Members of the Netherlands’ 12 provincial councils today voted for the 75 members of the upper house of parliament, or senate.

The political divisions within the 75-seat senate will largely reflect the results of the provincial elections two months ago, when the CDA emerged as the biggest party with 25% of the vote. The Liberals (VVD) were second with 18.1%, Labour (PvdA) took 17.9% and the Socialists 14.8%.
The results mean that the current coalition of CDA, PvdA and orthodox ChristenUnie will have either 41 or 42 seats in the upper house, making it unlikely legislation will run into difficulties.
The results will be formally announced on Thursday.