# 2015 Dutch provincial elections

Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 18 March 2015. Eligible voters elected the members of the States-Provincial in the twelve provinces. These elections also indirectly determined the members of the Senate, since the 566 members of the twelve States-Provincial will elect the Senate's 75 members in the Senate election on 26 May 2015. These provincial election were held on the same day as the 2015 Dutch water boards elections.

## Participating parties

Eight political parties participated in the elections in all of the country's twelve provinces:
* Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA)
* Democrats 66 (D66)
* GreenLeft (GL)
* Labour Party (PvdA)
* Party for Freedom (PVV)
* 50PLUS
* Socialist Party (SP)
* People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)

## Opinion polls

In the table below the % of voters based on various polls.
| Date | Polling Firm | VVD | PvdA | CDA | PVV | SP | D66 | GL | CU | 50PLUS | SGP | PvdD | Others | Lead |
| 7 Feb 2015 | I&O Research | 17 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 1 Feb 2015 | Peil | 14 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 Mar 2011 | Last elections | 20 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |

## Seats summary

Legislatures and governments of the Provinces of the Netherlands, 2015–2019 :
| States-Provincial | States-Provincial | States-Provincial | States-Provincial | States-Provincial | States-Provincial | States-Provincial | States-Provincial | States-Provincial | States-Provincial | States-Provincial | States-Provincial | States-Provincial | States-Provincial | Provincial Executive |
| Province | VVD | CDA | D66 | PVV | SP | PvdA | GL | CU | SGP | PvdD | 50+ | Provincial parties | Total | Provincial Executive |
| Groningen | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 4 | | 2 | 0 | 4 GB 3 PvhN 1 | 43 | SP, D66, CDA, GL, CU |
| Friesland | 5 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 3 | | 1 | 1 | 5 FNP 5 | 43 | CDA, VVD, FNP, SP |
| Drenthe | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | | 1 | 1 SL 1 | 41 | VVD, PvdA, CDA, CU |
| Overijssel | 6 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 47 | CDA, VVD, D66, CU |
| Flevoland | 7 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 41 | VVD, CDA, D66, SP |
| Gelderland | 9 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 55 | VVD, CDA, D66, PvdA |
| Utrecht | 9 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 49 | VVD, CDA, D66, GL |
| North Holland | 11 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 ONH 1 | 55 | VVD, D66, PvdA, CDA |
| South Holland | 10 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 55 | VVD, CDA, SP, D66 |
| Zeeland | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | | 1 | 2 ZL 1 PvZ 1 | 39 | VVD, PvdA, CDA, SGP |
| North Brabant | 10 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 LB 1 | 55 | VVD, SP, D66, PvdA |
| Limburg | 5 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 2 | | | 1 | 1 | 2 VL 1 LL 1 | 47 | VVD, CDA, SP, D66, PvdA |
| Total | 89 | 89 | 67 | 66 | 70 | 63 | 30 | 29 | 18 | 18 | 14 | 15 | 570 | |

