The Dutch municipal elections of 2018 were held on 21 March in 335

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. 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.

Background

Posters met beeld staand A3 2e batch Deel10 (38608066170)

In the previous municipal elections, local political parties won by far most votes and seats. Nationally, all local political parties won 28% of the votes and a third of municipal council seats. Local parties have seen a steady rise since the 1990s. In 2018,

Vlieland Vlieland (; fry, Flylân) is a municipality and island in the northern Netherlands. The municipality of Vlieland is the second most sparsely populated municipality in the Netherlands, after Schiermonnikoog. Vlieland is one of the West Frisia ...

will be the only municipality in which no national political parties will contest the election. Of all national political parties, the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

(CDA) will contest most municipal elections; the party will be on the ballot in all but three (

Rozendaal Rozendaal () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. The town, next to Arnhem and Velp, is known for the Rozendaal Castle (''Kasteel Rosendael'') and its water fountain follies (''bedriegertjes''). ...

and Schiermonnikoog). The Labour Party (PvdA) comes second, contesting over 320 elections, albeit on a joint list with allied parties in some municipalities. The

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

(VVD) will participate in over 315 elections, and the Democrats 66 in over 270, followed by

GroenLinks GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...

in 220, the Christian Union in 169, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

in 118 and the Reformed Political Party (SGP) in 99. The Party for Freedom (PVV), which had previously only participated in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

and

Almere Almere () is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km to the east of Amsterdam (as the crow flies) across the IJmeer. Bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde, the municipality of Almere comprise ...

, initially planned to expand to a total of sixty municipalities, but has only been able to find suitable candidates in thirty, including

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

50PLUS 50PLUS (; abbreviated 50+) is a political party in the Netherlands that advocates pensioners' interests. The party was founded in 2009 by Maurice Koopman, Alexander Münninghoff, and Jan Nagel. Henk Krol served as the party's leader from 2016 to ...

will expand to twenty municipalities, while the Party for the Animals (PvdD) will contest fifteen elections. Two new national political parties will make their entrance to municipal politics. Denk will contest the elections in fourteen municipalities, while the

Forum for Democracy Forum for Democracy ( nl, Forum voor Democratie, FvD) is a right-wing populist Eurosceptic political party in the Netherlands that was founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2016. The party first participated in elections ...

will only contest in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. Additionally, the latter has endorsed the local party Livable Rotterdam. 45 municipalities did not have elections on 21 March due to mergers.

Electoral system

Municipal councils are elected using

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...

. The number of seats depends on the population of the municipality, ranging from nine seats for municipalities with a population below 3,000, to 45 seats for municipalities with a population over 200,000.

Overall Results

Amsterdam

Opinion polling

Results

After the 2018 municipal elections, the GroenLinks held the largest share of seats on the municipal council, though not enough to hold a majority. As no party held a majority, a left-leaning governing coalition was formed between GroenLinks, D66, the Labour Party, and the Socialist Party, which together hold 26 of the city's 45 council seats. The new city council elected

Femke Halsema Femke Halsema (; born 25 April 1966) is a Dutch politician and filmmaker. On 27 June 2018, she was appointed Mayor of Amsterdam and began serving a six-year term on 12 July 2018. She is the first woman to hold the position on a non-interim bas ...

, a member of the GroenLinks, to be the mayor of Amsterdam. Halsema is the first women to be elected mayor of Amsterdam, as well as the first member of the GroenLinks to take that position.

Rotterdam

Opinion polling

Results

The Hague

Opinion polling

Results

Utrecht

Opinion polling

Results

Eindhoven

Results

Nijmegen

Opinion polling

Results

References

External links

* {{Dutch general elections 2018 elections in the Netherlands

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

March 2018 events in the Netherlands