Dutch general election, 2010

Dutch general election, 2010
Netherlands
9 June 2010 (2010-06-09)
Turnout 75.4%
Party Leader % Seats ±
VVD Mark Rutte 20.5% 31 +9
PvdA Job Cohen 19.6% 30 -3
PVV Geert Wilders 15.4% 24 +15
CDA Jan Peter Balkenende 13.6% 21 -20
SP Emile Roemer 9.8% 15 -10
D66 Alexander Pechtold 6.9% 10 +7
GL Femke Halsema 6.7% 10 +3
CU André Rouvoet 3.2% 5 -1
SGP Kees van der Staaij 1.7% 2 0
PvdD Marianne Thieme 1.3% 2 0
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Jan Peter Balkenende
CDA		 Mark Rutte
VVD
Strongest political party by municipality

The 2010 Dutch general election was held on Wednesday, 9 June 2010. It was triggered by the fall of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's fourth cabinet on 20 February with Queen Beatrix accepting the resignation of the Labour Party ministers on 23 February.[1] The conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), led by Mark Rutte, won the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives while the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA), led by Job Cohen, came a narrow second. It was also noted for the rise of the controversial politician Geert Wilders and the Party for Freedom (PVV), which came in third. On the other hand, the election was a poor result for Balkenende and his Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), which lost half its seats and dropped from first to fourth place. The Socialist Party (SP) also lost seats. Notably, the 31 seats won by the VVD is the fewest in years, and the one-seat margin between the VVD and PvdA is the closest on record.[2]

After the election, it took 127 days to form a new government, with both the VVD and PvdA hoping to have a leading role. Talks with the PvdA and other left-wing parties (trying to form a so-called Purple Coalition without Christian parties) broke down and Rutte was able to form a right-wing coalition of the VVD and CDA, with the PVV formally making an agreement (gedoogakkoord) to support the government but without holding any cabinet seats. It was the first coalition government not to be led by a Christian democratic or socialist party in 92 years, as well as the first to be led by the VVD. Rutte was sworn in as Prime Minister on 14 October, becoming the first liberal to hold that post since 1918.

The 150 seats of the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal) were contested, and were filled using party-list proportional representation for a nominal four-year term.

Background

The election follows the PvdA's withdrawal in February from the coalition over the contribution of Dutch soldiers to the War in Afghanistan.[3] According to the Dutch constitution new elections had to be held within 83 days.

Debates

The first radio debate was held on 21 May 2010. The first television debate, held on 23 May was, according to instant polls, won by Mark Rutte on 36%, with Job Cohen second on 24%, and Geert Wilders and Jan Peter Balkenende third, on 18%.

Polls

Party 2006 Politieke Barometer[4] Peil.nl[5] TNS-NIPO[6]
% Seats (150) 8-6-2010 Exit polls (21.00 hrs) 7-6-2010 Exit polls 31-5-2010 Exit polls
CDA 26.5 41 24 21 25 24 21 21
PvdA 21.2 33 30 31 30 30 31 29
SP 16.6 25 14 15 12 13 13 15
VVD 14.7 22 33 31 36 34 37 36
PVV 5.9 9 17 23 18 18 17 18
GL 4.6 7 11 11 10 11 8 10
CU 4.0 6 6 5 6 6 9 6
D66 2.0 3 10 10 10 11 10 11
PvdD 1.8 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
SGP 1.6 2 3 2 2 2 3 2
ToN/Trots* – – 0 0 0 0 0 1
Others 1.2 0 0 0 0 0 – –
* Trots op Nederland is the party formed by Rita Verdonk after she split from the VVD in 2007 and became an independent representative.

Polls indicated that the elections were too close to call.[7]

Results

Turnout was reported to be over 5% less than the previous elections[8] due to heavy rain and stormy weather.[9]

