1994 Dutch general election

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 3 May 1994.[1] The Labour Party emerged as the largest party, winning 37 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.[2] The election resulted in significant losses for both the Labour Party and the Christian Democratic Appeal. The two liberal parties, People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Democrats 66 made large gains, whilst two pro-elderly parties and the Socialist Party all passed the electoral threshold to win seats.

1994 Dutch general election
Netherlands
3 May 1994
All 150 seats in the House of Representatives
76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout78.8% (Decrease 1.5 pp)
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
PvdA Wim Kok 24.0% 37 -12
CDA Elco Brinkman 22.2% 34 -20
VVD Frits Bolkestein 20.0% 31 +9
D66 Hans van Mierlo 15.5% 24 +12
AOV Jet Nijpels 3.6% 6 New
GL Ina Brouwer • Mohamed Rabbae 3.5% 5 -1
CD Hans Janmaat 2.5% 3 +2
RPF Leen van Dijke 1.8% 3 +2
SGP Bas van der Vlies 1.7% 2 -1
GPV Gert Schutte 1.3% 2 0
SP Jan Marijnissen 1.3% 2 +2
U55+ Bertus Leerkes 0.9% 1 +1
Cabinet before Cabinet after
Third Lubbers cabinet
CDA–PvdA		 First Kok cabinet
PvdA–VVD–D66

The formation of a government coalition was arduous but after four months the First Kok cabinet was formed. It was an unprecedented coalition of the two liberal parties and Labour. The CDA was consigned to opposition for the first time in its history. It was also the first government since 1918 not to include a Christian Democratic party.

Background

Before the 1994 general election opinion polls predicted that the Centre Democrats party could win more than five seats in the House of Representatives. However, media reports claiming that some newly elected local members had extremist pasts damaged the Centre Democrats' prospects. A secret recording broadcast on national television one week before the election showed an Amsterdam council member bragging about having set immigrant centers on fire in the early 1980s.[3] In the election that followed, the Centre Democrats won 2.5% of the vote and three seats in the House of Representatives (Janmaat was joined by Wil Schuurman and Cor Zonneveld),[4] well below earlier expectations. Janmaat claimed that the relatively poor result was a result of an anti-CD campaign in the media.[3] Due to its growth, and questions arising amongst the other parties over the development of a multicultural society, political opponents began to confront the Centre Democrats directly rather than maintain a strict cordon sanitaire around it.[5][6]

Results
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Labour Party2,153,13523.9737–12
Christian Democratic Appeal1,996,41822.2334–20
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy1,792,40119.9631+9
Democrats 661,391,20215.4924+12
General Elderly Alliance326,4013.636New
GroenLinks311,3993.475–1
Centre Democrats220,7342.463+2
Reformatory Political Federation158,7051.773+2
Reformed Political Party155,2511.732–1
Reformed Political League119,1581.3320
Socialist Party118,7681.322+2
Union 55+78,1470.871New
Centre Party '8632,3270.360New
Natural Law Party27,6650.310New
Free Indian Party17,2300.190New
The Greens13,9020.1500
New Communist Party of the Netherlands11,6300.130New
Solidarity Farmers' Party9,0960.100New
Party for Environment and Justice8,7160.100New
Solidarity '937,9190.090New
Pacifist Socialist Party '927,3850.080New
The New Party6,8250.080New
General Democratic Party5,1960.060New
Patriotic Democratic Appeal4,8450.050New
Socialist Alternative Politics4,3470.0500
Libertarian Party2,7540.030New
Total8,981,556100.001500
Valid votes8,981,55699.56
Invalid/blank votes39,7270.44
Total votes9,021,283100.00
Registered voters/turnout11,455,92478.75
Source: Kiesraad

By province
Results by province[7]
Province PvdA CDA VVD D66 AOV GL CD RPF SGP GPV SP U55+ Others
 Drenthe 34.5 19.8 18.2 13.9 2.5 1.2 1.7 0.4 2.4 1.0 1.0 0.6 2.2
 Flevoland 20.1 17.6 23.6 17.0 4.2 3.1 2.4 2.8 2.4 2.1 1.3 1.0 2.4
 Friesland 31.6 27.5 14.2 12.5 2.2 3.0 1.1 2.6 0.6 2.2 0.6 0.4 1.9
 Gelderland 23.8 24.7 18.3 15.3 2.8 3.3 1.8 2.7 3.2 1.1 1.0 0.6 1.7
 Groningen 34.8 17.3 14.2 14.1 2.8 4.5 1.3 1.8 0.2 4.5 1.7 0.6 1.3
 Limburg 24.5 28.9 14.8 14.5 5.4 3.2 3.0 0.2 0.1 0.4 2.2 1.0 1.4
 North Brabant 21.0 27.1 18.1 16.3 5.7 2.8 2.8 0.5 0.5 0.4 2.2 1.0 2.8
 North Holland 24.9 16.2 24.5 17.2 4.1 4.9 2.3 0.9 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.0 1.6
 Overijssel 24.2 29.6 15.4 12.9 2.1 2.5 1.5 3.2 2.1 2.9 0.8 1.2 1.6
 South Holland 22.2 18.3 23.4 15.8 3.2 3.1 3.5 2.1 3.0 1.2 1.5 0.8 1.8
 Utrecht 19.1 20.6 23.2 16.9 2.9 4.7 2.4 2.5 2.3 2.0 0.9 0.8 1.5
 Zeeland 22.4 20.9 18.8 13.5 3.7 2.4 2.8 3.0 7.9 1.8 0.6 0.9 2.2

References
  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1396 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p1414
  3. Mudde, 2003, p. 125.
  4. "Hans Janmaat (1934–2002)". Historiek.net (in Dutch). 17 January 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  5. Hoetink, Carla (25 August 2008). "Janmaat, Hans". Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  6. Lucardie, 1998, p. 121.
  7. "Tweede Kamer 3 mei 1994". Kiesraad (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 November 2021.

Further reading
  • Irwin, Galen A. "The Dutch Parliamentary Election of 1994," Electoral Studies (1995) 14#1 pp. 72–77
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