electionstracker

Netherlands 1998 general election

What was the result of the 1998 general election in the Netherlands?

Labour Party won 45 of 150 seats with 29.0% of the vote. 73.3% 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 45 of 150 seats with 29.0% of the vote; 73.3% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 5.5 points on 1994.

  • Labour Party 45 +8 seats 29.0% +5.0 points
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 38 +7 seats 24.7% +4.7 points
  • Christian Democratic Appeal 29 −5 seats 18.4% −3.9 points
  • Democrats 66 14 −10 seats 9.0% −6.5 points
  • GroenLinks 11 +6 seats 7.3% +3.8 points
  • Socialist Party 5 +3 seats 3.5% +2.2 points
  • Reformatory Political Federation 3 0 seats 2.0% +0.3 points
  • Reformed Political Party 3 +1 seat 1.8% +0.1 points
  • Reformed Political League 2 0 seats 1.3% −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 1994 general election, party by party.

76 of 150 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 29.0%

    Share of the vote won by Labour Party

    Labour Party won 45 of 150 seats. A majority needs 76.

  2. +8 seats

    Seats gained by Labour Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1994. Democrats 66 lost 10 seats.

  3. 73.3%

    Voter turnout

    Down 5.5 points on 1994.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Labour Party45+829.0+5.02,494,555
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy38+724.7+4.72,124,971
Christian Democratic Appeal29−518.4−3.91,581,053
Democrats 6614−109.0−6.5773,497
GroenLinks11+67.3+3.8625,968
Socialist Party5+33.5+2.2303,703
Reformatory Political Federation302.0+0.3174,593
Reformed Political Party3+11.8+0.1153,583
Reformed Political League201.3−0.1108,724
Centre Democrats0−30.6−1.952,226

± is the change against the Netherlands 1994 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Labour Party 2,494,555
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 2,124,971
  • Christian Democratic Appeal 1,581,053
  • Democrats 66 773,497
  • GroenLinks 625,968
  • Socialist Party 303,703
  • Reformatory Political Federation 174,593
  • Reformed Political Party 153,583
  • Reformed Political League 108,724
  • Centre Democrats 52,226

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?

73.3% of the 11,755,132 registered voters cast a ballot (8,622,222 ballots), down 5.5 points on 1994. 8,607,787 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout of this kind in our data, which begins in 1946.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Labour Party29.0% of votes30.0% of seats
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy24.7% of votes25.3% of seats
  • Christian Democratic Appeal18.4% of votes19.3% of seats
  • Democrats 669.0% of votes9.3% of seats
  • GroenLinks7.3% of votes7.3% of seats
  • Socialist Party3.5% of votes3.3% of seats
  • Reformatory Political Federation2.0% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Reformed Political Party1.8% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Reformed Political League1.3% of votes1.3% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 1.2 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 5.1 by votes and 4.8 by seats; Labour Party led People's Party for Freedom and Democracy by 4.3 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of