterdam
Opinion polling
Results
Party Votes % Seats +/–
GroenLinks 70,880 20.42 10 +4
Democrats 66 55,724 16.05 8 –6
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 39,702 11.44 6 0
Labour Party 37,181 10.71 5 –5
Socialist Party 26,070 7.51 3 –3
Party for the Animals 24,672 7.11 3 +2
DENK 23,138 6.67 3 New
Forum for Democracy 20,015 5.77 3 New
Christian Democratic Appeal 11,991 3.45 1 0
Party for the Elderly 7,752 2.23 1 0
Christian Union 6,837 1.97 1 +1
Amsterdam BIJ1 6,571 1.89 1 New Other parties 16,615 4.79 0 0 Total 347,148 100.00 45 – Valid votes 347,148 98.72 Invalid/blank votes 4,511 1.28 Total votes 351,659 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 674,286 52.15 Source: Kiesraad
[6]
After the 2018 municipal elections, the GroenLinks held the largest share of seats on the municipal council, though not enough to hold a majority. As no party held a majority, a left-leaning governing coalition was formed between GroenLinks, D66, the Labour Party, and the Socialist Party, which together hold 26 of the city's 45 council seats.
[7]
The new city council elected
Femke Halsema , a member of the GroenLinks, to be the mayor of Amsterdam. Halsema is the first woman to be elected mayor of Amsterdam, as well as the first member of the GroenLinks to take that position.
[8]
Rotterdam
Opinion polling
Results
Party Votes % Seats +/–
Livable Rotterdam 47,312 20.50 11 –3
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 24,641 10.68 5 +2
Democrats 66 22,920 9.93 5 –1
GroenLinks 22,721 9.85 5 +3
Labour Party 22,275 9.65 5 –3
DENK 16,955 7.35 4 New
NIDA Rotterdam 12,389 5.37 2 0
Socialist Party 11,389 4.93 2 –3
Christian Democratic Appeal 10,756 4.66 2 –1
Party for Freedom 8,149 3.53 1 New
Party for the Animals 8,091 3.51 1 0
50PLUS 7,359 3.19 1 New
Christian Union – Reformed Political Party 6,956 3.01 1 0 Other parties 8,873 3.84 0 0 Total 230,786 100.00 45 – Valid votes 230,786 98.61 Invalid/blank votes 3,251 1.39 Total votes 234,037 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 501,234 46.69 Source: Kiesraad
[9]
The Hague
Opinion polling
^ Contesting as Group de Mos - Heart for The Hague; contested as Group de Mos - Elderly Party The Hague in 2014.
Results
Party Votes % Seats +/–
De Mos Group/Heart for The Hague 32,632 16.80 8 +5
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 26,990 13.90 7 +3
Democrats 66 23,973 12.34 6 –2
GroenLinks 20,684 10.65 5 +3
Christian Democratic Appeal 12,618 6.50 3 0
Labour Party 12,567 6.47 3 –3
The Hague City Party 10,897 5.61 3 –2
Party for the Animals 10,201 5.25 2 +1
Party for Freedom 9,036 4.65 2 –5
Islam Democrats 6,943 3.57 1 –1
Christian Union – Reformed Political Party 6,129 3.16 1 0
Socialist Party 5,176 2.66 1 –1
NIDA 4,481 2.31 1 New
50PLUS 4,444 2.29 1 New
Party of Unity 4,026 2.07 1 0 Other parties 3,439 1.77 0 0 Total 194,236 100.00 45 – Valid votes 194,236 98.85 Invalid/blank votes 2,261 1.15 Total votes 196,497 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 409,444 47.99 Source: Kiesraad
[10]
Utrecht
Opinion polling
Results
Party Votes % Seats +/–
GroenLinks 36,231 22.96 12 +3
Democrats 66 32,735 20.74 10 –3
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 20,522 13.00 6 +1
Labour Party 9,812 6.22 3 –2
Christian Democratic Appeal 8,428 5.34 2 –1
Party for the Animals 8,317 5.27 2 +1
DENK 7,662 4.85 2 New
Christian Union 6,451 4.09 2 0
Student & Starter 6,445 4.08 2 +1
Socialist Party 6,419 4.07 2 –2
Party for Freedom 5,915 3.75 1 New
City Interest Utrecht 4,295 2.72 1 –1 Other parties 4,590 2.91 0 0 Total 157,822 100.00 45 – Valid votes 157,822 99.23 Invalid/blank votes 1,224 0.77 Total votes 159,046 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 269,459 59.02 Source: Kiesraad
[11]
Eindhoven
Results
Party Votes % Seats +/–
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 12,275 14.79 7 +1
GroenLinks 12,044 14.51 7 +3
Labour Party 10,180 12.27 6 –2
Democrats 66 9,735 11.73 6 –1
Christian Democratic Appeal 9,514 11.46 6 +2
Socialist Party 6,609 7.96 4 –3
Elderly Appeal Eindhoven 4,647 5.60 2 –3
Pim Fortuyn List Eindhoven 3,353 4.04 2 +1
50PLUS 3,249 3.91 2 New
DENK 2,864 3.45 1 New
Livable Eindhoven 2,294 2.76 1 –1
Christian Union 1,955 2.36 1 0 Other parties 4,275 5.15 0 0 Total 82,994 100.00 45 – Valid votes 82,994 98.82 Invalid/blank votes 988 1.18 Total votes 83,982 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 181,079 46.38 Source: Kiesraad
[12]
Nijmegen
Opinion polling
^ Contested as the United Seniors Party.
Results
Party Votes % Seats +/–
GroenLinks 20,149 24.77 11 +3
Democrats 66 12,045 14.81 6 –1
Socialist Party 10,865 13.36 5 –3
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 8,407 10.34 4 0
City Party Nijmegen 6,355 7.81 3 +1
Labour Party 5,747 7.07 3 –1
Christian Democratic Appeal 4,094 5.03 2 0
Party for the Animals 3,694 4.54 2 New
50PLUS 3,001 3.69 1 New
Just Nijmegen 2,815 3.46 1 –1
ForNijmegen.NOW 1,845 2.27 1 New Other parties 2,323 2.86 0 –2 Total 81,340 100.00 39 – Valid votes 81,340 99.27 Invalid/blank votes 598 0.73 Total votes 81,938 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 143,582 57.07 Source: Kiesraad
[13]
References
External links