Provincial Council of South Holland

Provincial Council of
South Holland
Provincial Council of ; South Holland
Type
Type	Provincial council
Leadership
President	Jaap Smit (CDA)
Secretary	Eric Meurs
Structure
Seats	55
Political groups	Government (28) VVD (9); GL (5); PvdA (5); CDA (4); CU (3); SGP (2); Opposition (27) FvD (10); D66 (5); PVV (3); 50+ (2); PvdD (2); SP (2); Denk (1); Independents (2);
Elections
Last election	20 March 2019
Meeting place
	Meeting place of the Provincial Council of South Holland in The Hague
Website
	staten.zuid-holland.nl

Last updated February 03, 2022

The Provincial Council of South Holland (Dutch : Provinciale Staten van Zuid-Holland), also known as the States of South Holland, is the provincial council of South Holland, Netherlands. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 55 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections.

History

Before the establishment of South Holland as a province, the southern part of Holland was represented in the States of Holland by 50 of its 90 members. The States of South Holland were instituted in 1840, when the province of Holland was split in two and the province of South Holland was established. The composition of the States was determined in Royal Decrees published on 9 and 11 November, and its members were first assembled on 15 December 1840. The States comprised 10 members representing the province's aristocracy, 41 members elected by city councils, and 35 member elected by municipal councils of rural areas, making for a total of 86 members. Among the cities were Rotterdam (represented by ten members), The Hague (eight), Leiden (five), Dordrecht (four), Delft (three), Gorinchem, Gouda, Schiedam (two each), Brielle, Maassluis, Schoonhoven, Vlaardingen and Woerden (one each). All rural districts were represented by two members, except for the district of Meerkerk, which was represented by three. All members were elected to six-year terms, with a third of the seats up for election every two years. Elections were held on 1 June, while the newly elected members took office exactly a month later, on 1 July.^[1] In this period, the States of South Holland were responsible for electing the province's 12 members of the 58-member House of Representatives.^[2]

This composition was retained until 1850, two years after the Constitutional Reform of 1848, when the Provincial Act of Minister of the Interior Johan Rudolph Thorbecke introduced direct elections to the Provincial States. The States were now composed of 80 members elected directly in electoral districts, serving six-year terms, with half of the seats up for election every three years. New members still took office on 1 July, but elections were now held on the second Tuesday in May, while by-elections had to be scheduled no later than two months after the seat in question became vacant. The first direct election was held in 1852; in a transitional arrangement, the members were elected in thirteen electoral districts, each of which elected six or seven seats using a majoritarian electoral systems. In 1853, the province was definitively divided into seventeen districts, ranging in size from three to thirteen seats.^[1] Two additional seats were added in 1897, bringing the total to 82. In this period, the States were responsible for electing the province's members of the Senate.^[2]

Since 1919, the States of South Holland have been elected using party-list proportional representation in one province-wide district. In that year, terms were cut to four years, with all seats up for election at once every four years. The States were temporarily dissolved during the German occupation of the Netherlands, starting in the summer of 1941.^[2] Prominent members of the States of South Holland have included Suze Groeneweg, Dirk Jan de Geer and Pieter Oud.

Current composition

Since the 2019 provincial elections, the seats of the Provincial Council of South Holland are as following:


Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Forum for Democracy	253,743	17.43	11	New
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	227,987	15.66	10	0
	GroenLinks	131,878	9.06	5	+2
	Democrats 66	124,154	8.53	5	–2
	Labour Party	113,859	7.82	4	–1
	Christian Democratic Appeal	112,681	7.74	4	–3
	Party for Freedom	101,858	7.00	4	–4
	Christian Union	81,160	5.57	3	0
	50PLUS	64,727	4.45	2	0
	Party for the Animals	63,690	4.37	2	0
	Socialist Party	59,956	4.12	2	–3
	Reformed Political Party	56,742	3.90	2	–1
	DENK	39,800	2.73	1	New
Other parties		23,734	1.63	0	0
Total		1,455,969	100.00	55	–

Valid votes		1,455,969	99.36
Invalid/blank votes		9,327	0.64
Total votes		1,465,296	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,689,094	54.49
Source: Kiesraad^[3]

Related Research Articles

There are 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.

