# 2018 Dutch municipal elections

Municipal elections were held on 21 March 2018 in 335 municipalities in the Netherlands. 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

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 will be the only municipality in which no national political parties will contest the election.
Of all national political parties, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) will contest most municipal elections; the party will be on the ballot in all but three (Rozendaal, Vlieland 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 (VVD) will participate in over 315 elections, and the Democrats 66 in over 270, followed by GroenLinks in 220, the Christian Union in 169, the Socialist Party in 118 and the Reformed Political Party (SGP) in 99.
The Party for Freedom (PVV), which had previously only participated in The Hague and Almere, initially planned to expand to a total of sixty municipalities, but has only been able to find suitable candidates in thirty, including Rotterdam. 50PLUS 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 will only contest in Amsterdam. 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. 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

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats |
| | Local Parties | 1,945,904 | 28.65 | 2,612 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 916,930 | 13.50 | 1,131 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 910,441 | 13.41 | 1,293 |
| | Democrats 66 | 623,671 | 9.18 | 602 |
| | GroenLinks | 602,157 | 8.87 | 527 |
| | Labour Party | 510,527 | 7.52 | 549 |
| | Socialist Party | 301,600 | 4.44 | 285 |
| | Christian Union | 260,007 | 3.83 | 303 |
| | Reformed Political Party | 129,181 | 1.90 | 173 |
| | Party for Freedom | 94,118 | 1.39 | 75 |
| | Christian Union – Reformed Political Party | 87,762 | 1.29 | 107 |
| | Party for the Animals | 80,904 | 1.19 | 30 |
| | DENK | 70,832 | 1.04 | 24 |
| | GroenLinks–Labour Party | 65,566 | 0.97 | 114 |
| | 50PLUS | 55,786 | 0.82 | 33 |
| | D66–GroenLinks–Labour Party | 22,251 | 0.33 | 43 |
| | Forum for Democracy | 20,015 | 0.29 | 3 |
| | NIDA | 16,870 | 0.25 | 3 |
| | Frisian National Party | 13,848 | 0.20 | 22 |
| | D66–GroenLinks | 8,368 | 0.12 | 14 |
| | United Seniors Party | 7,933 | 0.12 | 8 |
| | General Elderly Alliance | 7,310 | 0.11 | 9 |
| | Elderly Politically Active | 6,104 | 0.09 | 2 |
| | Trots op Nederland | 6,066 | 0.09 | 3 |
| | Pirate Party | 5,713 | 0.08 | 0 |
| | D66–Labour Party | 4,596 | 0.07 | 5 |
| | D66–GL–PvdA–SP | 4,528 | 0.07 | 10 |
| | D66–VVD | 3,491 | 0.05 | 8 |
| | Jesus Lives | 2,348 | 0.03 | 0 |
| | New Communist Party | 2,346 | 0.03 | 3 |
| | Ubuntu Connected Front | 1,587 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Libertarian Party | 923 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Basic Income Party | 635 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Peace and Justice | 616 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | TROTS–OPA | 510 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | QUEER | 260 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 6,791,704 | 100.00 | 7,991 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 6,791,704 | 99.15 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 58,084 | 0.85 | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 6,849,788 | 100.00 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 12,461,540 | 54.97 | |
| Source: Kiesraad |||||

## Amsterdam
### Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Date | D66 | PvdA | VVD | SP | GL | PvdD | CDA | PvdO | CU | DENK | FvD | Bij1 | 50+ | Lead |
| OIS | 17 Mar 2018 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0/1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0/1 | 1 |
| Peil.nl | 10 Mar 2018 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Tied |
| OIS | 17 Jan 2018 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0/1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0/1 | 2 |
| Peil.nl | 10 Jan 2018 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Tied |
| 2014 election | 19 Mar 2014 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | did not contest | did not contest | did not contest | did not contest | 4 |

### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | GroenLinks | 70,880 | 20.42 | 10 | +4 |
| | Democrats 66 | 55,724 | 16.05 | 8 | –6 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 39,702 | 11.44 | 6 | 0 |
| | Labour Party | 37,181 | 10.71 | 5 | –5 |
| | Socialist Party | 26,070 | 7.51 | 3 | –3 |
| | Party for the Animals | 24,672 | 7.11 | 3 | +2 |
| | DENK | 23,138 | 6.67 | 3 | New |
| | Forum for Democracy | 20,015 | 5.77 | 3 | New |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 11,991 | 3.45 | 1 | 0 |
| | Party for the Elderly | 7,752 | 2.23 | 1 | 0 |
| | Christian Union | 6,837 | 1.97 | 1 | +1 |
| | Amsterdam BIJ1 | 6,571 | 1.89 | 1 | New |
| Other parties | Other parties | 16,615 | 4.79 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 347,148 | 100.00 | 45 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 347,148 | 98.72 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 4,511 | 1.28 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 351,659 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 674,286 | 52.15 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||
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, a member of the GroenLinks, to be the mayor of Amsterdam. Halsema is the first woman to be elected mayor of Amsterdam, as well as the first member of the GroenLinks to take that position.

## Rotterdam
### Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Date | LR | PvdA | D66 | SP | VVD | CDA | GL | NIDA | CU-SGP | PvdD | PVV | DENK | 50+ | Lead |
| Peil.nl | 18 Feb 2018 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Peil.nl | 25 Jan 2018 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 2014 election | 19 Mar 2014 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | did not contest | did not contest | did not contest | 6 |

### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | Livable Rotterdam | 47,312 | 20.50 | 11 | –3 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 24,641 | 10.68 | 5 | +2 |
| | Democrats 66 | 22,920 | 9.93 | 5 | –1 |
| | GroenLinks | 22,721 | 9.85 | 5 | +3 |
| | Labour Party | 22,275 | 9.65 | 5 | –3 |
| | DENK | 16,955 | 7.35 | 4 | New |
| | NIDA Rotterdam | 12,389 | 5.37 | 2 | 0 |
| | Socialist Party | 11,389 | 4.93 | 2 | –3 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 10,756 | 4.66 | 2 | –1 |
| | Party for Freedom | 8,149 | 3.53 | 1 | New |
| | Party for the Animals | 8,091 | 3.51 | 1 | 0 |
| | 50PLUS | 7,359 | 3.19 | 1 | New |
| | Christian Union – Reformed Political Party | 6,956 | 3.01 | 1 | 0 |
| Other parties | Other parties | 8,873 | 3.84 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 230,786 | 100.00 | 45 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 230,786 | 98.61 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 3,251 | 1.39 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 234,037 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 501,234 | 46.69 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||

## The Hague
### Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Date | D66 | PVV | PvdA | HSP | VVD | CDA | GDM | SP | GL | ID | PvdE | CU-SGP | PvdD | 50+ | Lead |
| I&O Research | 14 Mar 2018 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| I&O Research | 21 Feb 2018 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| I&O Research | 31 Jan 2018 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2014 election | 19 Mar 2014 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | did not contest | 1 |
* ↑ Contesting as Group de Mos - Heart for The Hague; contested as Group de Mos - Elderly Party The Hague in 2014.

### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | De Mos Group/Heart for The Hague | 32,632 | 16.80 | 8 | +5 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 26,990 | 13.90 | 7 | +3 |
| | Democrats 66 | 23,973 | 12.34 | 6 | –2 |
| | GroenLinks | 20,684 | 10.65 | 5 | +3 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 12,618 | 6.50 | 3 | 0 |
| | Labour Party | 12,567 | 6.47 | 3 | –3 |
| | The Hague City Party | 10,897 | 5.61 | 3 | –2 |
| | Party for the Animals | 10,201 | 5.25 | 2 | +1 |
| | Party for Freedom | 9,036 | 4.65 | 2 | –5 |
| | Islam Democrats | 6,943 | 3.57 | 1 | –1 |
| | Christian Union – Reformed Political Party | 6,129 | 3.16 | 1 | 0 |
| | Socialist Party | 5,176 | 2.66 | 1 | –1 |
| | NIDA | 4,481 | 2.31 | 1 | New |
| | 50PLUS | 4,444 | 2.29 | 1 | New |
| | Party of Unity | 4,026 | 2.07 | 1 | 0 |
| Other parties | Other parties | 3,439 | 1.77 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 194,236 | 100.00 | 45 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 194,236 | 98.85 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 2,261 | 1.15 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 196,497 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 409,444 | 47.99 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||

