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All 150 seats in the House of Representatives 76 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 80.04% ( 0.98pp) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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General elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 January 2003. [1]
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All 150 seats in the House of Representatives 76 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 80.04% ( 0.98pp) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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General elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 January 2003. [1]
The election was held following the resignation of the first Balkenende cabinet on 16 October 2002 after conflicts attributed to the LPF, the new party of the already deceased Pim Fortuyn.
In the early days of the campaign the CDA of incumbent prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and the VVD, the smallest coalition party, saw a major lead.
After TV debates the PvdA (which had experienced a landslide defeat in the 2002 general election) of opposition leader Wouter Bos caught up, overtaking the VVD and regaining some of the territory lost in the previous election. The PvdA also held a leadership election which got the party considerable attention.
The LPF lost as spectacularly as it won in 2002, with its seat count dropping from 26 to 8. Commentators attributed the result to voters feeling that the LPF had become rudderless without its original leader and that the government had already implemented some of its policies, but argued disaffected LPF supporters would still back an "anti-establishment" party if a viable option was available.
The exciting race of which party would become the largest was eventually won by the CDA, which went from 43 to 44 seats, ensuring a continuation of Balkenende's career as prime minister.
Most of the smaller parties on both the left and right side did not experience significant changes. Several other parties (among them Leefbaar Nederland, a 2002 newcomer) didn't manage to get over the threshold and thus gained no seats. They are not listed here.
After severe disagreements had frustrated the formation of a CDA-PvdA cabinet, a CDA-VVD-D66 cabinet was formed on 27 May 2003, with Balkenende as prime minister.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| Christian Democratic Appeal | 2,763,480 | 28.62 | 44 | +1 | |
| Labour Party | 2,631,363 | 27.26 | 42 | +19 | |
| People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 1,728,707 | 17.91 | 28 | +4 | |
| Socialist Party | 609,723 | 6.32 | 9 | 0 | |
| Pim Fortuyn List | 549,975 | 5.70 | 8 | –18 | |
| GroenLinks | 495,802 | 5.14 | 8 | –2 | |
| Democrats 66 | 393,333 | 4.07 | 6 | –1 | |
| Christian Union | 204,694 | 2.12 | 3 | –1 | |
| Reformed Political Party | 150,305 | 1.56 | 2 | 0 | |
| Party for the Animals | 47,754 | 0.49 | 0 | New | |
| Livable Netherlands | 38,894 | 0.40 | 0 | –2 | |
| Party of the Future | 13,845 | 0.14 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ratelband List | 9,045 | 0.09 | 0 | New | |
| Durable Netherlands | 7,271 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 | |
| New Communist Party of the Netherlands | 4,854 | 0.05 | 0 | New | |
| DeConservatieven.nl | 2,521 | 0.03 | 0 | New | |
| Progressive Integration Party | 1,623 | 0.02 | 0 | New | |
| Alliance for Renewal and Democracy | 990 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Veldhoen List | 296 | 0.00 | 0 | New | |
| Total | 9,654,475 | 100.00 | 150 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 9,654,475 | 99.87 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 12,127 | 0.13 | |||
| Total votes | 9,666,602 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 12,076,711 | 80.04 | |||
| Source: Kiesraad [2] | |||||
| Province | CDA | PvdA | VVD | SP | LPF | GL | D66 | CU | SGP | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Drenthe | 24.8 | 37.8 | 16.8 | 5.1 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
 Flevoland | 24.7 | 25.5 | 21.3 | 5.4 | 7.0 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 1.5 |
 Friesland | 32.0 | 33.5 | 12.6 | 6.0 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 0.5 | 1.2 |
 Gelderland | 31.6 | 26.6 | 16.5 | 5.8 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 3.6 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 1.2 |
 Groningen | 20.6 | 39.6 | 13.0 | 7.3 | 3.4 | 6.0 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 0.3 | 1.2 |
 Limburg | 37.5 | 26.6 | 14.1 | 7.2 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 2.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.6 |
 North Brabant | 33.9 | 23.6 | 18.2 | 8.4 | 5.6 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.5 |
 North Holland | 21.1 | 29.0 | 21.5 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 6.9 | 5.7 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.6 |
 Overijssel | 36.6 | 27.3 | 13.5 | 4.9 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 3.0 | 4.4 | 2.1 | 1.6 |
 South Holland | 24.9 | 25.9 | 19.8 | 5.3 | 8.7 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 1.7 |
 Utrecht | 27.3 | 23.5 | 20.4 | 5.9 | 4.8 | 6.7 | 5.2 | 3.1 | 2.0 | 1.1 |
 Zeeland | 32.0 | 23.8 | 15.7 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 3.8 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 7.7 | 1.1 |
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, is a party of the centre-right that tries to promote private enterprise and economic liberalism.
