1994 Dutch general election

Dutch general election, 1994

3 May 1994
All 150 seats to the House of Representatives 76 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	78.8%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Wim Kok Elco Brinkman Frits Bolkestein Party PvdA CDA VVD Leader since 1986 1994 1990 Last election 49 seats, 31.9% 54 seats, 35.3% 22 seats, 14.6% Seats won 37 34 31 Seat change 12 20 9 Popular vote 2,153,135 1,996,418 1,792,401 Percentage 24.0% 22.2% 20.0%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Hans van Mierlo Jet Nijpels Ina Brouwer (pictured) & Mohamed Rabbae Party D66 AOV GL Leader since 1986 1994 1994 Last election 12 seats, 7.9% – 6 seats, 4.1% Seats won 24 6 5 Seat change 12 6 1 Popular vote 1,391,202 326,401 311,399 Percentage 15.5% 3.6% 3.5%   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Hans Janmaat Leen van Dijke Bas van der Vlies Party CD RPF SGP Leader since 1984 1994 1986 Last election 1 seats, 0.9% 1 seats, 1.0% 3 seats, 1.9% Seats won 3 3 2 Seat change 2 2 1 Popular vote 220,734 158,705 155,251 Percentage 2.5% 1.8% 1.7%
Prime Minister before election Ruud Lubbers CDA Prime Minister Wim Kok PvdA

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 3 May 1994. The Labour Party emerged as the largest party, winning 37 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives. 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.

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.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Labour Party	2,153,135	24.0	37	–12
Christian Democratic Appeal	1,996,418	22.2	34	–20
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	1,792,401	20.0	31	+9
Democrats 66	1,391,202	15.5	24	+12
General Elderly Alliance	326,401	3.6	6	New
GreenLeft	311,399	3.5	5	–1
Centre Democrats	220,734	2.5	3	+2
Reformatory Political Federation	158,705	1.8	3	+2
Reformed Political Party	155,251	1.7	2	–1
Reformed Political League	119,158	1.3	2	0
Socialist Party	118,768	1.3	2	+2
Union 55+	78,147	0.9	1	New
Centre Party '86	32,327	0.4	0	New
Natural Law Party	27,665	0.3	0	New
Progressive Integration Party	17,230	0.2	0	New
The Greens	13,902	0.2	0	0
New Communist Party of the Netherlands	11,630	0.1	0	New
Solidarity Farmers' Party	9,096	0.1	0	New
Party for Environment and Justice	8,716	0.1	0	New
Solidarity '93	7,919	0.1	0	New
Pacifist Socialist Party '92	7,385	0.1	0	New
The New Party	6,825	0.1	0	New
General Democratic Party	5,196	0.1	0	New
Patriotic Democratic Appeal	4,845	0.1	0	New
Socialist Alternative Politics	4,347	0.1	0	0
Libertarian Party	2,754	0.0	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	46,331	–	–	–
Total	9,027,887	100	150	0
Registered voters/turnout	11,455,924	78.8	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, European Elections Database

Popular Vote
PvdA			23.97%
CDA			22.23%
VVD			19.96%
D66			15.49%
AOV			3.63%
GL			3.47%
CD			2.46%
RPF			1.77%
SGP			1.73%
GPV			1.33%
SP			1.32%
Unie 55+			0.87%
Other			1.78%

Further reading

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