electionstracker

Netherlands 1982 general election

What was the result of the 1982 general election in the Netherlands?

Labour Party won 47 of 150 seats with 30.4% of the vote. 81.0% 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 : Labour Party won 47 of 150 seats with 30.4% of the vote; 81.0% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 6.1 points on 1981.

  • Labour Party 47 +3 seats 30.4% +2.1 points
  • Christian Democratic Appeal 45 −3 seats 29.4% −1.4 points
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 36 +10 seats 23.1% +5.8 points
  • Democrats 66 6 −11 seats 4.3% −6.8 points
  • Pacifist Socialist Party 3 0 seats 2.3% +0.2 points
  • Reformed Political Party 3 0 seats 1.9% −0.1 points
  • Communist Party of the Netherlands 3 0 seats 1.8% −0.3 points
  • Political Party of Radicals 2 −1 seat 1.7% −0.3 points
  • Reformatory Political Federation 2 0 seats 1.5% +0.3 points
  • Centre Party 1 0.8%
  • Reformed Political League 1 0 seats 0.8% 0.0 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 1981 general election, party by party.

76 of 150 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 30.4%

    Share of the vote won by Labour Party

    Labour Party won 47 of 150 seats. A majority needs 76.

  2. +10 seats

    Seats gained by People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1981. Democrats 66 lost 11 seats.

  3. 81.0%

    Voter turnout

    Down 6.1 points on 1981.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Labour Party47+330.4+2.12,503,517
Christian Democratic Appeal45−329.4−1.42,420,441
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy36+1023.1+5.81,900,763
Democrats 666−114.3−6.8351,278
Pacifist Socialist Party302.3+0.2187,547
Reformed Political Party301.9−0.1156,636
Communist Party of the Netherlands301.8−0.3147,753
Political Party of Radicals2−11.7−0.3136,446
Reformatory Political Federation201.5+0.3124,235
Centre Party10.868,423
Reformed Political League100.80.067,163
Unnamed party with one seat10.756,466
Socialist Party00.644,959

± is the change against the Netherlands 1981 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Labour Party 2,503,517
  • Christian Democratic Appeal 2,420,441
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 1,900,763
  • Democrats 66 351,278
  • Pacifist Socialist Party 187,547
  • Reformed Political Party 156,636
  • Communist Party of the Netherlands 147,753
  • Political Party of Radicals 136,446
  • Reformatory Political Federation 124,235
  • Centre Party 68,423
  • Reformed Political League 67,163
  • Unnamed party with one seat 56,466
  • Socialist Party 44,959

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?

81.0% of the 10,216,627 registered voters cast a ballot (8,273,631 ballots), down 6.1 points on 1981. 8,236,516 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1971 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Labour Party30.4% of votes31.3% of seats
  • Christian Democratic Appeal29.4% of votes30.0% of seats
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy23.1% of votes24.0% of seats
  • Democrats 664.3% of votes4.0% of seats
  • Pacifist Socialist Party2.3% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Reformed Political Party1.9% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Communist Party of the Netherlands1.8% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Political Party of Radicals1.7% of votes1.3% of seats
  • Reformatory Political Federation1.5% of votes1.3% of seats
  • Centre Party0.8% of votes0.7% 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 4.2 by votes and 4.0 by seats; Labour Party led Christian Democratic Appeal by 1.0 point of the vote.

Time and source Data as of