Elections in The Netherlands - Election Results and Cabinets Since World War II

Election Results and Cabinets Since World War II

The following tables show the national election results and cabinets in the Netherlands since World War II. Per table, only parties that ever got seats over that period are listed (the number of participating parties in Dutch national elections is usually around 20).

The numbers give the number of seats for each party. The total number of seats in parliament is 150, so a coalition needs at least 76 seats for a majority.

In each table, the parties are split in three groups; parties that have been in government, minor parties and extinct parties. Within each group, the parties are grouped roughly according to the scheme leftwing - christian - rightwing.

columns
Elections Election years (linking to the relevant articles)
sc 'seat change'; the number of seats that changed between parties. Numbers between brackets assume merging parties to be the same as the new party
Cabinet The resulting cabinets (not necessarily in the same year)
Term The duration of the term of that cabinet, in months
% percentage of seats held by the government parties. (Note that the other numbers are seats, not percentages.)
cells
bold party in cabinet (government)
- not enough votes to get a seat in parliament
party didn't exist then or did not participate nationally
no elections

Party name abbreviations
GrL = GroenLinks (a merger of PPR, PSP, CPN and EVP)
ChU = ChristenUnie (a merger of RPF and GVP)

Elections sc Cabinet Term
(months)
% PvdA D66 ChU CDA VVD SP GrL PvdD SGP PVV CPN PSP PPR EVP DS70 RPF GPV BP LN AOV U55 CP CD LPF
2010 ? Rutte(3) ? 35 30 10 5 21 31 15 10 2 2 24
2006 30 Balkenende IV 44 53 33 3 6 41 22 25 7 2 2 9 -
- - Balkenende III(1) 7 48 42 6 3 44 28 9 8 2 8
2003 24 Balkenende II 38 52 42 6 3 44 28 9 8 2 8
2002 (36) Balkenende I 10 62 23 7 4 43 24 9 10 2 << ChU 2 26
1998 25 Kok II 47 65 45 14 29 38 5 11 3 3 2
1994 34 Kok I 48 61 37 24 34 31 2 5 2 3 2 6 1 3
1989 (8) Lubbers III 57 69 49 12 54 22 - 6 3 << GrL 1 2 1
1986 17 Lubbers II 40 54 52 9 54 27 - 3 - 1 2 - 1 1 - -
1982 15 Lubbers I 44 54 47 6 45 36 - 3 3 3 2 1 - 2 1 1
- - van Agt III(1) 5 43 44 17 48 26 - 3 3 3 3 - 2 1
1981 14 van Agt II 8 73 44 17 48 26 - 3 3 3 3 - 2 1
1977 (19) Van Agt I 45 51 53 8 49 28 - 3 2 1 3 1 - 1 1

In 1977, KVP, ARP and CHU merged into CDA.

DS'70 split off from PvdA
KNP is former Lijst Welter, which split off from KVP in 1948, but returned to that party in 1955
PvdV is the forerunner of VVD

Elections sc Cabinet Term
(months)
% PvdA DS70 D66 PPR KVP ARP CHU VVD CPN PSP SGP GPV RKPN BP NMP KNP PvdV
1972 20 Den Uyl(2) 55 65 43 6 6 7 27 14 7 22 7 2 3 2 1 3 -
- - Biesheuvel II(1) 9 49 39 8 11 2 35 13 10 16 6 2 3 2 1 2
1971 19 Biesheuvel I 13 55 39 8 11 2 35 13 10 16 6 2 3 2 1 2
1967 15 De Jong 51 57 37 7 42 15 12 17 5 4 3 1 7
- - Zijlstra(1) 4 42 43 50 13 13 16 4 4 3 1 3
- - Cals 19 71 43 50 13 13 16 4 4 3 1 3
1963 9 Marijnen 21 61 43 50 13 13 16 4 4 3 1 3
1959 8 De Quay 50 50 48 49 14 12 19 3 2 3 - -
- - Beel II(1) 5 51 50 49 15 13 13 7 3 -
expansion from 100 to 150 seats - 85 50 49 15 13 13 7 3 -
1956 7 Drees IV 26 85 34 33 10 8 9 4 2 -
1952 6 Drees III 49 81 30 30 12 9 9 6 2 - 2
- - Drees II 18 76 27 32 13 9 8 8 2 - 1
1948 (4) Drees I 31 76 27 32 13 9 8 8 2 - 1
1946 ? Beel I 25 61 29 32 13 8 10 2 6
- ? Schermerhorn-Drees(2) 13 (no elections - appointed by queen)
1940-1945: War cabinets without elections

(1) minority caretaker cabinet
(2) extra-parliamentary cabinet
(3) minority cabinet

Read more about this topic:  Elections In The Netherlands

Famous quotes containing the words election, results, cabinets, world and/or war:

    In the past, as now, Haiti’s curse has been her politicians. There are still too many men of influence in the country who believe that a national election is a mandate from the people to build themselves a big new house in Petionville and Kenscoff and a trip to Paris.
    Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)

    How can you tell if you discipline effectively? Ask yourself if your disciplinary methods generally produce lasting results in a manner you find acceptable. Whether your philosophy is democratic or autocratic, whatever techniques you use—reasoning, a “star” chart, time-outs, or spanking—if it doesn’t work, it’s not effective.
    Stanley Turecki (20th century)

    The progress of freedom depends more upon the maintenance of peace, the spread of commerce, and the diffusion of education, than upon the labours of cabinets and foreign offices.
    Richard Cobden (1804–1865)

    The mark of the man of the world is absence of pretension. He does not make a speech; he takes a low business-tone, avoids all brag, is nobody, dresses plainly, promises not at all, performs much, speaks in monosyllables, hugs his fact. He calls his employment by its lowest name, and so takes from evil tongues their sharpest weapon. His conversation clings to the weather and the news, yet he allows himself to be surprised into thought, and the unlocking of his learning and philosophy.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    I realized how for all of us who came of age in the late sixties and early seventies the war was a defining experience. You went or you didn’t, but the fact of it and the decisions it forced us to make marked us for the rest of our lives, just as the depression and World War II had marked my parents.
    Linda Grant (b. 1949)