2019 Dutch provincial elections

Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands on 20 March 2019.^[1] Eligible voters elected the members of the Provincial States in the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. The elections were held on the same day as the 2019 Dutch water boards elections and, in the Caribbean Netherlands, island council elections.^[2][3]

Map showing the largest party by province

These elections also indirectly determine the composition of the Senate, since the members of the twelve provincial states, alongside electoral colleges elected in the Caribbean Netherlands on the same day, will elect the Senate's 75 members in the Senate election on 27 May, two months after the provincial elections.^[4] Because of this, the provincial elections were a test for the third Rutte cabinet, which previously had a majority of one seat in the Senate, but has since lost that majority.^[5]

Seats summary

Legislatures and governments of the Provinces of the Netherlands, 2019–2023^[6]

States-Provincial																Provincial Executive
Province	VVD	CDA	D66	PVV	SP	PvdA	GL	CU	SGP	PvdD	50+	DENK	FVD	Provincial parties	Total
Groningen	4	3	3	2	4	5	6	4		1	1		5	5 GB 3 PvhN 2	43	GL, PvdA, CU, VVD, CDA, D66[7]
Friesland	4	8	2	3	2	6	3	3		1	1		6	4 FNP 4	43	CDA, PvdA, VVD, FNP
Drenthe	6	5	2	3	3	6	4	3		1	1		6	1 SL 1	41	PvdA, VVD, CDA, GL, CU
Overijssel	6	9	3	3	3	4	5	4	2	1	1		6		47	CDA, VVD, PvdA, CU, SGP
Flevoland	6	3	2	4	2	3	4	3	1	2	2	1	8[a]		41	VVD, GL, CDA, PvdA, CU, D66
Gelderland	8	7	4	3	3	5	6	4	3	2	2		8		55	VVD, CDA, GL, PvdA, CU
Utrecht	8	5	5	2	2	4	8	4	1	2	1	1	6		49	GL, CDA, D66, PvdA, CU
North Holland	9	4	6	3	3	6	9	1		3	1[b]	1	9[a]		55	GL, VVD, PvdA, D66
South Holland	10	4	5	4	2	4	5	3	2	2	2	1	11[a]		55	VVD, CU-SGP, GL, PvdA, CDA
Zeeland	4	7	1	2	2	4	2	2	5	1	2		5	2 PvZ 2	39	CDA, SGP, VVD, PvdA
North Brabant	10	8	5	4	5	3	5	1		2	2		9	1 LB 1	55	VVD, FvD, CDA, LB[8]
Limburg	5	9	3	7	4	3	4			2	1		7	2 L-L 2	47	CDA, FvD, PVV, VVD, GL, LL[c][9]
Total	80	72	41	40	35	53	61	31	14	20	17	4	86	15	570
								1
Executives (out of 12)	10[c]	10[c]	4	0[c]	0	10	7[c]	7	3	0	0	0	1[c]	2[c]