Elections in the Netherlands are held for five territorial levels of government: the European Union, the state, the twelve Provinces, the 21 water boards and the 355 municipalities. Apart from elections, referenda were also held occasionally, but have been removed from the law in 2018. 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 Party for the Animals is a political party in the Netherlands. Among its main goals are animal rights and animal welfare.

The States of Friesland are the States-Provincial for the Dutch province of Friesland, first introduced under the Constitution of the Netherlands in 1814. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 43 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections. Since 2008, it is chaired by John Jorritsma (VVD).

The provincial council, also known as 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. The number of seats in a provincial council is proportional to its population.

The Provincial Council of Zeeland, also known as the States of Zeeland, is the provincial council of Zeeland, Netherlands. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 39 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections.

The Provincial Council of Drenthe, also known as the States of Drenthe, is the provincial council of Drenthe, Netherlands. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 41 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections.

The Provincial Council of Groningen, also known as the States of Groningen, is the provincial council of Groningen, Netherlands. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 43 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections.

The Provincial Council of North Brabant, also known as the States of North Brabant, is the provincial council of North Brabant, Netherlands. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 55 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections.

The Provincial Council of North Holland, also known as the States of North Holland, is the provincial council of North Holland, Netherlands. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 55 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections.

The Provincial Council of Utrecht is the provincial council for the Dutch province of Utrecht. It forms the unicameral legislature of the province. Its 47 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections. Since 2019, it is chaired by Hans Oosters (PvdA).

The States of Flevoland are the States-Provincial for the Dutch province of Flevoland. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 39 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections. Since 2008, it is chaired by Leen Verbeek (PvdA).

The States of Gelderland are the States-Provincial for the Dutch province of Gelderland. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 55 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections. From 2005 till early 2019, it was chaired by Clemens Cornielje (VVD).

The Provincial Council of Limburg, also called Limburgs Parlement, are the provincial council for the Dutch province of Limburg. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 47 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections. Since December 2021, it has been chaired by Emile Roemer (SP).

The Provincial Council of Overijssel is the provincial council for the Dutch province of Overijssel. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 47 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections.

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 2019 Dutch water boards elections and, in the Caribbean Netherlands, island council elections.

J.H. "Henk" de Vree is a Dutch politician, who served as a temporary member of the House of Representatives between December 2020 and March 2021. There, he represented the right-wing populist Party for Freedom (PVV).

Simone Kerseboom is a Dutch politician of the conservative populist party Forum for Democracy (FvD). She has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2021 general election and a member of the States of Limburg since 2019. Kerseboom lived in South Africa for about twenty years and holds a doctorate from Rhodes University.

Gideon van Meijeren Member of the Dutch House of Representatives

Gideon Frederik Cornelis van Meijeren is a Dutch civil servant and politician, who has been representing Forum for Democracy (FVD) in the House of Representatives since the 2021 general election. He also holds a seat in the States of South Holland. He previously worked as a legislative adviser for the government. Van Meijeren has been an opponent of the government's policy to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, and his statements on the issue in the House have stirred multiple controversies.

Michiel P. Hoogeveen is a Dutch politician of the right-wing conservative JA21 party. He started his career in the financial sector and as a freelance North Korea researcher. He became a member of Forum for Democracy (FVD) in 2016 and was elected to the States of South Holland three years later. He left the party in 2020 and subsequently joined JA21, which he has been representing in the European Parliament as part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) since April 2021.

References

1 2 "Provinciale Staten van Zuid-Holland (1840-1861)". Huygens Resources (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 November 2018.
1 2 3 Otten, F.J.M. "Inventaris van het archief van het Provinciaal Bestuur van Zuid-Holland, (1300) 1850-1945" (PDF). Nationaal Archief (in Dutch).
↑ "Provinciale Staten 20 maart 2019" (in Dutch). Verkiezingsuitslagen. Retrieved 2 February 2022.

External links

Official website (in Dutch)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[huygens-1] 1 2 "Provinciale Staten van Zuid-Holland (1840-1861)". Huygens Resources (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 November 2018.

[NA-2] 1 2 3 Otten, F.J.M. "Inventaris van het archief van het Provinciaal Bestuur van Zuid-Holland, (1300) 1850-1945" (PDF). Nationaal Archief (in Dutch).

[3] "Provinciale Staten 20 maart 2019" (in Dutch). Verkiezingsuitslagen. Retrieved 2 February 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]