# 1998 Dutch general election

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 6 May 1998. The elections saw the purple coalition of social democrats and liberals (left and right) strengthen its majority. Both the social democratic Labour Party (PvdA) and the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) won considerably, much at the cost of their junior coalition partner, the social liberal Democrats 66 (D66).
Political observers attributed the win to the economic performance of the coalition, including the reduction of unemployment and the budget deficit, steady growth and job creation, combined with wage freezes and trimming of the welfare state, together with a policy of fiscal restraint.
The two small left opposition parties, the green GroenLinks, and the Socialist Party, were rewarded for their 'quality opposition'. The major opposition party, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), after being in opposition for the first time in its history, also lost seats, and also failed to secure the most votes in the country's southernmost provinces North Brabant and Limburg for the first time ever. The two parties for the elderly AOV and Union 55+ and the right-wing populist CD did not return to parliament.
The formation resulted in the continuation of the Kok cabinet with the second Kok cabinet, consisting of the PvdA, VVD and D66, even though the latter was not necessary for a majority of 76 seats.

## Results

| | Labour Party | 2,494,555 | 28.98 | 45 | +8 |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 2,124,971 | 24.69 | 38 | +7 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 1,581,053 | 18.37 | 29 | –5 |
| | Democrats 66 | 773,497 | 8.99 | 14 | –10 |
| | GroenLinks | 625,968 | 7.27 | 11 | +6 |
| | Socialist Party | 303,703 | 3.53 | 5 | +3 |
| | Reformatory Political Federation | 174,593 | 2.03 | 3 | 0 |
| | Reformed Political Party | 153,583 | 1.78 | 3 | +1 |
| | Reformed Political League | 108,724 | 1.26 | 2 | 0 |
| | Centre Democrats | 52,226 | 0.61 | 0 | –3 |
| | General Elderly Alliance–Union 55+ | 45,994 | 0.53 | 0 | –7 |
| | Mobile Netherlands | 45,219 | 0.53 | 0 | New |
| | Seniors 2000 | 36,157 | 0.42 | 0 | New |
| | New Middle Party | 23,512 | 0.27 | 0 | New |
| | The Greens | 16,585 | 0.19 | 0 | 0 |
| | Natural Law Party | 15,746 | 0.18 | 0 | 0 |
| | Catholic Political Party | 8,233 | 0.10 | 0 | New |
| | Free Indian Party | 7,225 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 |
| | New Solidarity Elderly Union | 6,455 | 0.07 | 0 | New |
| | New Communist Party of the Netherlands | 5,620 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 |
| | Idealists/Jij | 2,500 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | The Voters Collective | 1,668 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 8,607,787 | 100.00 | 150 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 8,607,787 | 99.83 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 14,435 | 0.17 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 8,622,222 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 11,755,132 | 73.35 | | |
| Source: Kiesraad ||||||

### By province

Results by province :
| Province | PvdA | VVD | CDA | D66 | GL | SP | RPF | SGP | GPV | Others |
| Drenthe | 37.3 | 21.6 | 17.9 | 8.1 | 5.6 | 2.9 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 2.1 |
| Flevoland | 25.8 | 29.1 | 14.8 | 9.0 | 6.6 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 4.2 |
| Friesland | 33.6 | 16.4 | 26.4 | 7.0 | 6.8 | 3.2 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| Gelderland | 29.0 | 23.0 | 20.4 | 8.1 | 6.7 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 2.4 |
| Groningen | 37.1 | 16.4 | 16.0 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 4.3 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 4.5 | 2.9 |
| Limburg | 29.9 | 21.3 | 24.3 | 7.4 | 7.5 | 5.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 4.2 |
| North Brabant | 28.9 | 24.5 | 21.5 | 8.4 | 6.7 | 5.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 3.4 |
| North Holland | 28.4 | 29.2 | 12.5 | 11.5 | 9.7 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 3.8 |
| Overijssel | 29.0 | 18.7 | 26.7 | 6.6 | 5.6 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
| South Holland | 27.7 | 28.0 | 14.6 | 9.4 | 6.7 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 3.4 |
| Utrecht | 23.6 | 27.7 | 16.0 | 11.4 | 8.6 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 2.7 |
| Zeeland | 27.8 | 23.3 | 17.2 | 6.9 | 5.5 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 8.3 | 1.8 | 2.8 |