Netherlands European Parliament election 2019 — Results

Background

The 2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands, held on 23 May 2019, produced a surprise: the Labour Party (PvdA), which had been reduced to a rump in the 2017 general election, topped the poll, propelled by the European campaign of its lead candidate Frans Timmermans, the First Vice-President of the European Commission and the centre-left's pan-European "Spitzenkandidat" for the Commission presidency. The Netherlands voted first, days ahead of most of the EU, and the result was an early sign that the much-feared nationalist surge across Europe would be more muted than predicted.

How the voting works

Dutch MEPs are elected by nationwide proportional representation (D'Hondt method) with a single national list per party and a low effective threshold. In 2019 the Netherlands elected 26 members; three additional seats were held in reserve and allocated after the United Kingdom's departure from the EU, eventually taking the Dutch delegation to 29. Voting is on a Thursday, in line with the Dutch tradition rather than the Sunday used by most member states.

The run-up to the vote

Timmermans framed the election as a contest between pro-Europeans and nationalists and campaigned on climate action and social fairness, drawing on his high profile in Brussels. On the right, the established Eurosceptic PVV was challenged for its vote by the rising Forum for Democracy, which had topped the provincial elections only two months earlier and expected to do well.

The outcome

The Labour Party won 19.01% and 6 seats — its best result in any Dutch election in years and a personal triumph for Timmermans. The VVD took 14.64% and 4 seats and the CDA 12.18% and 4. Forum for Democracy, despite its provincial momentum, managed only 10.96% and 3 seats, level with GroenLinks on 10.90% and 3. D66 won 2 seats and the joint ChristenUnie–SGP list 2. Strikingly, Wilders' PVV lost all its seats, falling to 3.53%, as the Eurosceptic vote split with Forum for Democracy.

Turnout and regional patterns

Turnout was 41.93%, up on previous European elections but still far below a general election. The Labour Party led the vote across most of the country, including the populous Randstad provinces and a strong result in Limburg, while the CDA came first in Overijssel and the ChristenUnie–SGP list led in the staunchly Protestant province of Zeeland. The map above shows the leading party in each province; click any province for the full breakdown.

What followed

Timmermans did not become Commission President — that office went to Ursula von der Leyen — but he became the powerful Executive Vice-President responsible for the European Green Deal. The Dutch result, with pro-European parties dominant and the hard Eurosceptic right divided, was widely read as evidence that the populist tide had crested, at least for the moment. It also foreshadowed the 2023 merger of Labour and GreenLeft into a single bloc.

Source

Official results from the Electoral Council (Kiesraad) — verkiezingsuitslagen.nl. The provincial map is built from the Kiesraad's per-province figures.

Compiled and reviewed from official results by ElectioMap. See our data methodology.