1918 Dutch general election

1918 Dutch general election
Netherlands
3 July 1918

All 100 seats in the House of Representatives
51 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
AB Willem Hubert Nolens 29.97 30 +5
SDAP Pieter Jelles Troelstra 22.03 22 +7
ARP Abraham Kuyper 13.36 13 +2
CHU Alexander de Savornin Lohman 6.55 7 −2
LU Eduard Ellis van Raalte 6.19 6 −15
VDB Henri Marchant 5.33 5 −3
BVL Alibert Cornelis Visser van IJzendoorn 3.81 4 −6
EB Willem Treub 3.13 3 New
SDP David Wijnkoop 2.31 2 +2
MP Abraham Staalman 0.94 1 New
CDP Andries Staalman 0.79 1 +1
PB Frederik Bos 0.67 1 New
SP Harm Kolthek 0.67 1 New
BCS Willy Kruyt 0.63 1 New
CSP Adolf Robbert van de Laar 0.61 1 New
NP Henri ter Hall 0.53 1 New
VDW Willem Wijk 0.51 1 New
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Cabinet before Cabinet after
Cort van der Linden cabinet
Liberal
First Ruijs de Beerenbrouck cabinet
ABARPCHU

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 3 July 1918.[1] They were the first elections held after a series of reforms that introduced universal male suffrage and pure proportional representation, replacing the previous two-round system in single member constituencies.[2] This change was known as the Pacification of 1917, which also included the introduction of state financing of religious schools, and led to the start of consociational democracy.[3]

The change in the electoral system led to major changes in the political makeup of the House of Representatives. The confessional right-wing parties, the General League of Roman Catholic Electoral Associations, the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union, together won 50 seats.

The liberal parties lost the most seats. While in 1917, two of the liberal parties, the Liberal Union and the League of Free Liberals, had won 31 seats, they were now reduced to 10 seats. Together with three smaller liberal parties, liberals now held only 15 seats in the House of representatives.

The fragmentation of the House was caused by the low electoral threshold of just 0.5%, with the smallest party, the Alliance to Democratise the Forces, managing to win a seat with only 6,828 votes.

The elections were the first in which Dutch women could stand for election, despite still not being allowed to vote. Suze Groeneweg was elected as the first female member of the House of Representatives.[4]

Results

A man writing political slogans on a wooden fence in Amsterdam
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
General League402,90829.9730+5
Social Democratic Workers' Party296,14522.0322+7
Anti-Revolutionary Party179,52313.3613+2
Christian Historical Union87,9836.557–2
Liberal Union83,1736.196–15
Free-thinking Democratic League71,5825.335–3
League of Free Liberals51,1953.814–6
Economic League42,0423.133New
Social Democratic Party31,0432.312+2
Middle Class Party12,6630.941New
Christian Democratic Party10,6530.791New
Peasants' League9,0680.671New
Socialist Party8,9500.671New
League of Christian Socialists8,4160.631+1
Christian Social Party8,1520.611New
Neutral Party7,1860.531New
Alliance to Democratise the Forces6,8300.511New
General State Party6,7130.5000
Police Party6,1890.460New
Reformed Political Party5,1790.390New
General Freedom Party2,6910.200New
Van der Zwaag Group2,6490.200New
Alberda Group7350.050New
Kuiper Group5680.040New
Amsterdamese Police and Firefighting Party4170.030New
National League of Protestant Voters3580.030New
People's Welfare Party3010.020New
Neutral and Colonial League2370.020New
People's Party2360.020New
Stoffel Group2350.020New
Braam Group1890.010New
Total1,344,209100.001000
Registered voters/turnout1,517,380
Source: CBS,[5] Nohlen & Stöver

References

  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1395 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, pp1384-1385
  3. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p1385
  4. ^ "Dit waren de eerste zeven vrouwen die het schopten tot Tweede Kamerlid". Atria. 25 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Verkiezingsuitslag en zetelverdeling Tweede Kamer, 1918". CBS.