Dutch general election, 2003

Dutch general election, 2003

22 January 2003

All 150 seats to the House of Representatives 76 seats were needed for a majority Turnout 80.0%   First party Second party Third party   Leader Jan Peter Balkenende Wouter Bos Gerrit Zalm Party CDA PvdA VVD Leader since 2001 2002 2002 Last election 43 seats, 27.9% 23 seats, 15.1% 24 seats, 15.5% Seats won 44 42 28 Seat change 1 19 4 Popular vote 2,763,480 2,631,363 1,728,707 Percentage 28.6% 27.2% 17.9%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jan Marijnissen Mat Herben Femke Halsema Party SP LPF GL Leader since 1988 2002 2002 Last election 9 seats, 5.9% 26 seats, 17.0% 10 seats, 7.0% Seats won 9 8 8 Seat change 0 18 2 Popular vote 609,723 549,975 495,802 Percentage 6.3% 5.6% 5.1%   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Thom de Graaf André Rouvoet Bas van der Vlies Party D66 CU SGP Leader since 1998 2002 1986 Last election 7 seats, 5.1% 4 seats, 2.5% 2 seats, 1.7% Seats won 6 3 3 Seat change 1 1 0 Popular vote 393,333 204,694 150,305 Percentage 4.0% 2.1% 1.5%

Prime Minister before election Jan Peter Balkenende CDA Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende CDA

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 January 2003.^[1]

Background

The election was held following the resignation of the first Balkenende cabinet on 16 October 2002 after conflicts attributed to the LPF, the new party of the already deceased Pim Fortuyn.

In the early days of the campaign the CDA of incumbent prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and the VVD, the smallest coalition party, saw a major lead.

After TV debates the PvdA (which had experienced a landslide defeat in the 2002 general election) of opposition leader Wouter Bos caught up, overtaking the VVD and regaining some of the territory lost in the previous election. The PvdA also held a leadership election which got the party considerable attention.

Results

The LPF lost as spectacularly as it won in 2002, with its seat count dropping from 26 to 8.

The exciting race of which party would become the largest was eventually won by the CDA, which went from 43 to 44 seats, ensuring a continuation of Balkenende’s career as prime minister.

Most of the smaller parties on both the left and right side did not experience significant changes. Several other parties (among them Leefbaar Nederland, a 2002 newcomer) didn’t manage to get over the threshold and thus gained no seats. They are not listed here.

After severe disagreements had frustrated the formation of a CDA-PvdA cabinet, a CDA-VVD-D66 cabinet was formed on 27 May 2003, with Balkenende as prime minister.

Further reading

• Van Holsteyn, Joop J. M.; Galen A. Irwin (January 2004). "The Dutch parliamentary elections of 2003". West European Politics 27 (1): 157–164. doi:10.1080/01402380412331280853. 

References

Elections and referendums in the Netherlands General elections 1848 1850 1852 1853 1854 1856 1858 1860 1862 1864 1866 (Jun) 1866 (Oct) 1868 1869 1871 1873 1875 1877 1879 1881 1883 1884 1886 1887 1888 1891 1894 1897 1901 1905 1909 1913 1917 1918 1922 1925 1929 1933 1937 1946 1948 1952 1956 1959 1963 1967 1971 1972 1977 1981 1982 1986 1989 1994 1998 2002 2003 2006 2010 2012 Next Provincial elections 2007 2011 2015 Municipal elections 2006 2010 2014 European elections 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 Referendums 1797 1798 1801 1805 2005 See also: Elections and referendums in Aruba Bonaire Curaçao Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten