Dutch general election, 2017

Dutch general election, 2017

15 March 2017

Party Leader Current seats VVD Mark Rutte 40 PvdA Diederik Samsom[n 1] 35 SP Emile Roemer 15 CDA Sybrand van Haersma Buma 13 PVV Geert Wilders 12 D66 Alexander Pechtold 12 CU Gert-Jan Segers 5 GL Jesse Klaver 4 SGP Kees van der Staaij 3 PvdD Marianne Thieme 2 50PLUS Henk Krol 1 Independent n/a 8

This lists parties that currently hold seats.

Incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte VVD

General elections are planned to be held in the Netherlands on 15 March 2017 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives.^[1]

Since 2002, every cabinet has resigned before completing their full four-year term and five elections were held between 2002 and 2012. The 2012 elections saw the Labour Party (PvdA) and People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) go head-to-head for the position of prime minister, gathering enough seats in the process to form an absolute majority. The VVD's Mark Rutte formed a coalition government with the PvdA, ousting the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) from government, while the Party for Freedom (PVV) went back to full opposition.

Electoral system

The House of Representatives, or Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer) is composed of 150 seats elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. The office of Prime Minister is traditionally taken up by the leader of the party coming first in the elections, meaning there is an incentive for parties and voters to concentrate their vote.

Opinion polls

See also

• 2016 Labour Party leadership election

Footnotes

1. The Labour Party will hold a leadership election on 9 December to select the top candidate or lijsttrekker.

References

1. "Verkiezingskalender". Kiesraad. Retrieved 13 September 2016.