Detailed results

National

2019 Dutch provincial elections changes with respect to 2015

Party or alliance				Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Forum for Democracy			1,057,030	14.53	New	86	New
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy			1,017,937	13.99	-1.93	80	–9
	Christian Democratic Appeal			805,862	11.07	-3.64	72	–17
	GroenLinks			783,006	10.76	+5.41	61	+31
	Labour Party			619,906	8.52	-1.56	53	–10
	Democrats 66			567,363	7.80	-4.66	41	–26
	Party for Freedom			504,948	6.94	-4.79	40	–26
	Socialist Party			430,096	5.91	-5.74	35	–35
	CU–SGP		Christian Union	353,443	4.86	+0.85	31	+2
			Reformed Political Party	179,899	2.47	-0.34	14	–4
			CU–SGP joint list in North Brabant	19,466	0.27	-0.43	1	–1
		Total		552,808	7.60	+0.01	46	–3
	Party for the Animals			317,104	4.36	+0.90	20	+2
	50PLUS			265,215	3.64	+0.26	17	+3
	Independent Senate Group		Local Brabant	25,485	0.35	+0.10	1	0
			Frisian National Party	23,662	0.33	-0.08	4	0
			Groningers' Interests	18,556	0.25	-0.01	3	0
			Local Limburg	18,474	0.25	+0.11	2	+1
			Elderly Party North Holland	18,307	0.25	-0.08	0	–1
			Local Parties South Holland	11,648	0.16	New	0	New
			Local Parties Gelderland – Code Orange	11,053	0.15	New	0	New
			Party for Zeeland	10,619	0.15	+0.05	2	+1
			Strong Local	9,344	0.13	+0.01	1	0
			U26 Municipalities	6,530	0.09	New	0	New
			Frisian Provincial Interests	5,345	0.07	New	0	New
		Total		159,023	2.19	–	13	+1
	Denk			121,753	1.67	New	4	New
	Code Orange			24,047	0.33	New	0	New
	NIDA			11,347	0.16	New	0	New
	Party for the North			10,527	0.14	+0.05	2	+1
	Seniors Brabant			9,687	0.13	New	0	New
	Elderly Appeal - Heart for Brabant			6,719	0.09	New	0	New
	Independent Party Drenthe			3,777	0.05	New	0	New
	Natural Frisian			2,917	0.04	New	0	New
	Jesus Lives			2,323	0.03	-0.03	0	0
	Senior Interests			1,414	0.02	-0.04	0	0
	Politically Active Elders			1,283	0.02	±0.00	0	0
	Respect!			976	0.01	New	0	New
Total				7,277,068	100.00	–	570	–
Valid votes				7,277,068	99.42
Invalid votes				21,205	0.29
Blank votes				21,377	0.29
Total votes				7,319,650	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				13,032,532	56.16	+8.40
Source: Kiesraad[10]

By province

Drenthe

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Labour Party	32,105	14.06	–1.09	6	–1
	Forum for Democracy	30,713	13.45	New	6	New
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	29,785	13.05	–2.17	6	–1
	Christian Democratic Appeal	24,082	10.55	–3.88	5	–1
	GroenLinks	18,954	8.30	+3.13	4	+2
	Party for Freedom	16,097	7.05	–3.83	3	–2
	Christian Union	15,526	6.80	+0.37	3	0
	Socialist Party	14,760	6.47	–6.10	3	–2
	Democrats 66	12,995	5.69	–4.16	2	–2
	Locally Strong	9,344	4.09	+0.45	1	0
	50PLUS	8,444	3.70	–0.33	1	0
	Party for the Animals	7,823	3.43	New	1	New
	Independent Party Drenthe	3,777	1.65	New	0	New
	Reformed Political Party	1,877	0.82	–0.02	0	0
	Senior Interests	1,414	0.62	New	0	New
	DENK	579	0.25	New	0	New
Total		228,275	100.00	–	41	–
Valid votes		228,275	99.55
Invalid/blank votes		1,026	0.45
Total votes		229,301	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		389,925	58.81
Source: Kiesraad[11][12][13]

Flevoland

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Forum for Democracy	28,376	17.79	New	8	New
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	21,012	13.17	–3.49	6	–1
	Party for Freedom	14,781	9.27	–5.14	4	–2
	GroenLinks	13,608	8.53	+4.13	–	–
	Christian Democratic Appeal	13,256	8.31	–4.49	3	–2
	Labour Party	13,090	8.21	+0.47	3	0
	Christian Union	11,219	7.03	+0.24	3	0
	Socialist Party	9,291	5.83	–5.08	2	–3
	50PLUS	7,859	4.93	–0.23	2	0
	Democrats 66	7,799	4.89	–5.66	2	–2
	Party for the Animals	6,986	4.38	+0.25	2	0
	Reformed Political Party	6,128	3.84	–0.12	1	–1
	DENK	3,326	2.09	New	1	New
	Politically Active Elders	1,283	0.80	+0.05	0	0
	Respect!	976	0.61	New	0	New
	Jesus Lives	495	0.31	0.00	0	0
Total		159,485	100.00	–	37	–
Valid votes		159,485	99.35
Invalid/blank votes		1,038	0.65
Total votes		160,523	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		299,536	53.59
Source: Kiesraad[14][12][13]