## Utrecht
### Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Date | D66 | GL | VVD | PvdA | SP | CDA | SBU | CU | S&S | PvdD | DENK | PVV | Lead | Ref |
| Peil.nl | 24 Jan 2018 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2014 election | 19 Mar 2014 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | did not contest | did not contest | 4 | |

### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | GroenLinks | 36,231 | 22.96 | 12 | +3 |
| | Democrats 66 | 32,735 | 20.74 | 10 | –3 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 20,522 | 13.00 | 6 | +1 |
| | Labour Party | 9,812 | 6.22 | 3 | –2 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 8,428 | 5.34 | 2 | –1 |
| | Party for the Animals | 8,317 | 5.27 | 2 | +1 |
| | DENK | 7,662 | 4.85 | 2 | New |
| | Christian Union | 6,451 | 4.09 | 2 | 0 |
| | Student & Starter | 6,445 | 4.08 | 2 | +1 |
| | Socialist Party | 6,419 | 4.07 | 2 | –2 |
| | Party for Freedom | 5,915 | 3.75 | 1 | New |
| | City Interest Utrecht | 4,295 | 2.72 | 1 | –1 |
| Other parties | Other parties | 4,590 | 2.91 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 157,822 | 100.00 | 45 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 157,822 | 99.23 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 1,224 | 0.77 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 159,046 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 269,459 | 59.02 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||

## Eindhoven
### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 12,275 | 14.79 | 7 | +1 |
| | GroenLinks | 12,044 | 14.51 | 7 | +3 |
| | Labour Party | 10,180 | 12.27 | 6 | –2 |
| | Democrats 66 | 9,735 | 11.73 | 6 | –1 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 9,514 | 11.46 | 6 | +2 |
| | Socialist Party | 6,609 | 7.96 | 4 | –3 |
| | Elderly Appeal Eindhoven | 4,647 | 5.60 | 2 | –3 |
| | Pim Fortuyn List Eindhoven | 3,353 | 4.04 | 2 | +1 |
| | 50PLUS | 3,249 | 3.91 | 2 | New |
| | DENK | 2,864 | 3.45 | 1 | New |
| | Livable Eindhoven | 2,294 | 2.76 | 1 | –1 |
| | Christian Union | 1,955 | 2.36 | 1 | 0 |
| Other parties | Other parties | 4,275 | 5.15 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 82,994 | 100.00 | 45 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 82,994 | 98.82 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 988 | 1.18 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 83,982 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 181,079 | 46.38 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||

## Nijmegen
### Opinion polling

| Polling firm | Date | SP | GL | D66 | PvdA | VVD | GN | CDA | DNF | 50+ | PvdD | Lead | Ref |
| Peil.nl | 24 Jan 2018 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2014 election | 19 Mar 2014 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | did not contest | Tied | |
* ↑ Contested as the United Seniors Party.

### Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | GroenLinks | 20,149 | 24.77 | 11 | +3 |
| | Democrats 66 | 12,045 | 14.81 | 6 | –1 |
| | Socialist Party | 10,865 | 13.36 | 5 | –3 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 8,407 | 10.34 | 4 | 0 |
| | City Party Nijmegen | 6,355 | 7.81 | 3 | +1 |
| | Labour Party | 5,747 | 7.07 | 3 | –1 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 4,094 | 5.03 | 2 | 0 |
| | Party for the Animals | 3,694 | 4.54 | 2 | New |
| | 50PLUS | 3,001 | 3.69 | 1 | New |
| | Just Nijmegen | 2,815 | 3.46 | 1 | –1 |
| | ForNijmegen.NOW | 1,845 | 2.27 | 1 | New |
| Other parties | Other parties | 2,323 | 2.86 | 0 | –2 |
| Total | Total | 81,340 | 100.00 | 39 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 81,340 | 99.27 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 598 | 0.73 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 81,938 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 143,582 | 57.07 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||