# 1853 Dutch general election

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 17 May 1853. They followed the dissolution of the House of Representatives as a result of a government crisis caused by the restoration of the episcopal hierarchy.
The result of the elections was a defeat for Prime Minister Johan Rudolph Thorbecke and his liberals. Only the province of Groningen and Twente remained a liberal stronghold. The conservative Van Hall-Donker Curtius cabinet thus received ample support in the House of Representatives and Floris Adriaan van Hall became prime minister. However, the restoration of the episcopal hierarchy that had caused the government crisis was not reversed, although the Roman Catholic Church was restricted in its freedom of movement by the introduction of the Law on Church Societies.

## Background

During the Constitutional Reform of 1848, the Catholic Church was allowed to determine ecclesiastical divisions within the Netherlands in the context of the separation of church and state. In 1853 this law was applied, and Pope Pius IX divided the Netherlands into five dioceses, including an archdiocese in Utrecht. Among the Dutch Protestants, there was much dislike of this action, which culminated in the April movement. The submission of the complaints by the April movement to King William III led to a crisis between the king and the Thorbecke I cabinet, which felt that the king had answered the April movement too positively and had not been sufficiently neutral. As a result, the cabinet resigned and the House of Representatives was dissolved.
According to the then electoral law, this was an exceptional situation: normally half the House was elected every two years, and not the House as a whole.

## Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats |
| | Conservatives | | | 26 |
| | Liberals | | | 25 |
| | Conservative Liberals | | | 9 |
| | Anti-Revolutionaries | | | 8 |
| Total | Total | | | 68 |
| Total votes | Total votes | 60,432 | – | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 85,076 | 71.03 | |
| Source: Bromley & Kossman, Nohlen & Stöver |||||

### By district

| District | Members elected | Group |
| Alkmaar | Cornelis van Foreest | Conservative |
| Alkmaar | Jan Jacob Rochussen | Conservative |
| Almelo | Wolter Robert van Hoëvell | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Almelo | Maximiliaan Jacob de Man | Pragmatic liberal |
| Amersfoort | Frederik van Rappard | Conservative |
| Amersfoort | Johan Frederik van Reede van Oudtshoorn | Anti-revolutionary |
| Amsterdam | Joannes Bosscha | Conservative |
| Amsterdam | Siebert Rudolph van Franck | Conservative |
| Amsterdam | Michel Henry Godefroi | Pragmatic liberal |
| Amsterdam | Gerrit Schimmelpenninck | Conservative |
| Amsterdam | Harm Stolte | Conservative |
| Appingedam | Rembertus Westerhoff | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Appingedam | Jan Freerks Zijlker | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Arnhem | Willem van Lynden | Anti-revolutionary |
| Arnhem | Æneas Mackay | Anti-revolutionary |
| Assen | Louis van Heiden Reinestein | Conservative |
| Assen | Petrus van der Veen | Pragmatic liberal |
| Boxmeer | Johannes Hengst | Pragmatic liberal |
| Breda | Karel Adrianus Meeussen | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Breda | Lambertus Dominicus Storm | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Delft | Cornelis Hoekwater | Conservative |
| Delft | Willem Wintgens | Pragmatic liberal |
| Den Bosch | Johannes Luyben | Conservative liberal |
| Den Bosch | Johannes de Poorter | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Den Haag | Willem Boreel van Hogelanden | Pragmatic liberal |
| Den Haag | Julius Constantijn Rijk | Conservative |
| Deventer | Carel Storm van 's Gravesande | Pragmatic liberal |
| Dokkum | Isaäc ter Bruggen Hugenholtz | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Dordrecht | Johannes Dirk van der Poel | Conservative |
| Dordrecht | Pieter Adriaan Sander | Conservative |
| Eindhoven | Johannes Baptista Bots | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Eindhoven | Petrus van den Heuvel | Pragmatic liberal |
| Goes | Joannes Jacobus van Deinse | Conservative |
| Gorinchem | Pieter Jacob Elout van Soeterwoude | Anti-revolutionary |
| Gouda | Willem Maurits de Brauw | Conservative |
| Gouda | Mari Aert Frederic Henri Hoffmann | Conservative |
| Groningen | Steven Blaupot ten Cate | Pragmatic liberal |
| Haarlem | Willem Hendrik van Voorst | Pragmatic liberal |
| Hoorn | Dirk van Akerlaken | Pragmatic liberal |
| Hoorn | Johannes Donker Hendrikszoon | Conservative |
| Leeuwarden | Jan Bieruma Oosting | Conservative |
| Leeuwarden | Jacob Dirks | Conservative |
| Leiden | Daniël Théodore Gevers van Endegeest | Conservative |
| Leiden | Pieter Hendrik Taets van Amerongen | Conservative |
| Maastricht | Johan Rudolph Thorbecke | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Maastricht | Edmond van Wintershoven | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Middelburg | Jan Jacob Slicher van Domburg | Conservative |
| Middelburg | Daniël van Eck | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Nijmegen | Gustaaf Dommer van Poldersveldt | Conservative (Catholic) |
| Nijmegen | Joannes van Nispen van Sevenaer | Pragmatic liberal |
| Roermond | Pieter Lodewijk de Lom de Berg | Conservative (Catholic) |
| Roermond | Martin Pascal Hubert Strens | Pragmatic liberal |
| Rotterdam | Jean Chrétien Baud | Conservative |
| Rotterdam | Peter van Bosse | Pragmatic liberal |
| Sneek | Willem Engelbart Engelen | Conservative |
| Sneek | Cornelis Sleeswijk Vening | Conservative |
| Steenwijk | Jacob van Lennep | Conservative |
| Tiel | Jacob de Kempenaer | Conservative |
| Tilburg | Carolus Cornelius Aloysius Beens | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Tilburg | Franciscus Johannes Jespers | Thorbeckian liberal |
| Utrecht | Hubert Alexander Maurits van Asch van Wijck | Anti-revolutionary |
| Utrecht | Jan Karel van Goltstein | Pragmatic liberal |
| Zierikzee | Jean François Schuurbeque Boeije | Conservative |
| Zuidhorn | Geert Reinders | Pragmatic liberal |
| Zutphen | Justinus van der Brugghen | Anti-revolutionary |
| Zutphen | Willem Anne Schimmelpenninck van der Oye | Conservative |
| Zwolle | Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer | Anti-revolutionary |
| Zwolle | Bartholomeus Sloet tot Oldhuis | Thorbeckian liberal |