# 1971 Dutch general election

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 28 April 1971. The Labour Party (PvdA) emerged as the largest party, winning 39 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives. The elections were the first without compulsory voting, causing a sharp fall in voter turnout, down to 79% from 95% in the 1967 elections. Barend Biesheuvel of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) became prime minister, leading the first Biesheuvel cabinet.
His cabinet contained a broad coalition of parties, with ministers from ARP, Christian Historical Union (both Protestant), the Catholic People's Party, the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and moderate socialist Democratic Socialists '70 (DS'70), which had just split off from the PvdA.
However, Biesheuvel's government was short-lived; following a decision to cut government spending, DS'70 withdrew from the government, causing it to lose its majority and fresh elections to be held after just a year and seven months.

## Results

| | Labour Party | 1,554,733 | 24.60 | 39 | +2 |
| | Catholic People's Party | 1,380,365 | 21.84 | 35 | –7 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 653,606 | 10.34 | 16 | –1 |
| | Anti-Revolutionary Party | 542,874 | 8.59 | 13 | –2 |
| | Democrats 1966 | 428,150 | 6.77 | 11 | +4 |
| | Christian Historical Union | 399,164 | 6.32 | 10 | –2 |
| | Democratic Socialists '70 | 336,788 | 5.33 | 8 | New |
| | Communist Party of the Netherlands | 246,594 | 3.90 | 6 | +1 |
| | Reformed Political Party | 148,221 | 2.35 | 3 | 0 |
| | Political Party of Radicals | 116,065 | 1.84 | 2 | New |
| | Reformed Political League | 101,797 | 1.61 | 2 | +1 |
| | New Middle Party | 95,653 | 1.51 | 2 | New |
| | Pacifist Socialist Party | 90,752 | 1.44 | 2 | –2 |
| | Farmers' Party | 69,678 | 1.10 | 1 | –6 |
| | General Elderly Party of the Netherlands | 26,881 | 0.43 | 0 | New |
| | Dutch Appeal | 24,379 | 0.39 | 0 | New |
| | New Roman Catholic Party [nl] | 23,061 | 0.36 | 0 | New |
| | Kabouters | 21,988 | 0.35 | 0 | New |
| | Elderly and Labour Party | 21,489 | 0.34 | 0 | New |
| | Binding Right [nl] | 15,137 | 0.24 | 0 | New |
| | Democrats 2000 | 7,189 | 0.11 | 0 | New |
| | Elderly Party 65+ | 5,784 | 0.09 | 0 | New |
| | Van Velsen List | 3,676 | 0.06 | 0 | New |
| | Elderly Party General Interest | 1,843 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | Stichting Gedupeerde Groepen 18+ t/m 65+ | 1,648 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | Rural Party for the Elderly | 1,620 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | Party of the Right | 477 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 |
| | Positive Social Democrats | 400 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 6,320,012 | 100.00 | 150 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 6,320,012 | 99.27 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 46,567 | 0.73 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 6,366,579 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 8,046,969 | 79.12 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||

### By province

Results by province :
| Province | PvdA | KVP | VVD | ARP | D'66 | CHU | DS'70 | CPN | SGP | PPR | GPV | NMP | PSP | BP | Others |
| Drenthe | 35.6 | 5.9 | 13.5 | 14.3 | 4.3 | 8.8 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 1.7 |
| Friesland | 31.5 | 5.2 | 7.8 | 21.5 | 4.1 | 12.5 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.3 |
| Gelderland | 24.2 | 22.1 | 10.0 | 8.5 | 5.5 | 9.5 | 4.8 | 1.2 | 4.0 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 2.8 |
| Groningen | 31.8 | 4.1 | 10.8 | 15.4 | 4.1 | 6.7 | 4.1 | 11.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 5.2 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
| Limburg | 14.6 | 54.2 | 5.2 | 1.6 | 7.3 | 0.7 | 4.3 | 2.4 | 0.1 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 3.5 |
| North Brabant | 14.2 | 49.3 | 7.1 | 3.4 | 6.9 | 1.9 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.1 |
| North Holland | 25.2 | 16.0 | 12.2 | 6.4 | 8.5 | 3.6 | 7.7 | 9.0 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 2.9 |
| Overijssel | 23.8 | 23.0 | 8.0 | 9.7 | 4.8 | 10.7 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 1.2 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| South Holland | 29.8 | 12.4 | 12.2 | 9.7 | 8.2 | 6.8 | 5.6 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 2.3 |
| Southern IJsselmeer Polders | 19.2 | 13.8 | 12.6 | 18.6 | 7.3 | 10.5 | 5.9 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.9 |
| Utrecht | 21.4 | 17.3 | 13.3 | 10.0 | 6.4 | 8.4 | 7.6 | 1.8 | 3.7 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 2.2 |
| Zeeland | 25.0 | 13.4 | 9.9 | 11.3 | 4.3 | 11.5 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 9.3 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 1.5 |