# Government of Amsterdam

The Government of Amsterdam consists of several territorial and functional forms of local and regional government. The principal form of government is the municipality of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The municipality's territory covers the city of Amsterdam as well as a number of small towns. The city of Amsterdam is also part of several functional forms of regional government. These include the Waterschap (water board) of Amstel, Gooi en Vecht, which is responsible for water management, and the Stadsregio (City Region) of Amsterdam, which has responsibilities in the areas of spatial planning and public transport.
The municipality of Amsterdam borders the municipalities of Diemen, De Ronde Venen, Ouder-Amstel, Amstelveen, Stichtse Vecht, Wijdemeren and Hilversum in the south, Haarlemmermeer in the west, and Zaanstad, Oostzaan, Landsmeer and Waterland in the north.
Weesp has been an urban area of the municipality of Amsterdam since 24 March 2022.

## Municipal government

The city of Amsterdam is a municipality under the Dutch Municipalities Act. It is governed by a municipal council (gemeenteraad, also known as 'city council', the principal legislative authority), a municipal executive board (college van burgemeester en wethouders), and a mayor (burgemeester). The mayor is both a member of the municipal executive board and an individual authority with a number of statutory responsibilities, mainly in the area of maintaining public order. The municipal council has 45 seats. Its members are elected for a four-year term through citywide elections on the basis of proportional representation. Under the Municipalities Act, the mayor is appointed for a six-year term by the national government upon nomination by the municipal council. The other members of the executive board (wethouders, or 'alderpersons') are appointed directly by the municipal council, but may be dismissed at any time after a no-confidence vote in the council. Because of this parliamentary system, the alderpersons are not appointed until a governing majority in the council has reached a coalition agreement following council elections.
In July 2010, Eberhard van der Laan (Labour Party) was appointed mayor of Amsterdam by the national government for a six-year term after being nominated by the Amsterdam municipal council. After the 2014 municipal council elections, a governing majority of D66, VVD and SP was formed - the first coalition without the Labour Party since World War II. Next to the mayor, the municipal executive board consists of eight wethouders ('alderpersons') appointed by the municipal council: four D66 alderpersons, two VVD alderpersons and two SP alderpersons.

### Municipal Government 2006–2010

After the 2006 municipal elections a coalition was formed between PvdA and GroenLinks, with a majority of 27 out of 45. These elections saw a political landslide throughout the country, with a strong shift to the left, of which Amsterdam was a prime example. The much talked about all-left-wing coalition of PvdA, GroenLinks and SP that polls indicate would become possible after the national elections of 2006 and that was such a political success in Nijmegen had its largest majority in Amsterdam, apart from some small towns. PvdA even needed only three more seats to form a coalition and could thus take its pick, which forced potential coalition partners to give in on a lot of issues. In the case of GroenLinks, this was mostly the policy of preventive searching by the police, which they were opposed to but had to allow.
In total, 24 parties took part in the elections, including 11 new ones, but only 7 got seats.
Municipal Executives :
| Name | Portfolio | Party |
| Job Cohen | mayor Safety & Internal Affairs | PvdA |
| Lodewijk Asscher | vice-mayor Finance & Economy | PvdA |
| Freek Ossel | Education & Income | PvdA |
| Carolien Gehrels | Culture & Recreation | PvdA |
| Hans Gerson | Transport & Housing | PvdA |
| Maarten van Poelgeest | Spatial Planning | GL |
| Marijke Vos | Environment & Health | GL |
Municipal Council :
| Party | seats | change from 2002 |
| Labour Party | 20 | 5 |
| VVD | 8 | 1 |
| GreenLeft | 7 | 1 |
| Socialist Party | 6 | 2 |
| Christian Democratic Appeal | 2 | 2 |
| Democrats 66 | 2 | 1 |
| AA/De Groenen | 0 | 1 |
| Mokum Mobiel | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 45 | - |

### Municipal Government 2010–2014

Dutch municipal elections, 2010:
Municipal Executives :
| Name | Portfolio | Party |
| Eberhard van der Laan | mayor Safety & Internal Affairs | PvdA |
| Pieter Hilhorst | vice-mayor Finance & Education | PvdA |
| Freek Ossel | Housing | PvdA |
| Carolien Gehrels | Economy & Culture | PvdA |
| Eric van der Burg | Health & Schiphol | VVD |
| Eric Wiebes | Transport | VVD |
| Maarten van Poelgeest | Spatial Planning | GL |
| Andrée van Es | Income | GL |
Municipal Council :
| Party | seats | change from 2006 |
| Labour Party | 15 | 5 |
| VVD | 8 | 0 |
| GreenLeft | 7 | 0 |
| Democrats 66 | 7 | 5 |
| Socialist Party | 3 | 3 |
| Christian Democratic Appeal | 2 | 0 |
| Save Amsterdam | 1 | 1 |
| Proud of the Netherlands | 1 | 1 |
| Party for the Animals | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 45 | - |

