The Dutch municipal elections took place on March 21, 2018. In these elections, EU citizens were able to vote, as well as non-EU citizens who had legally lived in the Netherlands for five years without a break in-between and were 18 years old or above on the day of the election.

Voting for a Dutch municipal council

Elections took place in 345 of the 380 municipalities in the Netherlands. Those municipalities that did not hold an election did so because they are waiting for their municipal boundaries to be revised. In November 2018, an election will be held to redefine these municipal borders.

Each year, the municipalities of Schiermonnikoog, Rozendaal and Vlieland race against each other to get all the votes in their municipality counted first. In the 2014 municipal council elections, Vlieland won this race. This year, however, the municipality first to the finish line with all the votes counted was Schiermonnikoog.

Dutch municipal council elections then and now

Four years ago, in 2014, the municipal elections were held on March 19. But what has changed in terms of political representation in the municipalities of the large Dutch cities since then?

Amsterdam

In 2014 in Amsterdam, there was a 50,3 percent turnout for the municipal election. D66 received the highest percentage of the votes, namely 26,3 percent, and gained 14 seats.

The party with the second highest percentage of the votes in 2014 was PvdA. They took 18,1 percent of the votes and 10 seats. D66 and PvdA were followed by the VVD (6 seats), SP (6 seats), GroenLinks (6 seats), CDA (1 seat) and PvdD (1 seat).

This year, the same percentage of voters turned up but the political landscape in Amsterdam turned out differently. GroenLinks was the obvious favourite, earning itself 10 seats. D66 followed behind, taking 8 seats. VVD and PvdA won 6 and 5 seats respectively. SP, DENK, FvD and PvdD each took 3 seats. Four additional parties gained 1 seat on the municipal council.

Eindhoven

In Eindhoven, during the last municipal election in 2014, there was a 44,7 percent turnout. PvdA won the majority of seats in that election, namely 8. D66 took seven seats, followed by SP, who also occupied seven seats and the VVD with six. The parties, in order of seats, Ouderen Appel Eindhoven, CDA, GroenLinks, and two other local parties took the rest of the seats on the council.

This year, there was a 46,4 percent turnout and the VVD beat the PvdA when it came to the number of seats on the council. The VVD won 7 seats in 2018, whereas the PvdA took only 6. GroenLinks came in second with 7 seats and D66 won 6 seats, followed by CDA with 5 seats and SP with 4. Seven other parties shared the rest of the seats.

Rotterdam

In the previous municipal elections in Rotterdam, 45,1 percent of voters turned up. In that year, local party Leefbaar Rotterdam received the majority of seats, 14 to be precise. PvdA followed in popularity, with 8 seats, and then came D66 with 6 and SP with 5. VVD and CDA both earned 3 seats, followed by a collection of other parties which shared the rest.

In the 2018 election, Leefbaar Rotterdam continued to dominate the number of votes and, in turn, the number of seats. However, this year, Leefbaar Rotterdam lost 3 seats, and now has 11. The VVD, PvdA, GroenLinks and D66 all won 5 seats each. DENK took 3 seats, and a number of parties shared the rest of the seats.

The Hague

In 2014, there was a 51,3 percent turnout in The Hague. In that year, D66 possessed the most seats, 8 that is. PVV was also particularly popular, taking 7 seats, followed by PvdA with 6. Local party, Haagse Stadspartij also did well, winning 5 seats, just one more than the VVD that year.

This year, the local party Groep de Mos/ Hart voor Den Haag unexpectedly won a majority of the seats available, namely 9. Last municipal election, this party only took 3 of the seats on the council. VVD gained 3 seats, ending up with 7 this time around, and D66 lost two, bringing their number of seats to 6.

GroenLinks won 3 more seats, now with a total of 5, and CDA and PvdA occupy 3 seats each after this election. The rest of the seats are divided amongst 9 other parties.

Utrecht

In Utrecht, in 2014, there was a 54,2 percent turnout to the municipal elections. Four years ago, D66 took the lead, with 13 seats and 26,3 percent of the votes. GroenLinks came in second, taking 9 seats, and VVD and PvdA followed, occupying 5 seats each. SP won 4 seats.

In this year’s municipal election, GroenLinks jumped to the front with 12 seats, overtaking D66 who lost 3 seats and ended up with 10 this time. VVD gained one seat to total 6, and PvdA dropped 2 seats and now has 3. Eight other parties occupy the rest of the available seats.

Provisional results in Amsterdam

In Amsterdam, the results are yet to be finalised. The above are provisional and are based on a quick count of the votes. In several other Dutch municipalities the results have already been finalised.