House of Representatives (Netherlands)

lower house of the Netherlands parliament

The House of Representatives, Dutch: Tweede Kamer (literally Second Chamber), is the lower house of the States General, the parliament of the Netherlands.

House of Representatives

Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal
States General of the Netherlands
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Martin-Bosma, PVV
since 14 December 2023
First Vice President
Tom van der Lee, GL-PvdA
since 19 December 2023
Second Vice President
Roelien Kamminga, VVD
since 19 December 2023
Structure
Seats150
Political groups
Government (41)
  •   VVD (24)
  •   D66 (9)
  •   CDA (5)
  •   CU (3)

Opposition (109)

Length of term
4 years
Elections
Party-list proportional representation D'Hondt method
Last election
22 November 2023
Next election
November 2027 or earlier
Meeting place
House of Representatives Chamber
Binnenhof
The Hague, Netherlands
Website
www.houseofrepresentatives.nl

It is comparable with the House of Representatives in other countries, because it is chosen by direct elections.

It consists of 150 members, who are chosen every four years or earlier when the government has been brought down.

In contrast with the First Chamber or Senate the Second Chamber has extensive legislative powers.

House of Representatives 2021-2023

change

The elections for the new House of Representatives were held on Wednesday 17 March 2021. The new House was installed on 31 March 2021. Twenty parliamentary groups had been present in the House since March 2022 (originally 17).

Parties with considerable gains were the progressive liberal party D66, the populist parties FVD and JA21, and newcomer Volt. Considerable losses had been suffered by the Christian democratic party CDA, the left parties GL and SP, the populist party PVV, and the senior party 50+.

BBB and BIJ1 had made their first appearance in parliament.

On 6 May 2021, Liane den Haan left 50+ and became an independent MP. On 13 May 2021, Wybren van Haga and two other MPs left FVD and became the Group Van Haga. On 12 June 2021, Pieter Omtzigt left the CDA and became an independent MP. In February 2022, Nilüfer Gündoğan was expelled from the Volt group and had been an independent MP since 22 March 2022.

President of the House of Representatives was Vera Bergkamp (D66).

PartyDutch nameShortenedParliamentary leaderOriginal seatsSeats
after changes
People's Party for Freedom and DemocracyVolkspartij voor Vrijheid en DemocratieVVDMark Rutte (2021-2022), Sophie Hermans (2022-2023)3434
Democrats 66Democraten 66D66Sigrid Kaag (2021), Rob Jetten (2021), Sigrid Kaag (2021-2022), Jan Paternotte (2022-2023)2424
Party for FreedomPartij voor de VrijheidPVVGeert Wilders1717
Christian Democratic Appeal [1]Christen-Democratisch AppèlCDAWopke Hoekstra (2021-2022), Pieter Heerma (2022-2023), Henri Bontenbal (2023)1514
Socialist PartySocialistische PartijSPLilian Marijnissen99
Labour PartyPartij van de ArbeidPvdALilianne Ploumen (2021-2022), Attje Kuiken (2022-2023), Jesse Klaver (2023)99
GreenLeftGroenLinksGLJesse Klaver88
Forum for Democracy [2]Forum voor DemocratieFVDThierry Baudet85
Party for the AnimalsPartij voor de DierenPvdDEsther Ouwehand66
ChristianUnionChristenUnieCUGert-Jan Segers (2021-2023), Mirjam Bikker (2023)55
Volt Netherlands [3]Volt NederlandVoltLaurens Dassen32
JA21JA21JA21Joost Eerdmans33
Reformed Political PartyStaatkundig Gereformeerde PartijSGPKees van der Staaij (2021-2023), Chris Stoffer (2023)33
DENKDENKDENKFarid Azarkan (2021-2023), Stephan van Baarle (2023)33
50PLUS [4]50PLUS50+Liane den Haan (2021), / (2021-2023)10
FarmerCitizenMovementBoerBurgerBewegingBBBCaroline van der Plas11
BIJ1BIJ1BIJ1Sylvana Simons11
Group Van Haga [2]Groep-Van HagaWybren van Haga/3
Member Den Haan [4]Lid-Den HaanLiane den Haan/1
Member Omtzigt [1]Lid-OmtzigtPieter Omtzigt/1
Member Gündoğan [3]Lid-GündoğanNilüfer Gündoğan/1
Total150150

House of Representatives 2017-2021

change

The general elections for this House of Representatives were held on Wednesday 15 March 2017. This House was installed on 23 March 2017 and dissolved on 31 March 2021.

