General elections were held in the
Netherlands on 26 May 1981.
Dieter Nohlen
Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...
& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1396 The
Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) emerged as the largest party, winning 48 of the 150 seats in the
House of Representatives.
[Nohlen & Stöver, p1414]
The incumbent Christian Democratic Appeal-
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy coalition lost its overall majority leading to a new coalition being formed between the CDA, the
Labour Party (PvdA) and
Democrats 66
Democrats 66 (; abbreviated D66, ) is a Social liberalism, social liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the Centrism, centre of the Left–right political spectrum, p ...
, with the CDA's Dries van Agt continuing as Prime Minister. However due to disagreements between the CDA and PvdA on government spending the coalition collapsed after just a year, leading to
fresh elections.
Results
By province
References
{{Dutch general elections
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
1981 elections in the Netherlands
May 1981 events in Europe