States-provincial


A states-provincial is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has the responsibility for matters of sub-national or regional importance. Each states-provincial is directly elected by the voters within the relevant province, and the number of seats in each states-provincial is proportional to its population.
The states-provincial originated as Estates assemblies in the Middle Ages, hence the name. From 1813 to 1850 the noble members of the ridderschap chose one-third of the members of states-provincial. Johan Rudolf Thorbecke's reforms and his "Provinces Law" of 1850 brought this privilege to an end.
The states-provincial choose the provincial-executive as the executive organ of the province. Originally, the states-provincial themselves had also executive powers and chose the provincial-executive from their own members for daily governance. On 11 March 2003, the two institutions split; in other words, there was a change from fusion of powers to separation of powers.
The principal roles of the states-provincial have become to set general policies, represent the people, approve provincial legislation and the annual budget and to oversee the executive. Both the provincial-executive and the States-provincial are presided over by the King's Commissioner in the province, appointed by the Crown every six years.
The last provincial elections were held 20 March 2019.
Three months after their election the combined members of the states-provincial elect the members of the Senate of the States-General of the Netherlands.

Number of seats in each states-provincial

The size of states-provincials ranges from 39 members for a province with less than 400,000 inhabitants to 55 members for a province with more than 2,000,000 inhabitants.
Before 2007, they ranged from 47 members for a province with less than 200,000 inhabitants to 83 members for a province with more than 2,500,000 inhabitants. As a consequence of a change to the Provinciewet, starting at the states-provincial elections of 7 March 2007, the total number of States-Provincial members was reduced from 764 to 564. A survey of the change in seats per province:
ProvinceSeats 2003Seats 2007Seats 2011Seats 2015Seats 2019
Groningen5543434343
Friesland5543434343
Drenthe5141414141
Overijssel6347474747
Flevoland4739394141
Gelderland7553555555
Utrecht6347474949
North Holland8355555555
South Holland8355555555
Zeeland4739393939
North Brabant7955555555
Limburg6347474747
Total764564566570570

A consequence of this reduction in the number of seats is that the election threshold has risen. Depending on the province, the threshold now lies between 1.5% and over 2% of the votes. Because of this, it has become harder for small parties to win a seat. This may also have consequences for the representation of small parties in the Senate, which is elected by the members of the States-Provincial.

National results

Outcome of the provincial elections calculated at national level:
Political party2003*2007201120152019
Forum for Democracy ----86
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 1031021128980
Christian Democratic Appeal 169151868972
GreenLeft 3733343061
Labour Party 1501141076353
Party for Freedom -0696641
Democrats 66 209426740
Socialist Party 2983567035
ChristianUnion 1935232931
Party for the Animals 0871820
50Plus0091417
Reformed Political Party 1313121814
Denk ----4
CU - SGP43121
Pim Fortuyn List 100---
Regionalist parties101381515
Total564564566570570
Turnout47.62%46.40%55.97%47.76%

Note *: 2003 election calculated for the 2007 number of seats.

Elections by party by province

Provincial elections, 2003

Outcome of the 2003 Dutch provincial elections:

Provincial elections, 2007

Outcome of the 2007 Dutch provincial elections:
Due to defections from one party to another and other such reasons the number of seats can fluctuate during each inter-elections period. This table only shows the distribution straight after the elections.
The named 'others' for 2007 are:
Outcome of the 2011 Dutch provincial elections:
The named 'others' for 2011 are:
Outcome of the 2015 Dutch provincial elections:
The named 'others' for 2015 are: