# 2022 Dutch municipal elections

Municipal elections were held on 16 March 2022 in 333 municipalities in the Netherlands. This election determined the composition of the municipal councils for the following four years.

## Background

In the previous municipal elections, local political parties won by far the most votes and seats. Nationally, all local political parties won a total of 29% of the votes and around a third of municipal council seats. Local parties have seen a steady rise since the 1990s and in Vlieland there are only local parties that participate.
Of all national political parties, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) will contest the most municipal elections; the party will be on the ballot in all but five (Diemen, Ouder-Amstel, Rozendaal, Vlieland and Schiermonnikoog). The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) comes in second, contesting in 317 elections, while Democrats 66 participates in 289 elections. The Labour Party (PvdA) will participate in 303 elections, and GroenLinks in 229, many of which are joint lists between the two parties. Meanwhile, the ChristianUnion runs in 175 and the Reformed Political Party (SGP) in 96, with these parties also having many joint lists. The Socialist Party participates in 86, Forum for Democracy (FvD), which had previously only participated in Amsterdam, has expanded significantly to participate in 50 elections. The Party for Freedom (PVV) participates in 31, Party for the Animals (PvdD) in 30, DENK in 20, 50PLUS in 19 and BIJ1 in 5. There are also 3 national parties participating for the first time in municipal elections, BvNL in 20 municipalities, Volt in 10, and JA21 only in Amsterdam.
Twelve municipalities did not have elections on 16 March due to mergers.

## Electoral system

Municipal councils are elected using party-list proportional representation. 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. All people above the age of 18, who are registered in a municipality, and have not been excluded from voting following a court's decision are eligible to vote. Dutch citizenship is not required to be eligible to vote for municipal elections, non-EU nationals who have legally resided in the Netherlands for at least five years and EU citizens are also eligible to vote.

## National
### Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Release date | Sample size | Local | VVD | CDA | D66 | GL | PvdA | SP | CU | SGP | PVV | PvdD | DENK | 50+ | FvD | BIJ1 | Volt | JA21 | Others | Lead |
| I&O Research | 10 Mar 2022 | 1,495 | 35.4% | 11.2% | 6.8% | 7.5% | 7.8% | 7.4% | 3.6% | 3.8% | 2.9% | 3.3% | 3.6% | 0.9% | 1.1% | 1.3% | 0.5% | 1.5% | 0.6% | 0.4% | 24.2% |
| I&O Research | 18 Feb 2022 | 1,444 | 33.0% | 12.7% | 6.0% | 7.6% | 7.3% | 6.4% | 3.6% | 3.9% | 2.9% | 4.5% | 3.6% | 1.1% | 0.7% | 1.4% | 0.9% | 1.9% | 2.6% | 0.0% | 20.3% |
| I&O Research | 31 Jan 2022 | 1,444 | 31.8% | 12.3% | 5.2% | 7.2% | 7.3% | 6.0% | 3.0% | 3.3% | 3.0% | 6.3% | 4.0% | 1.3% | 1.1% | 2.5% | 0.9% | 2.6% | 2.2% | 0.0% | 19.5% |
| 2018 election | 21 Mar 2018 | – | 28.7% | 13.5% | 13.4% | 9.2% | 8.9% | 7.5% | 4.4% | 3.8% | 1.9% | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 0.3% | 0.1% | did not contest | did not contest | 4.6% | 15.2% |

### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | Local parties | 2,134,965 | 30.95 | 2,988 | +377 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 807,085 | 11.70 | 1,000 | –131 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 773,399 | 11.21 | 1,105 | –240 |
| | Democrats 66 | 607,353 | 8.81 | 620 | +18 |
| | GroenLinks | 585,673 | 8.49 | 546 | +19 |
| | Labour Party | 541,140 | 7.85 | 560 | +11 |
| | Christian Union | 268,794 | 3.90 | 305 | +2 |
| | Socialist Party | 192,132 | 2.79 | 173 | –112 |
| | Reformed Political Party | 158,781 | 2.30 | 229 | +56 |
| | Party for the Animals | 135,587 | 1.97 | 63 | +33 |
| | GroenLinks–PvdA | 99,472 | 1.44 | 164 | +50 |
| | Forum for Democracy | 76,750 | 1.11 | 50 | +47 |
| | CU-SGP | 74,188 | 1.08 | 101 | –6 |
| | Denk | 67,982 | 0.99 | 24 | 0 |
| | Party for Freedom | 62,559 | 0.91 | 61 | –14 |
| | Volt | 51,823 | 0.75 | 20 | New |
| | Farmer–Citizen Movement | 43,892 | 0.64 | 59 | New |
| | 50PLUS | 43,517 | 0.63 | 24 | –9 |
| | BIJ1 | 40,332 | 0.58 | 8 | +7 |
| | Frisian National Party | 36,200 | 0.52 | 49 | +27 |
| | BVNL | 21,447 | 0.31 | 17 | New |
| | JA21 | 13,691 | 0.20 | 2 | New |
| | D66–GL–PvdA | 12,515 | 0.18 | 26 | –17 |
| | Party for the Elderly and Safety | 10,104 | 0.15 | 11 | New |
| | D66–GL | 6,936 | 0.10 | 12 | –2 |
| | Party for the North | 5,829 | 0.08 | 5 | New |
| | D66–PvdA | 4,043 | 0.06 | 4 | –1 |
| | Jesus Lives | 3,893 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 |
| | Pirate Party | 3,251 | 0.05 | 1 | +1 |
| | General Elderly Alliance | 3,217 | 0.05 | 4 | -5 |
| | LEF - For the New Generation | 2,466 | 0.04 | 0 | New |
| | Heart for Freedom | 2,334 | 0.03 | 1 | New |
| | BBB–TROTS | 2,152 | 0.03 | 1 | New |
| | Trots op Nederland | 1,422 | 0.02 | 2 | -1 |
| | D66–GL–PvdA–SP | 1,240 | 0.02 | 2 | –8 |
| | The Party Party | 912 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 6,897,076 | 100.00 | 8,237 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 6,897,076 | 99.47 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 37,085 | 0.53 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 6,934,161 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 13,599,700 | 50.99 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||

## Amsterdam
### Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Date | GL | D66 | VVD | PvdA | SP | PvdD | DENK | FvD | CDA | PvdO | CU | BIJ1 | JA21 | Volt | Lead |
| OIS | 13 Mar 2022 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | Tied |
| I&O Research | 5 Mar 2022 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | Tied |
| Peil.nl | 22 Feb 2022 | 5/6 | 8 | 6 | 5/6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| OIS | 5 Feb 2022 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| I&O Research | 31 Jan 2022 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | Tied |
| Peil.nl | 18 Jan 2022 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 2018 election | 21 Mar 2018 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | did not contest | did not contest | 2 |

### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | 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 ||||||

## Rotterdam
### Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Date | LR | VVD | D66 | GL | PvdA | DENK | SP | CDA | PvdD | 50+ | CU | BIJ1 | FvD | Volt | S010 | Lead |
| Peil.nl | 6 Mar 2022 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Peil.nl | 22 Feb 2022 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| 2018 election | 21 Mar 2018 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | did not contest | did not contest | did not contest | did not contest | 6 |

### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | Livable Rotterdam | 39,972 | 20.08 | 10 | -1 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 22,410 | 11.26 | 6 | +1 |
| | GroenLinks | 19,806 | 9.95 | 5 | 0 |
| | Democrats 66 | 19,761 | 9.93 | 5 | 0 |
| | Labour Party | 17,113 | 8.60 | 4 | –1 |
| | DENK | 15,612 | 7.84 | 4 | 0 |
| | Volt | 10,365 | 5.21 | 2 | New |
| | Party for the Animals | 8,552 | 4.30 | 2 | +1 |
| | BIJ1 | 8,205 | 4.12 | 2 | New |
| | 50PLUS | 7,216 | 3.63 | 1 | 0 |
| | Christian Union | 6,822 | 3.43 | 1 | New |
| | Socialist Party | 5,766 | 2.90 | 1 | –1 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 5,749 | 2.89 | 1 | –1 |
| | Forum for Democracy | 4,637 | 2.33 | 1 | New |
| Other parties | Other parties | 7,053 | 3.54 | 0 | –4 |
| Total | Total | 199,039 | 100.00 | 45 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 199,039 | 98.93 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 2,161 | 1.07 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 201,200 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 516,986 | 38.92 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||

## The Hague
### Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Date | GDM | VVD | D66 | GL | CDA | PvdA | HSP | PvdD | PVV | CU-SGP | SP | 50+ | FvD | DENK | Lead |
| I&O Research | 8 Mar 2022 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| I&O Research | 8 Feb 2022 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Peil.nl | 18 Jan 2022 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 2018 election | 21 Mar 2018 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | did not contest | did not contest | 1 |

### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | Heart for The Hague | 30,988 | 16.97 | 9 | +1 |
| | Democrats 66 | 27,937 | 15.30 | 8 | +2 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 24,298 | 13.30 | 7 | 0 |
| | GroenLinks | 18,223 | 9.98 | 5 | 0 |
| | Party for the Animals | 12,363 | 6.77 | 3 | +1 |
| | Labour Party | 11,764 | 6.44 | 3 | 0 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 11,455 | 6.27 | 3 | 0 |
| | DENK | 10,222 | 5.60 | 2 | New |
| | The Hague City Party | 6,471 | 3.54 | 1 | –2 |
| | Socialist Party | 5,337 | 2.92 | 1 | 0 |
| | Party for Freedom | 5,324 | 2.92 | 1 | –1 |
| | Christian Union – Reformed Political Party | 4,971 | 2.72 | 1 | 0 |
| | Forum for Democracy | 3,896 | 2.13 | 1 | New |
| Other parties | Other parties | 9,380 | 5.14 | 0 | –4 |
| Total | Total | 182,629 | 100.00 | 45 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 182,629 | 99.20 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 1,465 | 0.80 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 184,094 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 428,137 | 43.00 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||

## Utrecht
### Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Date | GL | D66 | VVD | PvdA | CDA | PvdD | DENK | CU | S&S | SP | PVV | SBU | BIJ1 | Volt | FvD | Lead |
| I&O Research | 5 Mar 2022 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Peil.nl | 24 Feb 2022 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0/1 | 2 | 2 | 0/1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 2018 election | 21 Mar 2018 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | did not contest | did not contest | did not contest | 2 |

### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | GroenLinks | 29,110 | 18.49 | 9 | –3 |
| | Democrats 66 | 25,628 | 16.28 | 8 | –2 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 14,856 | 9.44 | 5 | –1 |
| | Labour Party | 12,460 | 7.91 | 4 | +1 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 11,117 | 7.06 | 3 | +1 |
| | Party for the Animals | 10,124 | 6.43 | 3 | +1 |
| | Volt | 8,896 | 5.65 | 3 | New |
| | Student & Starter | 8,546 | 5.43 | 2 | 0 |
| | Christian Union | 6,034 | 3.83 | 2 | 0 |
| | DENK | 5,525 | 3.51 | 1 | –1 |
| | BIJ1 | 5,398 | 3.43 | 1 | New |
| | OneUtrecht | 4,383 | 2.78 | 1 | New |
| | Socialist Party | 3,945 | 2.51 | 1 | –1 |
| | City Interest Utrecht | 3,432 | 2.18 | 1 | 0 |
| | Party for Freedom | 3,385 | 2.15 | 1 | 0 |
| Other parties | Other parties | 4,586 | 2.91 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 157,425 | 100.00 | 45 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 157,425 | 99.59 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 645 | 0.41 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 158,070 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 280,577 | 56.34 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||

## Groningen
### Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Date | GL | PvdA | D66 | SP | VVD | CU | PvdD | CDA | SP100G | S&S | PVV | PvhN | Lead | Ref. |
| I&O Research | 5 Mar 2022 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2018 reorganisation election | 21 Nov 2018 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | did not contest | 5 | |

### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | GroenLinks | 18,669 | 17.76 | 9 | –2 |
| | Labour Party | 12,434 | 11.83 | 6 | 0 |
| | Democrats 66 | 10,986 | 10.45 | 5 | 0 |
| | Party for the Animals | 9,730 | 9.26 | 4 | +1 |
| | City Party 100% for Groningen | 9,689 | 9.22 | 4 | 0 |
| | Socialist Party | 8,631 | 8.21 | 4 | –1 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 7,860 | 7.48 | 3 | –1 |
| | Student en Stad | 6,607 | 6.29 | 3 | +2 |
| | Christian Union | 5,344 | 5.08 | 2 | –1 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 5,243 | 4.99 | 2 | 0 |
| | Party for the North | 4,282 | 4.07 | 2 | New |
| | Party for Freedom | 2,234 | 2.13 | 1 | 0 |
| Other parties | Other parties | 3,401 | 3.24 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 105,110 | 100.00 | 45 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 105,110 | 99.59 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 437 | 0.41 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 105,547 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 194,113 | 54.37 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||

## Nijmegen
### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | GroenLinks | 16,149 | 20.36 | 9 | –2 |
| | City Party Nijmegen | 12,873 | 16.23 | 7 | +4 |
| | Democrats 66 | 10,664 | 13.45 | 6 | 0 |
| | Labour Party | 8,352 | 10.53 | 4 | +1 |
| | Party for the Animals | 7,726 | 9.74 | 4 | +2 |
| | Socialist Party | 7,043 | 8.88 | 3 | –2 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 6,184 | 7.80 | 3 | –1 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 3,562 | 4.49 | 2 | 0 |
| | Just Nijmegen.NOW | 2,713 | 3.42 | 1 | –1 |
| Other parties | Other parties | 4,036 | 5.09 | 0 | –1 |
| Total | Total | 79,302 | 100.00 | 39 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 79,302 | 99.53 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 377 | 0.47 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 79,679 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 147,174 | 54.14 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||