electionstracker

Netherlands 1959 general election

What was the result of the 1959 general election in the Netherlands?

Catholic People's Party won 49 of 150 seats with 31.6% of the vote. 95.6% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Netherlands
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Catholic People's Party won 49 of 150 seats with 31.6% of the vote; 95.6% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 0.1 points on 1956.

  • Catholic People's Party 49 0 seats 31.6% −0.1 points
  • Labour Party 48 −2 seats 30.4% −2.3 points
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 19 +6 seats 12.2% +3.4 points
  • Anti-Revolutionary Party 14 −1 seat 9.4% −0.5 points
  • Christian Historical Union 12 −1 seat 8.1% −0.3 points
  • Communist Party of the Netherlands 3 −4 seats 2.4% −2.3 points
  • Reformed Political Party 3 0 seats 2.2% −0.1 points
  • Pacifist Socialist Party 2 1.8%
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Netherlands 1956 general election, party by party.

76 of 150 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 31.6%

    Share of the vote won by Catholic People's Party

    Catholic People's Party won 49 of 150 seats. A majority needs 76.

  2. +6 seats

    Seats gained by People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1956. Communist Party of the Netherlands lost 4 seats.

  3. 95.6%

    Voter turnout

    Up 0.1 points on 1956.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Catholic People's Party49031.6−0.11,895,914
Labour Party48−230.4−2.31,821,285
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy19+612.2+3.4732,658
Anti-Revolutionary Party14−19.4−0.5563,091
Christian Historical Union12−18.1−0.3486,429
Communist Party of the Netherlands3−42.4−2.3144,542
Reformed Political Party302.2−0.1129,678
Pacifist Socialist Party21.8110,499
Reformed Political League000.70.039,972

± is the change against the Netherlands 1956 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Catholic People's Party 1,895,914
  • Labour Party 1,821,285
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 732,658
  • Anti-Revolutionary Party 563,091
  • Christian Historical Union 486,429
  • Communist Party of the Netherlands 144,542
  • Reformed Political Party 129,678
  • Pacifist Socialist Party 110,499
  • Reformed Political League 39,972

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

95.6% of the 6,427,864 registered voters cast a ballot (6,143,409 ballots), up 0.1 points on 1956. 5,999,531 of them were valid votes. The highest turnout of this kind in our data, which begins in 1946.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Catholic People's Party31.6% of votes32.7% of seats
  • Labour Party30.4% of votes32.0% of seats
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy12.2% of votes12.7% of seats
  • Anti-Revolutionary Party9.4% of votes9.3% of seats
  • Christian Historical Union8.1% of votes8.0% of seats
  • Communist Party of the Netherlands2.4% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Reformed Political Party2.2% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Pacifist Socialist Party1.8% of votes1.3% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 1.6 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 4.5 by votes and 4.1 by seats; Catholic People's Party led Labour Party by 1.2 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of