The ruling right-wing Liberal VVD did badly in the four local elections which took place on Wednesday but their coalition party Labour did better than opinion polls suggested.

The VVD lost support in all four council areas where there was a vote. But in Heerenveen and Leeuwarden in Friesland, Labour (PvdA) increased its support, as did the opposition Christian Democrats and Liberal democratic party D66.

Almost 250,000 people were eligible to vote in four local authority areas, due to boundary changes. The rest of the country will vote for new local councils in March next year.

Friesland

In Heerenveen, Labour increased its share of the vote by 1.5 percentage point to 27.7% and remains the biggest party with eight seats on the local council. VVD support fell from 15.8% to 13.2% but the party held on to its four seats.

Preliminary results in Leeuwarden show a similar picture for Labour, with D66 adding three seats to take its total to five.

In the rural municipality of De Friese Meren, Frisian nationalist party De Fryske Nasjonale Partij is on target to remain the biggest party with nine seats.

In Alphen aan den Rijn in Zuid Holland, VVD support has slumped to 12.7%, compared with 21.6% in the local council elections three years ago. Labour support is down 2.3 percentage points to 10.5%.

The Christian Democrats are now the biggest party in the commuter town with 18% support, followed by local party Nieuw Elan on 15%.

Labour leader Diederik Samsom said the party had a ‘fine evening’. The SP and CDA also said they were pleased with the results.