## Results
### National

The table below shows the total number of seats in all provinces. On March 23, the official results of the 2015 election were published. The two parties which lost most seats were PvdA and VVD, the parties in the national government at the time of the election.
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats |
| | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 965,353 | 15.92 | 89 |
| | Christian Democratic Appeal | 891,845 | 14.71 | 89 |
| | Democrats 66 | 755,719 | 12.46 | 67 |
| | Party for Freedom | 711,176 | 11.73 | 66 |
| | Socialist Party | 706,440 | 11.65 | 70 |
| | Labour Party | 611,262 | 10.08 | 63 |
| | GroenLinks | 324,572 | 5.35 | 30 |
| | Christian Union | 243,209 | 4.01 | 29 |
| | Party for the Animals | 210,113 | 3.46 | 18 |
| | 50PLUS | 204,858 | 3.38 | 14 |
| | Reformed Political Party | 170,624 | 2.81 | 18 |
| | Christian Union – Reformed Political Party | 42,703 | 0.70 | 2 |
| | Frisian National Party | 25,027 | 0.41 | 4 |
| | Ouderenpartij Noord-Holland | 19,763 | 0.33 | 1 |
| | Groninger Belang | 15,869 | 0.26 | 3 |
| | Lokaal Brabant | 15,226 | 0.25 | 1 |
| | Hart voor Holland | 13,452 | 0.22 | 0 |
| | Pirate Party | 9,885 | 0.16 | 0 |
| | Volkspartij Limburg | 9,296 | 0.15 | 1 |
| | Lokaal-Limburg | 8,741 | 0.14 | 1 |
| | Lokaal Overijssel | 7,817 | 0.13 | 0 |
| | Sterk Lokaal | 7,057 | 0.12 | 1 |
| | Nederland Lokaal | 7,026 | 0.12 | 0 |
| | Lokaal Belang Gelderland–1 Achterhoek | 6,967 | 0.11 | 0 |
| | Lokale Partijen Gelderland | 6,474 | 0.11 | 0 |
| | Verenigde Lokale Partijen Zuid-Holland | 6,097 | 0.10 | 0 |
| | Zeeland Lokaal | 5,815 | 0.10 | 1 |
| | Party for Zeeland | 5,787 | 0.10 | 1 |
| | Vrouwen Partij | 5,595 | 0.09 | 0 |
| | Party for the North | 5,173 | 0.09 | 1 |
| | Libertarian Party | 4,661 | 0.08 | 0 |
| | Multicultureel Plus Partij | 4,222 | 0.07 | 0 |
| | Provincie@Inwonersbelangen | 3,881 | 0.06 | 0 |
| | Senioren Belang Noord | 3,510 | 0.06 | 0 |
| | Jesus Lives | 3,444 | 0.06 | 0 |
| | Partij voor Mens en Spirit | 3,309 | 0.05 | 0 |
| | Seniorenpartij Groningen | 2,462 | 0.04 | 0 |
| | Provinciaal Belang Zeeland | 2,388 | 0.04 | 0 |
| | PSP'92 Gelderland | 2,348 | 0.04 | 0 |
| | Groningen Centraal! | 2,182 | 0.04 | 0 |
| | Vrijzinnige Partij | 2,098 | 0.03 | 0 |
| | Grunnegers veur Stad en Ommelaand | 1,498 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Vrede en Recht | 1,337 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | United Communist Party | 1,238 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Partij voor Leefbaarheid en Democratie | 1,218 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Libertarische Partij | 1,008 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Friese Koers | 1,001 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | OPA | 982 | 0.02 | 0 |
| | Platform Vrije Politiek | 836 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | StemNL | 648 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Gelderse Centrumdemocraten | 456 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Red het Noorden | 405 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Verenigd Links-Feriene Lofts | 347 | 0.01 | 0 |
| | Vrij Mandaat | 334 | 0.01 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 6,064,754 | 100.00 | 570 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 6,064,754 | 99.38 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 37,681 | 0.62 | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 6,102,435 | 100.00 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 12,777,145 | 47.76 | |
| Source: Kiesraad |||||

### By province

| Province | SP | PvdA | PvdD | GL | D66 | 50+ | VVD | CDA | CU | SGP | PVV | Provincial parties |
| Groningen | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 4 | | 3 | 4 GB 3 PvhN 1 |
| Friesland | 5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 3 | | 4 | 5 FNP 5 |
| Drenthe | 5 | 7 | | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 SL 1 |
| Overijssel | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Flevoland | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Gelderland | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Utrecht | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| North Holland | 6 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 ONH 1 |
| South Holland | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| Zeeland | 4 | 4 | | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 ZL 1 PvZ 1 |
| North Brabant | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 LB 1 |
| Limburg | 8 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 11 | | | 9 | 2 VL 1 LL 1 |

## Island council elections

| Political party | 2011 | 2015 | change |
| Bonaire island council ||||
| Union Patriotiko Boneriano (UPB) | 4 | 3 | −1 |
| Partido Demokratiko Boneriano (PDB) | 3 | 3 | – |
| Partido Pro Hustisia & Union (PHU) | 1 | 0 | −1 |
| Movementu Boneiru Liber (MBL) | 1 | 0 | −1 |
| Movementu di Pueblo Boneriano (MPB) | – | 3 | +3 |
| total | 9 | 9 | |
| turnout | 75% | 78% | +3% |
| Saba island council ||||
| Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM) | 4 | 3 | −1 |
| Saba Labour Party (SLP) | 1 | 2 | +1 |
| total | 5 | 5 | |
| turnout | 88% | 91,3% | +3,1% |
| Sint Eustatius island council ||||
| Democratische Partij (DP) | 2 | 2 | – |
| Progressive Labour Party (PLP) | 1 | 2 | +1 |
| United People’s Coalition (UPC) | 1 | 1 | – |
| St. Eustatius Empowerment Party (STEP) | 1 | 0 | −1 |
| Blanco Lijst (Lijst-Schmidt) | – | 0 | – |
| Statia Liberal Action Movement (SLAM) | – | 0 | – |
| total | 5 | 5 | |
| turnout | 68% | 65,5% | −2,5% |