Dutch provincial elections, 2015

Last updated
State coat of arms of the Netherlands.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
the Netherlands

Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 18 March 2015. [1] Eligible voters elected the members of the States-Provincial in the twelve provinces. These elections also indirectly determined the members of the Senate, since the 566 members of the twelve States-Provincial will elect the Senate's 75 members in the Senate election on 26 May 2015. [2] These provincial election were held on the same day as the Dutch water boards elections, 2015.

Netherlands Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe

The Netherlands is a country located mainly in Northwestern Europe. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve separate provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean Sea—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba— it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official language is Dutch, but a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian.

States-Provincial

The States-Provincial is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has the responsibility for matters of sub-national or regional importance. Each States-Provincial is directly elected by the voters within the relevant province, and the number of seats in each States-Provincial is proportional to its population.

Provinces of the Netherlands first-level administrative division in the Netherlands

There are currently twelve provinces of the Netherlands, representing the administrative layer between the national government and the local municipalities, with responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance.

Contents

Participating parties

Eight political parties participated in the elections in all of the country's twelve provinces: [3]

Christian Democratic Appeal Dutch political party

The Christian Democratic Appeal is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CDA was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union, and has participated in all but three governments since then. Sybrand van Haersma Buma has been the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal since 18 May 2012.

Democrats 66 Dutch political party

Democrats 66 is a social-liberal political party in the Netherlands. Its name originates from the year in which it was founded.

The Labour Party is a social democratic political party in the Netherlands.

Opinion polls

In the table below the % of voters based on various polls.

Date Polling Firm VVD PvdA CDA PVV SP D66 GL CU 50PLUS SGP PvdD Others Lead
7 Feb 2015 I&O Research [4] 17 12 13 13 14 13 5 4 4 3 3 0 3
1 Feb 2015 Peil [5] 14 9 15 14 12 16 7 4 1 2 3 2 1
2 Mar 2011 Last elections 2017 14 12 10 8 6 3 2 2 2 2 3

Results

National

Biggest party by province Statenverkiezingen Nederland 2015 versie 2.svg
Biggest party by province
Biggest party by municipality Provinciale Statenverkiezingen 2015 Nederland.png
Biggest party by municipality

The table below shows the total number of seats in all provinces. On March 23, the official results of the 2015 election were published. The two parties which lost most seats were PvdA and VVD, the parties in the national government at the time of the election.

Political party Popular vote Seats
Votes % Won +/−
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) 965,353 15.92 89 Decrease2.svg 23
Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) 891,845 14.71 89 Increase2.svg 3
Democrats 66 (D66) 755,719 12.46 67 Increase2.svg 25
Party for Freedom (PVV) 711,176 11.73 66 Decrease2.svg 3
Socialist Party (SP) 706,440 11.65 70 Increase2.svg 14
Labour Party (PvdA) 611,262 10.08 63 Decrease2.svg 44
GroenLinks (GL) 324,572 5.35 30 Decrease2.svg 4
Christian Union (CU) 243,209 4.01 29 Increase2.svg 6
Party for the Animals (PvdD) 210,113 3.46 18 Increase2.svg 11
50PLUS (50+) 204,858 3.38 14 Increase2.svg 5
Reformed Political Party (SGP) 170,624 2.81 18 Increase2.svg 6
CUSGP [6] 42,703 0.70 2 Increase2.svg 1
Provincial parties [7] 15 Increase2.svg 7
Total 6,064,754 100.00 570 Increase2.svg 4
Turnout: 47.76% (–8.21)

By province

Province SP PvdA PvdD GL D66 50+ VVD CDA CU SGP PVV Provincial parties
Groningen 8 6 2 3 4 0 4 5 4 3
Friesland 5 7 1 1 3 1 5 9 3 4
Drenthe 5 7 2 4 1 7 6 3 0 5
Overijssel 5 5 1 2 5 1 6 11 4 2 5 0
Flevoland 5 3 2 2 4 2 7 5 3 2 6 0
Gelderland 6 6 2 3 7 1 9 9 4 3 5 0
Utrecht 4 5 2 4 9 1 9 6 3 2 4 0
North Holland 6 7 3 4 10 1 11 5 1 6
South Holland 5 5 2 3 7 2 10 7 3 3 8 0
Zeeland 4 4 1 3 1 6 6 2 6 4
North Brabant 9 4 2 3 7 2 10 9 1 7
Limburg 8 4 1 2 4 1 5 11 9

Related Research Articles

Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy Dutch political party

The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative liberal political party in the Netherlands.