The Labour Party is a social democratic political party in the Netherlands.
The Pim Fortuyn List was a right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was considered nationalist as well as adhering to its own distinct ideology of Fortuynism according to some commentators.
The Netherlands is a parliamentary representative democracy. A constitutional monarchy, the country is organised as a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands can be described as a consociational state. Dutch politics and governance are characterised by a common striving for broad consensus on important issues, within both of the political community and society as a whole.
Jan Pieter "Jan Peter" Balkenende Jr. is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010.
The first Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Netherlands government from 22 July 2002 until 27 May 2003. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the nationalistic Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) and the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) after the election of 2002. The cabinet was a right-wing coalition and had a substantial majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as Prime Minister. Prominent economist Eduard Bomhoff served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, while prominent Liberal politician Johan Remkes served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands.
Democrats 66 is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the centre of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).
The second Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 27 May 2003 until 7 July 2006. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), and the social-liberal Democrats 66 (D66) after the election of 2003. The cabinet was a centre-right coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as Prime Minister. Liberal Leader Gerrit Zalm, a former Minister of Finance, served as Deputy Prime Minister and returned as Minister of Finance, while former Progressive-Liberal Leader Thom de Graaf served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio for the Interior.
Wouter Jacob Bos (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈʋʌutərˈbɔs]; is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party and businessman.
General elections were held in the Netherlands on 15 May 2002. The elections were amongst the most dramatic in Dutch history, not just in terms of the electoral results, as they were completely overshadowed by the assassination of leader Pim Fortuyn only nine days before election day.
General elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 November 2006, following the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet. The election proved relatively successful for the governing Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) which remained the largest party with 41 seats, a loss of only three seats. The largest increase in seats was for the Socialist Party (SP), which went from nine to 25 seats. The main opposition party, the social democratic Labour Party (PvdA) lost nine of its 42 seats, while the right-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the progressive liberal Democrats 66 lost a considerable portion of their seats, six of 28 and three of six, respectively. New parties, such as the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) of former VVD MP Geert Wilders and the animal rights party Party for the Animals (PvdD) were also successful, with the PVV winning nine seats and the PvdD winning two, thereby becoming the first animal rights group to enter a European parliament.
Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who served as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 2010 and 2024. Following his departure from national politics, Rutte will take up the post of NATO Secretary-General in October 2024. Rutte was the leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 2006 through 2023.
Following the 2006 Dutch general election, held on November 22, a process of cabinet formation started, involving negotiations about which coalition partners to form a common programme of policy and to divide the posts in cabinet. On February 22, 2007 it resulted in the formation of the Fourth Balkenende cabinet.
The 2003 Dutch cabinet formation concerned the formation of a new cabinet after the 2003 Dutch general election held on January 22, 2003. It involved negotiations about which coalition partners would form a common programme of policy and it involved the division of the cabinet posts. After severe disagreements in the formation of a CDA-PvdA cabinet, a CDA-VVD-D66 cabinet was formed on May 27, 2003, with Balkenende as prime minister.
After the fall of the second Balkenende cabinet on 30 June 2006, a cabinet formation took place in Netherlands. On 7 July, this resulted in the third Balkenende cabinet. The minority cabinet was formed by Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). It was a rump cabinet of the third Balkenende cabinet, but without ministers from Democrats 66 (D66).
The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union (CU) and the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) after the election of 2006. The cabinet was a centrist grand coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives with Christian Democratic Leader Jan Peter Balkenende serving as prime minister. Labour Leader Wouter Bos served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance while Social Christian Leader André Rouvoet served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio for Health, Welfare and Sport.
General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 9 June 2010. This was triggered by the fall of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's fourth cabinet on 20 February with Queen Beatrix accepting the resignation of the Labour Party (PvdA) ministers on 23 February. The conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), led by Mark Rutte, won the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives while the social-democratic PvdA, led by Job Cohen, came a narrow second. The election was also noted for the rise of the Party for Freedom (PVV), which came third, led by controversial politician Geert Wilders. On the other hand, Balkenende's Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) saw a poor result, losing half its seats and dropping from first to fourth place. The Socialist Party (SP) also lost seats. Notably, the 31 seats won by the VVD was its most since 1998, and the one-seat margin between the VVD and PvdA is the closest on record.
Early general elections were held in the Netherlands on 12 September 2012 after Prime Minister Mark Rutte handed in his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix on 23 April. The 150 seats of the House of Representatives were contested using party-list proportional representation. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) received a plurality of the votes, followed by the Labour Party (PvdA).
After the Dutch general election of 15 May 2002, a cabinet formation took place in Netherlands. This resulted in the First Balkenende cabinet on 22 July 2002. The coalition was formed by Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF).
