2003 Dutch general election

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2003 Dutch general election
Netherlands
← 2002 22 January 2003 2006 →

All 150 seats in the House of Representatives
76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout80.0% (Increase 0.6 pp)
Party Leader % Seats +/–
CDA Jan Peter Balkenende 28.6% 44 +1
PvdA Wouter Bos 27.2% 42 +19
VVD Gerrit Zalm 17.9% 28 +4
SP Jan Marijnissen 6.3% 9 0
LPF Mat Herben 5.6% 8 −18
GL Femke Halsema 5.1% 8 −2
D66 Thom de Graaf 4.0% 6 −1
CU André Rouvoet 2.1% 3 −1
SGP Bas van der Vlies 1.5% 2 0
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Most voted-for party by municipality
Cabinet before Cabinet after
First Balkenende cabinet
CDALPFVVD
Second Balkenende cabinet
CDAVVDD66

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 January 2003.[1]

Background[edit]

The election was held following the resignation of the first Balkenende cabinet on 16 October 2002 after conflicts attributed to the LPF, the new party of the already deceased Pim Fortuyn.

In the early days of the campaign the CDA of incumbent prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and the VVD, the smallest coalition party, saw a major lead.

After TV debates the PvdA (which had experienced a landslide defeat in the 2002 general election) of opposition leader Wouter Bos caught up, overtaking the VVD and regaining some of the territory lost in the previous election. The PvdA also held a leadership election which got the party considerable attention.

Results[edit]

The LPF lost as spectacularly as it won in 2002, with its seat count dropping from 26 to 8. Commentators attributed the result to voters feeling that the LPF had become rudderless without its original leader and that the government had already implemented some of its policies, but argued disaffected LPF supporters would still back an "anti-establishment" party if a viable option was available.

The exciting race of which party would become the largest was eventually won by the CDA, which went from 43 to 44 seats, ensuring a continuation of Balkenende's career as prime minister.

Most of the smaller parties on both the left and right side did not experience significant changes. Several other parties (among them Leefbaar Nederland, a 2002 newcomer) didn't manage to get over the threshold and thus gained no seats. They are not listed here.

After severe disagreements had frustrated the formation of a CDA-PvdA cabinet, a CDA-VVD-D66 cabinet was formed on 27 May 2003, with Balkenende as prime minister.

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian Democratic Appeal2,763,48028.6244+1
Labour Party2,631,36327.2642+19
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy1,728,70717.9128+4
Socialist Party609,7236.3290
Pim Fortuyn List549,9755.708–18
GroenLinks495,8025.148–2
Democrats 66393,3334.076–1
Christian Union204,6942.123–1
Reformed Political Party150,3051.5620
Party for the Animals47,7540.490New
Livable Netherlands38,8940.400–2
Party of the Future13,8450.1400
Ratelband List9,0450.090New
Durable Netherlands7,2710.0800
New Communist Party of the Netherlands4,8540.050New
DeConservatieven.nl2,5210.030New
Progressive Integration Party1,6230.020New
Alliance for Renewal and Democracy9900.010New
Veldhoen List2960.000New
Total9,654,475100.001500
Valid votes9,654,47599.87
Invalid/blank votes12,1270.13
Total votes9,666,602100.00
Registered voters/turnout12,076,71180.04
Source: Kiesraad

By province[edit]

Results by province[2]
Province CDA PvdA VVD SP LPF GL D66 CU SGP Others
 Drenthe 24.8 37.8 16.8 5.1 3.8 4.1 3.4 2.9 0.3 1.0
 Flevoland 24.7 25.5 21.3 5.4 7.0 4.8 4.1 3.6 2.1 1.5
 Friesland 32.0 33.5 12.6 6.0 3.7 4.5 2.8 3.2 0.5 1.2
 Gelderland 31.6 26.6 16.5 5.8 4.2 5.1 3.6 2.5 2.9 1.2
 Groningen 20.6 39.6 13.0 7.3 3.4 6.0 3.9 4.7 0.3 1.2
 Limburg 37.5 26.6 14.1 7.2 5.3 4.5 2.9 0.3 0.0 1.6
 North Brabant 33.9 23.6 18.2 8.4 5.6 4.2 3.6 0.6 0.4 1.5
 North Holland 21.1 29.0 21.5 7.0 6.0 6.9 5.7 1.0 0.2 1.6
 Overijssel 36.6 27.3 13.5 4.9 3.4 4.2 3.0 4.4 2.1 1.6
 South Holland 24.9 25.9 19.8 5.3 8.7 4.7 4.3 2.2 2.5 1.7
 Utrecht 27.3 23.5 20.4 5.9 4.8 6.7 5.2 3.1 2.0 1.1
 Zeeland 32.0 23.8 15.7 5.0 5.3 3.8 2.7 2.9 7.7 1.1

Further reading[edit]

  • Van Holsteyn, Joop J. M.; Galen A. Irwin (January 2004). "The Dutch parliamentary elections of 2003". West European Politics. 27 (1): 157–164. doi:10.1080/01402380412331280853.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1396 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ "Tweede Kamer 22 januari 2003". Kiesraad (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 November 2021.