Tuesday 09 August 2022

Local elections March 2022

From March 14 to 16, took place to elect new councils in 333 of the Netherlands 344 local authority areas, and hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals were able to vote.

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Vote for a woman campaign pays off

Vote for a woman campaign pays off

The proportion of women elected as local councillors appears to have increased in the local elections, according to preliminary research by the Stem op een Vrouw campaign group. Stem op een Vrouw (vote for a woman), encourages voters to use the preference voting system by voting for a female candidate who is close to the top of a political party’s list of candidates, but who is not likely to get elected directly. Candidates who gather a significant number of preference... More >

Fundamentalist Protestants win in Urk

Fundamentalist Protestants win in Urk

On the staunchly Protestant former island of Urk, the fundamentalist SGP has won the battle of the Christian parties. The SGP, which closes down its website on Sundays and believes the Netherlands should be governed ‘entirely on the basis of the ordinances of God’, soared 12 percentage points, grabbing six seats on the 19-seat council. The ChristenUnie, also a fundamentalist Protestant party but left wing on social issues, shrank nine percentage points to 13%, while the CDA also lost support.... More >

Few surprises in locals: papers

Few surprises in locals: papers

The Dutch local elections have thrown up few surprises, with more local parties in the ascendance and a fillip for the PvdA in Amsterdam. What the papers say. Attempts by politicians to point at the war in Ukraine to stress the importance of democracy did little to encourage voters, and, according to some, the news dominated the media to such an extent that the opposite was true, the Volkskrant writes in its analysis. The low national turnout – just 50%... More >

Local elections outside the big five

Local elections outside the big five

Delft Student party STIP won the biggest share of the vote in Delft, overtaking GroenLinks (which lost 2.3%) to take 15.8% of the vote. The two are currently in a 5-way coalition with the VVD, D66 and PvdA. New party Hart voor Delft also debuts in the student city with 13.5% support or five seats on the council.  Four parties will be needed to form a new coalition in Delft. Maastricht Local party Senioren remains the biggest in the Limburg... More >

Bruins Slot concerned about low turnout

Bruins Slot concerned about low turnout

Home affairs minister Hanke Bruins Slot has said she is concerned about the low turn-out in this week’s local council elections, where barely half of those eligible to vote cast their ballot. The overall turnout is projected to be around 50.3%, after 98% of the votes have been counted, down from 54.5% last time the elections were held in 2018. The war in Ukraine is thought to have dampened interest in the municipal campaign, but Bruins Slot said it was... More >

Eindhoven coalition keeps its majority

Eindhoven coalition keeps its majority

In Eindhoven, the current coalition of GroenLinks, CDA, VVD and PvdA keeps its majority, but GroenLinks, not the VVD, are the biggest party after they added two seats. The Eindhoven (interim result with 95% of votes counted): GroenLinks 18.2% (+3.7%), CDA 11.9% (+0.4%), VVD 11.5% (-3.3%), PvdA 10.9% (-1.4%), D66 9.5% (-2.2%). Newcovers Volt and the pro-animal PvdD will also debut on the city council, with two seats, while far right Forum voor Democratie scraped just one. Turnover was 41.6%,... More >

Latest news

More Latest news >

Focus Cities

Utrecht: a race for the top in the green, cycling city
Amsterdam election: a neck and neck race between GroenLinks and D66
Delft - where housing is the talk of the town
Maastricht, a European city building bridges
Rotterdam, a diverse city with a port and which packs a punch
Groningen is a young city rebuilding for the future
Leiden, a university town facing four more years of the same
In The Hague, De Mos tops polls in a divided city
Eindhoven targets international voters with plenty of English