Friesland

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Christian Democratic Appeal	49,704	16.67	–4.12	8	–1
	Forum for Democracy	40,055	13.43	New	6	New
	Labour Party	39,976	13.40	–2.09	6	–1
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	28,073	9.41	–1.58	4	–1
	Frisian National Party	23,662	7.93	–1.53	4	0
	GroenLinks	22,935	7.69	+4.14	3	+2
	Christian Union	19,673	6.60	–0.83	3	0
	Party for Freedom	17,287	5.80	–2.93	3	–1
	Socialist Party	15,426	5.17	–5.76	2	–3
	Democrats 66	12,284	4.12	–2.85	2	–1
	Party for the Animals	9,618	3.22	+0.65	1	0
	50PLUS	7,595	2.55	+0.14	1	0
	Frisian Provincial Interests	5,345	1.79	New	0	New
	Reformed Political Party	3,198	1.07	New	0	New
	Natural Frisian	2,917	0.98	New	0	New
	DENK	493	0.17	New	0	New
Total		298,241	100.00	–	43	–
Valid votes		298,241	99.52
Invalid/blank votes		1,428	0.48
Total votes		299,669	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		506,868	59.12
Source: Kiesraad[15][12][13]

Gelderland

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	130,537	13.96	–1.83	8	–1
	Forum for Democracy	125,551	13.43	New	8	New
	Christian Democratic Appeal	108,248	11.58	–3.42	7	–2
	GroenLinks	101,231	10.83	+5.12	6	+3
	Labour Party	77,931	8.33	–0.71	5	–1
	Democrats 66	67,279	7.20	–5.42	4	–3
	Christian Union	63,364	6.78	+0.66	4	0
	Party for Freedom	56,633	6.06	–3.66	3	–2
	Socialist Party	54,510	5.83	–5.17	3	–3
	Reformed Political Party	49,097	5.25	–0.73	3	0
	Party for the Animals	41,658	4.46	+1.12	2	0
	50PLUS	35,607	3.81	+0.94	2	+1
	DENK	11,298	1.21	New	0	New
	Local Parties Gelderland – Code Oranje	11,053	1.18	New	0	New
	Jesus Lives	1,072	0.11	New	0	New
Total		935,069	100.00	–	55	–
Valid votes		935,069	99.46
Invalid/blank votes		5,040	0.54
Total votes		940,109	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,605,669	58.55
Source: Kiesraad[16][12][13]

Groningen

Party		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	GreenLeft	31,886	12.49		6	+3
	Labour Party	30,605	11.99		5	–1
	Forum for Democracy	26,104	10.22	New	5	+5
	Christian Union	24,125	9.45		4	±0
	Socialist Party	22,166	8.68		4	–4
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	21,595	8.49		4	±0
	Christian Democratic Appeal	20,642	8.08		3	–2
	Groningers' Interests	18,556	7.27		3	±0
	Democrats 66	16,727	6.55		3	–1
	Party for Freedom	15,271	5.98		2	–1
	Party for the North	10,527	4.12		2	+1
	Party for the Animals	10,406	4.08		1	–1
	50PLUS	5,638	2.21		1	+1
	Denk	1,081	0.42	New	0	±0
Total Valid votes		255,329			43	±0
Blank votes		744	0.29
Invalid votes		583	0.23
Votes cast / turnout		256,656	56.07
Registered voters		457,753
Sources [17][12][13]

Limburg

Party		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Christian Democratic Appeal	84,947	18.65		9	–2
	Forum for Democracy	66,343	14.57	New	7	+7
	Party for Freedom	61,705	13.55		7	–2
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	46,254	10.16		5	±0
	Socialist Party	39,527	8.68		4	–4
	GreenLeft	38,291	8.41		4	+2
	Labour Party	29,724	6.53		3	–1
	Democrats 66	26,420	5.80		3	–1
	Local Limburg	18,474	4.06		2	+1
	Party for the Animals	17,512	3.84		2	+1
	50PLUS	17,104	3.76		1	±0
	Christian Union	4,855	1.07	New	0	±0
	Denk	4,322	0.95	New	0	±0
Total Valid votes		455,478			47	±0
Blank votes		1,732	0.38
Invalid votes		1,289	0.28
Votes cast / turnout		458,499	52.57
Registered voters		872,100
Sources [18][12][13]

