While many of the results in the local elections will not be confirmed until Thursday, the exit poll from The Hague indicates a big win for local populist party Hart voor den Haag.
The poll gives the party 17 seats in the 45-seat city council, with GroenLinks-PvdA and D66 both unchanged on eight. Support for the right-wing VVD has plunged from seven to three, while Geert Wilders’ far right PVV lost its only seat. Pan-European party Volt has won its first seat on the city council.
The result – which is only an exit poll – makes it extremely complicated to form a new coalition for the city.
Hart voor den Haag was excluded from the previous administration because party leader Richard de Mos was embroiled in a corruption case. He has since been cleared.
In total, over 8,000 councillors were elected for 340 local councils on Thursday – in all but two of the total of 342 local authority areas.
Amsterdam waits until Thursday
Amsterdam will not publish an intermediate result until Thursday, a council spokesman said on Wednesday evening.
The Dutch capital expects to publish the results based on 50% of the votes by 11 pm, and a 70% result at 1 am. The battle in Amsterdam is between GroenLinks, the PvdA and D66 – the three parties which form the current coalition.
Island dilemma
On the Wadden Sea island of Schiermonnikoog, with just 800 voters, the three local parties taking part in the election all won three seats on the nine-seat island council.
Ons Belangen, which is the biggest party by a fraction, was excluded from the coalition after the last elections.
On the neighbouring island of Vlieland, local parties won all nine seats. Most went to Nieuw Liberaal Vlieland, with four.
Frisian nationalism
In the Frisian council area of Noardeast Fryslân, which includes Dokkum and 52 other villages, plans to establish a refugee centre were a major issue during the election campaign.
The winner in the NOS exit poll is the Frisian national party FNP with six seats, two down on four years ago. Left-leaning local party SIN also lost two seats to take five.
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.
We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.
Make a donation