Elections in the Netherlands

Elections in the Netherlands are held for five territorial levels of government: the European Union, the state, the twelve Provinces, the 25 water boards and the 380 municipalities. Apart from elections, referenda are also held occasionally, a fairly recent phenomenon in Dutch politics. The most recent national election results and an overview of the resulting seat assignments and coalitions since World War II are shown at the bottom of this page.

The Freedom Party was a short-lived conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The PvdV was a successor of the Liberal State Party and predecessor of the modern-day People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).

2006 Dutch general election election

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 November 2006 following the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet. The elections 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.

2007 Dutch provincial elections

Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands, on March 7, 2007. The election also determined the members of the Senate, since the 564 members of the twelve States-Provincial elect its 75 members. This election took place on May 29, 2007.

2007 Dutch Senate election

The elections of the Dutch Senate of 2007 were held on 29 May 2007, following the provincial elections on 7 March 2007. The 564 members of the twelve States-Provincial elected the 75 Senate members. The new Senate was installed on 12 June 2007.

Netherlands (European Parliament constituency) Dutch constituency of the European Parliament

In European elections, the Netherlands is a constituency of the European Parliament, currently represented by twenty-six MEPs. It covers the member state of the Netherlands. Until 2009, it excluded the Dutch in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

2011 Dutch provincial elections

Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 2 March 2011. Eligible voters elected the members of the States-Provincial in the twelve provinces. These elections also indirectly determined the members of the Senate, since the 566 members of the twelve States-Provincial elected the Senate's 75 members in the Senate election on 23 May 2011.

2011 Dutch Senate election

The elections of the Dutch Senate of 2011 were held on 23 May 2011, following the provincial elections on 2 March 2011. The 566 members of the twelve States-Provincial elected the 75 Senate members. The new Senate was installed on 7 June 2011. The term ended on 8 June 2015.

2012 Dutch general election election

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 of the Netherlands 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).

2017 Dutch general election elections

General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 15 March 2017 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives.

2014 European Parliament election in the Netherlands

The 2014 European Parliament election for the election of the delegation from the Netherlands was held on 22 May 2014. This is the 8th time the elections have been held for the European elections in the Netherlands.

2014 Dutch municipal elections

The Dutch municipal elections of 2014 were held on 19 March in most municipalities in the Netherlands. This election determines the composition of the municipal councils for the following four years.

In the run up to the 2017 general elections in the Netherlands, various organisations carry out opinion polling to gauge voting intention in Netherlands. Results of such polls are displayed in this article.

The Dutch municipal elections of 2018 were held on 21 March in 335 municipalities in the Netherlands. This election determined the composition of the municipal councils for the following four years. The election coincided with the Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum.

An election to the Senate of the Netherlands will be held on 27 May 2019, two months after the provincial elections.

2019 Dutch provincial elections Dutch provincial elections held in 2019

Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands on 20 March 2019. Eligible voters elected the members of the Provincial States in the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. The elections were held on the same day as the water board elections and, in the Caribbean Netherlands, island council elections.

References

  1. "Provinciale staten". Kiesraad (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  2. "Eerste Kamer". Kiesraad (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  3. "Kandidatenlijsten voor provinciale statenverkiezingen ingeleverd". Kiesraad (in Dutch). 2 February 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  4. http://www.ioresearch.nl/Portals/0/Provinciale%20Statenverkiezingen_1.pdf Provinciale Statenverkiezingen] (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  5. Peil.nl Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  6. Combined list in North Holland and North Brabant.
  7. Many linked to the Independent Senate Group (OSF).