North Brabant

Party		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	163,906	16.18		10	±0
	Forum for Democracy	146,443	14.45	New	9	+9
	Christian Democratic Appeal	134,834	13.31		8	–1
	Socialist Party	93,138	9.19		5	–4
	Democrats 66	89,014	8.78		5	–2
	GreenLeft	87,687	8.65		5	+2
	Party for Freedom	77,453	7.64		4	–3
	Labour Party	64,837	6.40		3	–1
	50PLUS	41,612	4.11		2	±0
	Party for the Animals	37,775	3.73		2	±0
	Local Brabant	25,485	2.52		1	±0
	Christian Union – Reformed Political Party	19,466	1.92		1	±0
	Denk	12,415	1.23	New	0	±0
	Seniors Brabant	9,687	0.96	New	0	±0
	Elderly Appeal - Heart for Brabant	6,719	0.66	New	0	±0
	Code Orange	2,784	0.27	New	0	±0
Total of Valid votes		1,013,255			55	±0
Blank votes		3,593	0.35
Invalid votes		2,738	0.27
Total votes cast / turnout		1,019,586
Registered voters		1,945,875
Sources[19][12][13]

North Holland

Party		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Forum for Democracy	178,717	15.33	New	9	+9
	GroenLinks	178,001	15.26		9	+5
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	169,288	14.52		9	–2
	Democrats 66	115,928	9.94		6	–4
	Labour Party	114,026	9.78		6	–1
	Christian Democratic Appeal	79,361	6.81		4	–1
	Party for the Animals	70,809	6.07		3	±0
	Party for Freedom	65,346	5.60		3	–3
	Socialist Party	58,396	5.01		3	–3
	Christian Union	36,491	3.13		1	+1
	50PLUS / Party of the Elderly	32,190	2.76		1	+1
	Denk	28,035	2.40	New	1	+1
	Elderly Party North Holland	18,307	1.57		0	–1
	Code Oranje	16,665	1.43	New	0	±0
	NIDA	4,615	0.40	New	0	±0
Total Valid votes		1,166,175			55	±0
Blank votes		3,199	0.27
Invalid votes		3,953	0.34
Votes cast / turnout		1,173,327	56.34
Registered voters		2,082,562
Sources [20][12][13]

Overijssel

Party		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Christian Democratic Appeal	89,523	17.10		9	–2
	Forum for Democracy	69,443	13.27	New	6	+6
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	67,731	12.94		6	±0
	GreenLeft	49,643	9.48		5	+3
	Labour Party	44,494	8.50		4	–1
	Christian Union	43,248	8.26		4	±0
	Party for Freedom	37,582	7.18		3	–2
	Socialist Party	30,792	5.88		3	–2
	Democrats 66	30,221	5.77		3	–2
	Reformed Political Party	20,473	3.91		2	±0
	50PLUS	17,970	3.43		1	±0
	Party for the Animals	15,850	3.03		1	±0
	Denk	6,495	1.24	New	0	±0
Total Valid votes		523,465			47	±0
Blank votes		1,408	0.27
Invalid votes		1,335	0.25
Votes cast / turnout		526,208	59.27
Registered voters		887,844
Sources [21][12][13]

South Holland

Party		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Forum for Democracy	253,743	17.43	New	11	+11
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	227,987	15.66		10	±0
	GreenLeft	131,878	9.06		5	+2
	Democrats 66	124,154	8.53		5	–2
	Labour Party	113,859	7.82		4	–1
	Christian Democratic Appeal	112,681	7.74		4	–3
	Party for Freedom	101,858	7.00		4	–4
	Christian Union	81,160	5.57		3	±0
	50PLUS	64,727	4.45		2	±0
	Party for the Animals	63,690	4.37		2	±0
	Socialist Party	59,956	4.12		2	–3
	Reformed Political Party	56,742	3.90		2	–1
	Denk	39,800	2.73	New	1	+1
	Local Parties South Holland	11,648	0.80	New	0	±0
	NIDA	6,732	0.46	New	0	±0
	Code Oranje	4,598	0.32	New	0	±0
	Jesus Lives	756	0.05		0	±0
Total Valid votes		1,455,969			55	±0
Blank votes		4,102	0.28
Invalid votes		5,225	0.36
Votes cast / turnout		1,465,296	54.49
Registered voters		2,689,094
Sources [22][12][13]

