1998 Dutch general election

1998 Dutch general election

← 1994 6 May 1998 2002 →
All 150 seats in the House of Representatives 76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	73.4% ( 5.4 pp)
Party Leader % Seats +/– PvdA Wim Kok 29.0% 45 +8 VVD Frits Bolkestein 24.7% 38 +7 CDA Jaap de Hoop Scheffer 18.3% 29 -5 D66 Els Borst 9.0% 14 -10 GL Paul Rosenmöller 7.3% 11 +6 SP Jan Marijnissen 3.5% 5 +3 RPF Leen van Dijke 2.0% 3 0 SGP Bas van der Vlies 1.7% 3 +1 GPV Gert Schutte 1.2% 2 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Strongest political party by municipality Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Wim Kok PvdA Wim Kok PvdA

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 6 May 1998.^[1] As of 2022, they mark the last time a government headed by the Labour Party (PvdA) has been elected, or that that party won the popular vote and the most seats in the House of Representatives.

Introduction[]

During the 1998 election the purple coalition of social-democrats and liberals (left and right) fortified its majority. Both the social-democratic PvdA and the conservative liberal VVD won considerably, much at the cost of their junior partner in cabinet, the progressive liberal D66.

Political observers attributed the win to the economic performance of the coalition, including 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 SP, were rewarded for their 'quality opposition'. The major opposition party, CDA, uncomfortable in its opposition role, also lost seats. The two parties for the elderly AOV and Unie 55+ and the rightwing populist CD did not return to parliament.

The formation resulted in the continuation of the Kok cabinet, with the second Kok cabinet (PvdA, VVD & D66).

Results[]

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: Nohlen & Stöver, European Elections Database

By province[]

Results by province^[3]

Province	PvdA	VVD	CDA	D66	GL	SP	RPF	SGP	GPV	Others
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

References[]

Further reading[]

• Aarts, Kees; Semetko, Holli A. (1999). "Representation and responsibility: the 1998 Dutch election in perspective". Acta Politica. Palgrave Macmillan. 34 (2): 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. Palgrave Macmillan. 34 (2): 130–157.