When the results were announced, the Labour Party (PvdA) lost many seats, while the winner, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) led by Mark Rutte, also lost seats, but not as many.

Most of the opposition parties won seats. The populist Party for Freedom (PVV) of Geert Wilders did not win as many seats as were expected of them, but they became second in the number of seats they had. More seats were won by (especially) GreenLeft (GL), Democrats 66 (D66), the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the Party for the Animals (PvdD), and 50PLUS (50+), along with the newly formed parties DENK and Forum for Democracy (FVD). The only other party to lose seats was the Socialist Party (SP), while the small Christian parties ChristianUnion (CU) and Reformed Political Party (SGP) did not gain or lose any seats.

President of the House of Representatives was Khadija Arib (PvdA).

PartyDutch nameShortenedParliamentary leaderOriginal seatsSeats
after changes
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy [5]Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en DemocratieVVDKlaas Dijkhoff3332
Party for FreedomPartij voor de VrijheidPVVGeert Wilders2020
Christian Democratic AppealChristen-Democratisch AppèlCDASybrand van Haersma Buma (-2019), Pieter Heerma (2019-)1919
Democrats 66Democraten 66D66Alexander Pechtold (-2018), Rob Jetten (2018-)1919
GreenLeftGroenLinksGLJesse Klaver1414
Socialist PartySocialistische PartijSPEmile Roemer (-2017), Lilian Marijnissen (2017-)1414
Labour PartyPartij van de ArbeidPvdALodewijk Asscher (-2021), Lilianne Ploumen (2021-)99
ChristianUnionChristenUnieCUGert-Jan Segers55
Party for the Animals [6]Partij voor de DierenPvdDMarianne Thieme (-2019), Esther Ouwehand (2019-)54
50PLUS [7]50PLUS50+Henk Krol (-2020), Corrie van Brenk (2020-)43
Reformed Political PartyStaatkundig Gereformeerde PartijSGPKees van der Staaij33
DENKDENKDENKTunahan Kuzu (-2020), Farid Azarkan (2020-)33
Forum for DemocracyForum voor DemocratieFVDThierry Baudet22
Member Van Haga [5]Lid-Van HagaWybren van Haga/1
Member Van Kooten [6]Lid-Van KootenFemke Merel van Kooten/1
Member Krol [7]Lid-KrolHenk Krol/1
Total150150

General elections results since 1946

change

Original seats in post-war Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer).[8]
Coalitian parties marked in olive.
Prime Minister's party in bold.[9]

Party2023202120172012201020062003200219981994198919861982198119771972197119671965196319591956195219481946
PVV37172015249
PvdA25 !9938303342234537495247445343393743434850302729
GL25 !8144107810115639961610988576810
* CPN33276544376810
* EVP1
* PPR223372
* PSP1331224442
VVD24343341312228243831222736262822161716161913986
* PvdV6
NSC20
D66924191210367142412961786117
BBB71
CDA5151913214144432934545445484948586976767577515453
* ARP14131513131415121313
* CHU7101213131213998
* KVP27354250504949303232
SP59141515259952
DENK333
PvdD365222
FVD382
SGP3333222232333333333333222
CU35555634553233122111
* GPV222111122111
* RPF331122
Volt23
JA2113
50+142
BIJ11
LPF826
LN2
AOV6
CD31
DS'70168
BP131733
others111221
Total coalition417876797680789397921038181109779782861069294127817661
Total150150150150150150150150150150150150150150150150150150150150150150100100100

! PvdA and GL together 25 seats

change

References

change
  1. 1.0 1.1 Member Omtzigt split from CDA.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Group Van Haga split from FVD.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Member Gündoğan split from Volt.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Member Den Haan split from 50+.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Member Van Haga split from VVD.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Member Van Kooten split from PvdD.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Member Krol split from 50+.
  8. www.nlverkiezingen.com
  9. Prime Minister's party:
    1956 elections: 1956-1958 PvdA, 1958-1959 KVP.
    1965 elections: 1965-1966 KVP, 1966-1967 ARP.
    1972 elections: 1972-1973 ARP, 1973-1977 PvdA.