2023 Dutch Senate Election

An election to the Dutch Senate was held on 30 May 2023. The 75 members of the Senate were elected by members of the provincial councils and electoral colleges elected two months earlier in provincial and electoral college elections.

The four coalition parties saw their combined seat count decrease from 32 to 24. The Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB), which had come first in the provincial elections, entered the Senate with 16 seats. The Labour Party and GroenLinks, which intend to form a joint parliamentary group, won a combined 14 seats.

Background

Since 2017, the Netherlands has had coalition governments consisting of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), Democrats 66 (D66), the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the Christian Union (CU). After the 2019 Senate election, this coalition lost its majority in the Senate, holding 32 seats. Being 6 seats short of a majority made it necessary for the government to seek cooperation with opposition parties such as the Labour Party (PvdA), GroenLinks and JA21 in order to get legislation through the Senate. The coalition parties were long expected to lose more seats in the 2023 Senate election, which would make it more difficult for the government to find majorities for important legislation.

In June 2022, members of the PvdA and GroenLinks voted in favour of the formation of a joint Senate group after the 2023 election. This makes the election an important step for the PvdA–GroenLinks alliance.

Since 2019, the government has had the intention to limit the human impact on the nitrogen cycle. Its nitrogen bill has met resistance from several opposition parties including the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB), which was founded in 2019 and entered the House of Representatives with one seat in 2021. With BBB expected to become a significant force in the Senate after the 2023 election, the government was expected to look to the left for support. However, in early March 2023, PvdA and GroenLinks, as well as other left-wing parties, also announced their intention to vote against the nitrogen bill in the Senate. The government is also expected to face difficulty finding majorities for its climate legislation and its bill for the distribution of asylum seekers.

The government is therefore expected to have to make concessions to opposition parties on these pieces of legislation. However, voters of coalition parties are divided over the question whether the government should turn "left" or "right" in search of support for its legislation. A March 2023 poll shows that a majority of D66 voters wants the government to cooperate with PvdA–GroenLinks, while a majority of VVD and CDA voters would prefer for the government to cooperate with BBB.

Electoral system

The Senate consists of 75 members elected every four years by the members of the provincial councils of the country's twelve provinces, and, following law changes in 2017 and 2022, electoral colleges representing the special municipalities of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba and Dutch nationals living abroad, who are in turn elected directly by the citizens two months earlier in the 2023 provincial and electoral college elections.

The weight of each elector's vote is determined by the population of the province or special municipality which the elector represents, at a ratio of approximately 1 vote per 100 residents. The seats are distributed in one nationwide constituency using party-list proportional representation.

Electors

Participating parties

The following parties were due to participate in the 2023 Senate election:

Seat projections

The table and graphs below show seat projections for the Senate election. Projections before the provincial and electoral college elections on 15 March are based on opinion polling for the provincial elections. The 15 March projection is based on exit polls of the provincial elections, while the 19 March projection by ANP is based on preliminary results of the provincial and electoral college elections.

All coalition parties (VVD, D66, CDA and CU) are expected to lose seats. The Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) is projected to become the largest party in the Senate with 17 seats. The alliance of PvdA and GroenLinks is expected to gain one seat, while Forum for Democracy is projected to drop from 12 down to 2 seats.

Projections in November 2022 predicted a drop to just 23 seats for the coalition, then rose to a peak of 28 in late February 2023, followed by a drop down to 22 after the provincial elections; 16 seats short of a majority in the Senate (38 seats needed). A majority could be reached with support from BBB. The projected 15 seats of the PvdA–GroenLinks alliance will be insufficient to reach a majority, and the support of at least one other opposition party would be required.

Results

As projected, the Farmer–Citizen Movement became the largest party, winning 16 seats (as opposed to the projected 17). Strategic voting of D66 and VVD electors resulted in extra seats for their coalition partners CDA and CU. Moreover, compared to the projections, GroenLinks lost one seat to Volt as GroenLinks elector Debora Fernald voted for Volt.

With the coalition parties winning 24 seats in the Senate, an additional 14 opposition votes are necessary for a 38 vote majority. Support from either BBB (16) or PvdA–GroenLinks (14) suffices.

Notes

References

{{Dutch Senate elections

Senate elections in the Netherlands
Senate