1998 Dutch general election

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| <- 1994 | 6 May 1998 | 2002 ->

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All 150 seats in the House of Representatives
76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout| 73.35% ( 5.40pp)
| Party  | Leader  | Vote %  | Seats  | +/–

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| PvdA | Wim Kok | 28.98  | 45  | +8
| VVD | Frits Bolkestein | 24.69  | 38  | +7
| CDA | Jaap de Hoop Scheffer | 18.37  | 29  | −5
| D66 | Els Borst | 8.99  | 14  | −10
| GL | Paul Rosenmöller | 7.27  | 11  | +6
| SP | Jan Marijnissen | 3.53  | 5  | +3
| RPF | Leen van Dijke | 2.03  | 3  | 0
| SGP | Bas van der Vlies | 1.78  | 3  | +1
| GPV | Gert Schutte | 1.26  | 2  | 0

This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Most voted-for party by municipality

Cabinet before | Cabinet after

|

First Kok cabinet
PvdA–VVD–D66 | Second Kok cabinet
PvdA–VVD–D66

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 6 May 1998.[1] 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.[2]

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

[edit]

Party| Votes| %| Seats| +/–
| 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| 8,607,787| 100.00| 150| 0
Valid votes| 8,607,787| 99.83|
Invalid/blank votes| 14,435| 0.17|
Total votes| 8,622,222| 100.00|
Registered voters/turnout| 11,755,132| 73.35|
Source: Kiesraad[3]

### By province

[edit]

Results by province[3] Province | PvdA | VVD | CDA | D66 | GL | SP | RPF | SGP | GPV | Others

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|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
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

### 5 largest municipalities

[edit]

Results in the five largest municipalities[3] Municipality  | PvdA | VVD | CDA | D66 | GL | SP | RPF | SGP | GPV | Others

|
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|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Amsterdam | 32.3
(107 065) | 22.2
(73 757) | 6.1
(20 214) | 14.3
(47 612) | 15.0
(49 731) | 4.5
(14 890) | 0.5
(1 671) | 0.1
(319) | 0.3
(943) | 4.8
(15 752)
Rotterdam | 36.4
(96 189) | 22.8
(60 256) | 9.3
(24 525) | 9.1
(24 147) | 8.8
(23 298) | 6.0
(15 810) | 1.2
(3 219) | 1.0
(2 742) | 0.9
(2 395) | 4.5
(11 958)
The Hague | 27.8
(60 511) | 30.7
(66 875) | 11.6
(25 309) | 11.1
(24 079) | 8.9
(19 442) | 3.7
(8 035) | 1.1
(2 466) | 0.6
(1 365) | 0.7
(1 489) | 3.7
(8 119)
Utrecht | 29.2
(36 230) | 20.1
(24 993) | 9.6
(11 930) | 15.2
(18 858) | 15.7
(19 524) | 4.7
(5 836) | 1.0
(1 276) | 0.3
(388) | 0.7
(845) | 3.3
(4 129)
Eindhoven | 29.3
(30 197) | 23.2
(23 943) | 16.2
(16 698) | 10.6
(10 874) | 9.1
(9 328) | 6.0
(6 153) | 0.7
(681) | 0.1
(114) | 0.5
(501) | 4.4
(4 550)

### Maps

[edit]

* Results by province, shaded according to the vote share won by largest party

* Voter turnout by municipality

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1396 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. ^ Netherlands: Elections held in 1998 Inter-Parliamentary Union
3. ^ a b c "Tweede Kamer 6 mei 1998". Kiesraad (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 November 2021.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Aarts, Kees; Semetko, Holli A. (1999). "Representation and responsibility: the 1998 Dutch election in perspective". Acta Politica. 34 (2). Palgrave Macmillan: 111–129.
* Irwin, Galen A. (1999). "The Dutch parliamentary election of 1998". Electoral Studies. 18 (2): 271–276\. doi:10.1016/S0261-3794(98)00048-1.
* Irwin, Galen A.; van Holsteyn, Joop J.M. (1999). "Parties and politicians in the parliamentary election of 1998". Acta Politica. 34 (2). Palgrave Macmillan: 130–157.

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