Official election results for The Hague

Geert Wilders’ Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV) was the big winner of the municipal elections in The Hague. Newcomer PVV will join The Hague Municipal Council for the first time ever with 8 seats and has instantly become the second largest party in The Hague. The PvdA (Dutch Labour Party) will go from 15 to 10 seats but remains the largest party in the Municipal Council.

Mayor Jozias van Aartsen as chairman of the central polling station determined the official results of The Hague's municipal elections on Friday, 5 March 2010 at 10.00 hrs.

Winners

Other winners include the D66, Haagse Stadspartij, Partij van de Dieren and lijst A. Khoulani (Partij van de Eenheid). D66 won 6 seats, three times as many as in the previous government. The local Haagse Stadspartij doubled the number of seats from 1 to 2. The Partij van de Dieren (Party for the Animals) and the lijst A. Khoulani (Partij van de Eenheid) are newcomers to the Municipal Council. They each won 1 seat.

Losers

In addition to the PvdA, other losers include the VVD, CDA, SP, ChristenUnie and Christelijk Sociaal Den Haag-SGP. The VVD lost 3 seats and went from 10 to 7 seats. The CDA lost 2 seats and went from 5 to 3. The SP lost half its seats and went from 4 to 2 seats. The ChristenUnie and Christelijk Sociaal Den Haag – SGP will no longer be represented in the Municipal Council.

No change

There was no change for GroenLinks, Politieke Partij Scheveningen and the Islam Democraten. Groenlinks kepts its 3 seats while the other parties still have 1 seat.

Voter turnout

This time 20 parties (29 in 2006) were vying for 45 seats in The Hague Municipal Council. Voter turnout was 52.9%, five percentage points higher than in 2006 (47.7%).

This year voters could already cast their votes starting at midnight following the pre-election party (VekiezingsNâch’) on the Grote Markt. More than 250 voters made use of this unique opportunity, a first in European history.

New coalition

The old Municipal Council will convene for the last time on Wednesday, 10 March at 16.00 hrs. to bid farewell for outgoing members. The new members will be sworn in and inaugurated on Thursday, 11 March at 19.30 hrs. Over the coming week the various winning parties will hold talks on forming a new coalition government. The current aldermen will remain in their functions until the new aldermen are named.

New aldermen can be members of the Municipal Council or may be appointed from outside the council. A council member who becomes an alderman is no longer a council member. His place will be taken by another member of his party.

Official results 5 March 2010

You can download a PDF with information about the number of votes per party and per candidate and the breakdown of seats in the Municipal Council. Information about the results per polling station and at neighbourhoud level will be available on Monday, 9 March.