### Municipal Government 2014–2018

Dutch municipal elections, 2014:
Municipal Executives :
| Name | Portfolio | Party |
| Eberhard van der Laan | mayor Safety, Internal Affairs & Finance | PvdA |
| Kajsa Ollongren | vice-mayor Amsterdam-Centrum, Economy, Port, Schiphol & Culture | D66 |
| Udo Kock | Amsterdam-West, Finance & Water Resource Management | D66 |
| Simone Kukenheim | Amsterdam-Oost, Education & Integration | D66 |
| Abdeluheb Choho | Public Space, Climate & ICT | D66 |
| Eric van der Burg | Amsterdam-Zuid, Health, Sport & Spatial Planning | VVD |
| Pieter Litjens | Amsterdam-Zuidoost, Transport & Real Estate | VVD |
| Laurens Ivens | Amsterdam-Noord, Housing & Animal Welfare | SP |
| Arjan Vliegenthart | Amsterdam Nieuw-West, Labour, Income & Poverty | SP |
Municipal Council :
| Party | seats | change from 2010 |
| Democrats 66 | 14 | 7 |
| Labour Party | 10 | 5 |
| VVD | 6 | 2 |
| GreenLeft | 6 | 1 |
| Socialist Party | 6 | 3 |
| Christian Democratic Appeal | 1 | 1 |
| Party for the Animals | 1 | 0 |
| Party for the Senior Citizens | 1 | 1 |
| Save Amsterdam | 0 | 1 |
| Proud of the Netherlands | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 45 | - |

### Municipal Government 2018–2022

Dutch municipal elections, 2018:
Municipal Executives :
| Name | Portfolio | Party |
| Femke Halsema | Mayor of Amsterdam General Affairs, Safety, Legal Affairs, & Communications | GL |
| Marieke van Doorninck | Spatial Development, & Sustainability | GL |
| Rutger Groot Wassink | Social Affairs, Democratization, & Diversity | GL |
| Touria Meliani | Arts and Culture, & Digital City | GL |
| Sharon Dijksma | Traffic and Transport, Water, & Air quality | PvdA |
| Marjolein Moorman | Education, Poverty, & Civic Integration | PvdA |
| Udo Kock | Finance, Economic Affairs, & Zuidas | D66 |
| Simone Kukenheim | Care, Youth, Education and Training, & Sport | D66 |
| Laurens Ivens | Housing, Construction, & Public Space | SP |
| | GreenLeft | GL | 70,880 | 20.4 | +9.6 | 10 | +4 |
| | Democrats 66 | D66 | 55,724 | 16.1 | −10.7 | 8 | −6 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | VVD | 39,702 | 11.4 | +0.2 | 6 | +0 |
| | Labour Party | PvdA | 37,181 | 10.7 | −7.7 | 5 | −5 |
| | Socialist Party | SP | 26,070 | 7.5 | −3.7 | 3 | −3 |
| | Party for the Animals | PvdD | 24,672 | 7.1 | +4.3 | 3 | +2 |
| | Denk | DENK | 23,138 | 6.7 | New | 3 | New |
| | Forum for Democracy | FvD | 20,015 | 5.8 | New | 3 | New |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | CDA | 11,991 | 3.5 | +0.7 | 1 | +0 |
| | Party for the Elderly | PvdO | 7,752 | 2.2 | +0.1 | 1 | +0 |
| | Christian Union | CU | 6,837 | 2.0 | +0.2 | 1 | +1 |
| | Amsterdam Bij1 | BIJ1 | 6,571 | 1.9 | New | 1 | New |
| | Pirate Party Amsterdam | PPNL | 4,459 | 1.3 | −0.5 | 0 | +0 |
| | 50PLUS | 50+ | 4,233 | 1.2 | New | 0 | New |
| | Other | Other | 7,923 | 2.3 | | 0 | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 347,148 | 100 | | 45 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 4,511 | 1.3 | | | |
| Total & turnout | Total & turnout | Total & turnout | 351,659 | 51.2 | +1.9 | | |
| Source: Verkiezingsuitslagen |||||||||