Utrecht

Party		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	GreenLeft	98,900	16.07		8	+4
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	94,189	15.31		8	–1
	Forum for Democracy	71,374	11.60	New	6	+6
	Christian Democratic Appeal	60,774	9.88		5	–1
	Democrats 66	58,133	9.45		5	–4
	Labour Party	44,894	7.30		4	–1
	Christian Union	44,855	7.29		4	+1
	Party for Freedom	30,267	4.92		2	–2
	Party for the Animals	28,985	4.71		2	±0
	Socialist Party	23,894	3.88		2	–2
	Reformed Political Party	21,760	3.54		1	–1
	50PLUS	17,705	2.88		1	±0
	Denk	13,095	2.13	New	1	+1
	U26 Municipalities	6,530	1.06	New	0	±0
Total Valid votes		615,355			49	±0
Blank votes		1,815	0.29
Invalid votes		1,494	0.24
Votes cast / turnout		618,664	61.57
Registered voters		1,004,853
Sources [23][12][13]

Zeeland

Party		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Christian Democratic Appeal	27,810	16.27		7	+1
	Reformed Political Party	20,624	12.06		5	–1
	Forum for Democracy	20,168	11.80	New	5	+5
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	17,580	10.28		4	–2
	Labour Party	14,365	8.40		4	±0
	Party for Freedom	10,668	6.24		2	–2
	Party for Zeeland	10,619	6.21		2	+1
	GreenLeft	9,992	5.84		2	+1
	Christian Union	8,927	5.22		2	±0
	50PLUS	8,764	5.13		2	+1
	Socialist Party	8,240	4.82		2	–2
	Democrats 66	6,409	3.75		1	–2
	Party for the Animals	5,992	3.50	New	1	+1
	Denk	814	0.48	New	0	±0
Total Valid votes		170,972			39	±0
Blank votes		424	0.25
Invalid votes		416	0.24
Votes cast / turnout		171,812	59.15
Registered voters		290,453
Sources [24][12][13]

Coalition talks

Coalition talks in the Netherlands are customarily organized by informateurs appointed by the party that came first in the elections, and then, in the event of a failure, by other parties. Informateurs usually submit a public report on possible coalitions in the weeks following the election.

Province	Informateur	Occupation / Reputation
Groningen	Mario Post[25]	Former GL leader in the Estates
Friesland	Harry van der Molen[26]	MP for CDA, Former City councillor of Leeuwarden
Drenthe	Roelie Goettsch	Former PvdA leader in the Estates
Overijssel	Geert Jansen,[27] then	Province's former Queen's Commissioner, CDA member
	Bart Krol[28]	Former CDA member of the Utrecht Estates
Flevoland	Annemarie van Gaal[27]	Entrepreneur
Gelderland	Mark Boumans[29]	Mayor of Doetinchem (VVD), former Executive in Groningen
Utrecht	Bram van Ojik[30]	Former leader of GL
North Holland	Hans Smits,[31][32] then	Former Director of the Schiphol airport
	Laura Bromet and Cornelis Mooij[27]	MPs for GL and VVD
South Holland	Hans Wiegel[33]	Former leader of VVD, Friesland's former Queen's Commissioner
Zeeland	René Verhulst[34]	Mayor of Ede (CDA)
North Brabant	Helmi Huijbregts[27]	Senator for VVD
Limburg	Ger Koopmans	Leader of the CDA fraction in the Estates, former MP

See also

• 2019 Bonaire general election
• 2019 Saban general election
• 2019 Sint Eustatius general election

Notes

1. The party came in front, but is not part of the executive, thus the cell isn't highlighted.
2. Combined list 50+/Party of the Elderly
3. The Provincial-Executive of Limburg is a technocratic government made up of non-members.