Of the 1,550 local authority executives who took up their posts after the 2006 local elections, 627 have already left, according to research by local authority newspaper Binnenlands Bestuur.

Around half of them left because of political conflicts, the research shows. Most were inexperienced councillors who represented local interest parties.
Only one in three of the country’s 400 plus local authorities has lasted the full four years without losing at least one executive board member.
Local authorities in the Netherlands are run by a council made up of elected members and an executive board chaired by the mayor which operates like a national government cabinet.
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