electionstracker

Netherlands 1981 general election

What was the result of the 1981 general election in the Netherlands?

Christian Democratic Appeal won 48 of 150 seats with 30.8% of the vote. 87.0% 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 : Christian Democratic Appeal won 48 of 150 seats with 30.8% of the vote; 87.0% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 1.0 points on 1977.

  • Christian Democratic Appeal 48 −1 seat 30.8% −1.1 points
  • Labour Party 44 −9 seats 28.3% −5.5 points
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 26 −2 seats 17.3% −0.6 points
  • Democrats 66 17 +9 seats 11.1% +5.6 points
  • Pacifist Socialist Party 3 +2 seats 2.1% +1.2 points
  • Communist Party of the Netherlands 3 +1 seat 2.0% +0.3 points
  • Reformed Political Party 3 0 seats 2.0% −0.2 points
  • Political Party of Radicals 3 0 seats 2.0% +0.3 points
  • Reformatory Political Federation 2 +2 seats 1.3% +0.6 points
  • Reformed Political League 1 0 seats 0.8% −0.1 points
  • 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 1977 general election, party by party.

76 of 150 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 30.8%

    Share of the vote won by Christian Democratic Appeal

    Christian Democratic Appeal won 48 of 150 seats. A majority needs 76.

  2. +9 seats

    Seats gained by Democrats 66

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1977. Labour Party lost 9 seats.

  3. 87.0%

    Voter turnout

    Down 1.0 points on 1977.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Christian Democratic Appeal48−130.8−1.12,677,259
Labour Party44−928.3−5.52,458,452
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy26−217.3−0.61,505,311
Democrats 6617+911.1+5.6961,121
Pacifist Socialist Party3+22.1+1.2184,422
Communist Party of the Netherlands3+12.0+0.3178,292
Reformed Political Party302.0−0.2171,324
Political Party of Radicals302.0+0.3171,042
Reformatory Political Federation2+21.3+0.6108,364
Reformed Political League100.8−0.170,878
Democratic Socialists '700−10.6−0.248,568

± is the change against the Netherlands 1977 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Christian Democratic Appeal 2,677,259
  • Labour Party 2,458,452
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 1,505,311
  • Democrats 66 961,121
  • Pacifist Socialist Party 184,422
  • Communist Party of the Netherlands 178,292
  • Reformed Political Party 171,324
  • Political Party of Radicals 171,042
  • Reformatory Political Federation 108,364
  • Reformed Political League 70,878
  • Democratic Socialists '70 48,568

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?

87.0% of the 10,040,121 registered voters cast a ballot (8,738,238 ballots), down 1.0 points on 1977. 8,690,837 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Christian Democratic Appeal30.8% of votes32.0% of seats
  • Labour Party28.3% of votes29.3% of seats
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy17.3% of votes17.3% of seats
  • Democrats 6611.1% of votes11.3% of seats
  • Pacifist Socialist Party2.1% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Communist Party of the Netherlands2.0% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Political Party of Radicals2.0% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Reformed Political Party2.0% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Reformatory Political Federation1.3% of votes1.3% of seats
  • Reformed Political League0.8% of votes0.7% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 1.2 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 4.6 by votes and 4.3 by seats; Christian Democratic Appeal led Labour Party by 2.5 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of