1971 Dutch general election

1971 Dutch general election
Netherlands
← 1967 28 April 1971 1972 →

All 150 seats in the House of Representatives
76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout79.12% (Decrease 15.88pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
PvdA Joop den Uyl 24.60 39 +2
KVP Gerard Veringa 21.84 35 −7
VVD Molly Geertsema 10.34 16 −1
ARP Barend Biesheuvel 8.59 13 −2
D66 Hans van Mierlo 6.77 11 +4
CHU Bé Udink 6.32 10 −2
DS'70 Willem Drees Jr. 5.33 8 New
CPN Marcus Bakker 3.90 6 +1
SGP Hette Abma [nl] 2.35 3 0
PPR Jacques Aarden 1.84 2 New
GPV Piet Jongeling 1.61 2 +1
NMP Ab te Pas [nl] 1.51 2 New
PSP Hans Wiebenga [nl] 1.44 2 −2
BP Hendrik Koekoek 1.10 1 −6
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Most voted-for party by municipality
Cabinet before Cabinet after
De Jong cabinet
KVPVVDARPCHU
First Biesheuvel cabinet
KVPVVDARPCHUDS70

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 28 April 1971.[1] The Labour Party (PvdA) emerged as the largest party, winning 39 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.[2] The elections were the first without compulsory voting, causing a sharp fall in voter turnout, down to 79% from 95% in the 1967 elections.[3] Barend Biesheuvel of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) became prime minister, leading the first Biesheuvel cabinet.

His cabinet contained a broad coalition of parties, with ministers from ARP, Christian Historical Union (both Protestant), the Catholic People's Party, the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and moderate socialist Democratic Socialists '70 (DS'70), which had just split off from the PvdA.

However, Biesheuvel's government was short-lived; following a decision to cut government spending, DS'70 withdrew from the government, causing it to lose its majority and fresh elections to be held after just a year and seven months.

  1. ^ "Tweede Kamerverkiezingen 1971".
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p1414
  3. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p1397