National summary
 Summary of the 9 June 2010 Dutch House of Representatives election results
Party Political Ideology Lijsttrekker Votes Seats +/- Vote % Seat %
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
(Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, VVD)		 Conservative liberalism Mark Rutte 1,929,575 31 +9 20.5 20.7
Labour Party
(Partij van de Arbeid, PvdA)		 Social democracy Job Cohen 1,848,805 30 -3 19.6 20.0
Party for Freedom
(Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV)		 Conservative liberalism/National conservatism/Right-wing populism Geert Wilders 1,454,493 24 +15 15.4 16.0
Christian Democratic Appeal
(Christen-Democratisch Appèl, CDA)		 Christian democracy Jan Peter Balkenende 1,281,886 21 -20 13.6 14.0
Socialist Party
(Socialistische Partij, SP)		 Democratic socialism Emile Roemer 924,696 15 -10 9.8 10.0
Democrats 66
(Democraten 66, D66)		 Social liberalism Alexander Pechtold 654,167 10 +7 6.9 6.7
GreenLeft
(GroenLinks, GL)		 Green Politics/Progressivism/Activism Femke Halsema 628,096 10 +3 6.7 6.7
Christian Union
(ChristenUnie, CU)		 Christian democracy/Social Christian André Rouvoet 305,094 5 -1 3.2 3.3
Reformed Political Party
(Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP)		 Christian right/Social conservatism Kees van der Staaij 163,581 2 +0 1.7 1.3
Party for the Animals
(Partij voor de Dieren, PvdD)		 Animal welfare/Animal rights Marianne Thieme 122,317 2 +0 1.3 1.3
Proud of the Netherlands
(Trots Op Nederland, Trots)		 Liberal conservatism/National conservatism/Cultural conservatism Rita Verdonk 52,937 0 +0 0.6 0.0
Party for Human and Spirit
(Partij voor Mens en Spirit, MenS)		 Spiritual politics Lea Manders 26,196 0 +0 0.3 0.0
Pirate Party
(Piratenpartij)		 IP reform, Civil rights, Govt. transparency Samir Allioui 10,471 0 +0 0.1 0.0
Empty list
(List 17 / Feijen List)
(Lijst 17 / Lijst Feijen)		 Youth rights Lot Feijen 7,456 0 +0 0.1 0.0
Partij één Yesim Candan 2,042 0 +0 <0.1 0.0
New Netherlands
(Nieuw Nederland)		 Jan-Frank Koers 2,010 0 +0 <0.1 0.0
Heel NL Daisha de Wijs 1,255 0 +0 <0.1 0.0
Empty list
(Evangelical Party Netherlands / Laclé List)
(Evangelische Partij Nederland / Lijst Laclé)[a]		 Evangelicalism Yvette Laclé 924 0 +0 <0.1 0.0
Total 9,416,001 150 0 100.0 100.0
Invalid / Blank 26,976 – – 0.3 –
Turnout 9,442,977 – – 75.4 –
Source: Verkiezingsuitslagen, Kerngegevens Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2010. Nederlandse Kiesraad. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2012.

^a Evangelical Party Netherlands did not register before the deadline and thus participates as an Empty list.[10]

Popular Vote
VVD
  
 20.49%
PvdA
  
 19.63%
PVV
  
 15.45%
CDA
  
 13.61%
SP
  
 9.82%
D66
  
 6.95%
GL
  
 6.67%
CU
  
 3.24%
SGP
  
 1.74%
PvdD
  
 1.30%
Other
  
 1.10%

Reaction

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende stepped down from his position in the CDA and resigned his parliamentary seat on the evening of the election, saying he was taking "political responsibility" for the unsatisfactory election results of his party and that "The voter has spoken, the outcome is clear."[11]

Government formation

Expectations were that the formation of a new government would take some time.[12] The international media also read this as a slim victory for the "austerity-minded" Liberals amidst the 2010 European sovereign debt crisis.[13]

On 14 October, Mark Rutte was sworn in as prime minister.[14] Rutte's government resigned on 24 April 2012 over austerity measures.

Analysis

Some international media speculated that "for the first time in this nation's history, a Jewish man, albeit a secular one, is on the verge of becoming the next prime minister ... Job Cohen, who was until recently the Mayor of Amsterdam, and represents the top of the ticket for the PvdA ... is at the end of a long battle to run the country that began in February when the PvdA backed out of the ruling coalition government because it did not want to send Dutch troops back to Afghanistan."[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ontslag en benoeming bewindspersonen" (in Dutch). Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst. 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  2. ↑ "Election 2010 – The Netherlands shifts to the right". nrc.nl. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  3. 1 2 "The Netherlands decides its fate - Focus". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  4. ↑ "Politieke Barometer Week 23 – 08 juni 2010". Politiekebarometer.nl. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  5. ↑ "VVD nog 4 zetels voor op PvdA, incl. prognose voor TK2010 (laatste peiling)". Peil.nl. No Ties bv. 2010-06-08. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  6. ↑ "Slotpeiling: VVD behoudt voorsprong op PvdA". TNS NIPO. 2010-05-12. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  7. ↑ "Radio Netherlands Worldwide (2010-06-09): Dutch election too close to call". Rnw.nl. 2010-06-04. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  8. ↑ "Tweede Kamer Verkiezingen 2010". Telegraaf.
  9. ↑ Verkiezingen nog nooit zo spannend, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 9 June 2010
  10. ↑ "Evangelische Partij Nederland". parlement.com. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  11. ↑ "Dutch PM quits CDA party leadership - Europe". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  12. ↑ "Dutch Face Months of Coalition Talks; Wilders Third (Update2)". Bloomberg.com. 2005-05-30. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  13. ↑ "Dutch election gives austerity-minded Liberals slim win". Dw-world.de. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  14. ↑ http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/dutch-government-whos-who

External links

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