### Municipal Government 2022–present

Municipal Executives :
| Name | Portfolio | Party |
| Femke Halsema | Mayor of Amsterdam General Affairs, Safety, Legal Affairs, & Communications | GL |
| Marjolein Moorman | Education, Poverty, Civic Integration, Masterplan Zuidoost | PvdA |
| Sofyan Mbarki | Economic Affairs, Sport & Recreation, MBO Agenda, Vocational Education & Labour Market Integration, Youth Work, Inner City Affairs | PvdA |
| Hester van Buren | Finance, Personnel & Organisation, Coordination of operations, Services, Air and Sea Port, Coordination of purchasing | PvdA |
| Rutger Groot Wassink | Social Affairs, Shelter, Municipal Holdings, Democratization, Development Plan Nieuw-West | GL |
| Zita Pels | Sustainability & Circular Economy, Public Housing | GL |
| Touria Meliani | Arts and Culture, Monuments & Heritage, Events, Inclusion and Antidiscrimination policy | GL |
| Reinier van Dantzig | Housing construction, Land & Development, Spatial Planning | D66 |
| Melanie van der Horst | Traffic, transport & air quality, Public Space & Green, Water, Development Plan Amsterdam-Noord) | D66 |
| Shula Rijxman | Care & social development, Public Health & Prevention, ICT and Digital City, Local Media, Participations | D66 |
| | Labour Party | 57,093 | 17.57 | 9 | +4 |
| | GroenLinks | 48,096 | 14.80 | 8 | –2 |
| | Democrats 66 | 44,732 | 13.77 | 7 | –1 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 34,180 | 10.52 | 5 | –1 |
| | Amsterdam BIJ1 | 22,623 | 6.96 | 3 | +2 |
| | Party for the Animals | 22,031 | 6.78 | 3 | 0 |
| | Volt | 14,043 | 4.32 | 2 | New |
| | Socialist Party | 14,036 | 4.32 | 2 | –1 |
| | JA21 | 13,691 | 4.21 | 2 | New |
| | DENK | 13,039 | 4.01 | 2 | –1 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 8,270 | 2.55 | 1 | 0 |
| | Forum for Democracy | 6,688 | 2.06 | 1 | –2 |
| Other parties | Other parties | 26,347 | 8.11 | 0 | –2 |
| Total | Total | 324,869 | 100.00 | 45 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 324,869 | 99.11 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 2,924 | 0.89 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 327,793 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 703,714 | 46.58 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||

## Mayors

The mayor of Amsterdam is the head of the city council. The current mayor is Femke Halsema. The mayors since World War II are:
* Feike de Boer [nl] (1945–1946)
* Arnold Jan d'Ailly (1946–1956)
* Gijs van Hall (1956–1967)
* Ivo Samkalden (1967–1977)
* Wim Polak (1977–1983)
* Ed van Thijn (1983–1994)
* Schelto Patijn (1994–2001)
* Job Cohen (2001–2010)
* Eberhard van der Laan (2010–2017)
* Femke Halsema (2018–)

## Boroughs & urban area

| Name | Designation | Areas |
| Centrum (Centre) | Stadsdeel (Borough) | Binnenstad, Grachtengordel with Jordaan, Plantage, Westelijke Eilanden and Oostelijke Eilanden |
| Nieuw-West (New West) | Stadsdeel (Borough) | Slotermeer, Geuzenveld, Slotervaart, Overtoomse Veld, Nieuw Sloten, Osdorp, De Aker and the villages Sloten and Oud-Osdorp |
| Noord (North) | Stadsdeel (Borough) | Tuindorp Oostzaan, Kadoelen, Oostzanerwerf, Buiksloot, Buikslotermeer, Nieuwendam and Landelijk Noord, with the villages Schellingwoude, Durgerdam, Zunderdorp, Ransdorp, Holysloot |
| Oost (East) | Stadsdeel (Borough) | Weesperzijde, Oosterparkbuurt, Dapperbuurt, Transvaalbuurt, Oostpoort, Watergraafsmeer, Indische Buurt, Oostelijk Havengebied, the Zeeburgereiland and IJburg |
| West | Stadsdeel (Borough) | Spaarndammerbuurt, Staatsliedenbuurt, Frederik Hendrikbuurt, Kinkerbuurt and surrounding Overtoom, Admiralenbuurt, surrounding Hoofdweg, Mercatorplein, Landlust, Bos en Lommer and the village Sloterdijk |
| Zuid (South) | Stadsdeel (Borough) | De Pijp, Museumkwartier, Willemspark, Schinkelbuurt, Hoofddorppleinbuurt, Stadionbuurt, Apollobuurt, Rivierenbuurt, Prinses Irenebuurt, Zuidas and Buitenveldert |
| Zuidoost (Southeast) | Stadsdeel (Borough) | Venserpolder, Bijlmer, Gaasperdam and Bullewijk |
| Weesp | Stadsgebied (Urban area) | the city Weesp and the village Driemond |
Unlike most other Dutch municipalities, Amsterdam is subdivided into 7 boroughs (stadsdelen or 'districts') and 1 urban area (stadsgebied) Weesp. This system was implemented in the 1980s and significantly reformed in 2014. Before 2014, the boroughs were responsible for many activities that previously had been run by the central city. The idea was to bring the government closer to the people. All of these had their own district council (deelraad), chosen by a popular election. Local decisions were made at borough level, and only affairs pertaining the whole city (like major infrastructural projects), were delegated to the central city council. As of 2014, the powers of the boroughs have been significantly reduced, although they still have an elected council called bestuurscommissie ('district committee').
On 24 March 2022, the city of Weesp merged with Amsterdam. Thus Weesp became an urban area of the municipality of Amsterdam. Westpoort covers the western harbour area of Amsterdam. This is not a borough, because it has very few inhabitants and it is governed directly by the central municipal council.

## Population centers

Amsterdam, Driemond, Durgerdam, Holysloot, 't Nopeind, Osdorp, Ransdorp, Sloten, Sloterdijk, Zunderdorp.