electionstracker

Netherlands 2003 general election

What was the result of the 2003 general election in the Netherlands?

Christian Democratic Appeal won 44 of 150 seats with 28.6% of the vote. 80.0% 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 44 of 150 seats with 28.6% of the vote; 80.0% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 1.0 points on 2002.

  • Christian Democratic Appeal 44 +1 seat 28.6% +0.7 points
  • Labour Party 42 +19 seats 27.3% +12.2 points
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 28 +4 seats 17.9% +2.5 points
  • Socialist Party 9 0 seats 6.3% +0.4 points
  • Pim Fortuyn List 8 −18 seats 5.7% −11.3 points
  • GroenLinks 8 −2 seats 5.1% −1.8 points
  • Democrats 66 6 −1 seat 4.1% −1.0 points
  • Christian Union 3 −1 seat 2.1% −0.4 points
  • Reformed Political Party 2 0 seats 1.6% −0.2 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 2002 general election, party by party.

76 of 150 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 28.6%

    Share of the vote won by Christian Democratic Appeal

    Christian Democratic Appeal won 44 of 150 seats. A majority needs 76.

  2. +19 seats

    Seats gained by Labour Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 2002. Pim Fortuyn List lost 18 seats.

  3. 80.0%

    Voter turnout

    Up 1.0 points on 2002.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Christian Democratic Appeal44+128.6+0.72,763,480
Labour Party42+1927.3+12.22,631,363
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy28+417.9+2.51,728,707
Socialist Party906.3+0.4609,723
Pim Fortuyn List8−185.7−11.3549,975
GroenLinks8−25.1−1.8495,802
Democrats 666−14.1−1.0393,333
Christian Union3−12.1−0.4204,694
Reformed Political Party201.6−0.2150,305
Party for the Animals00.547,754

± is the change against the Netherlands 2002 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Christian Democratic Appeal 2,763,480
  • Labour Party 2,631,363
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 1,728,707
  • Socialist Party 609,723
  • Pim Fortuyn List 549,975
  • GroenLinks 495,802
  • Democrats 66 393,333
  • Christian Union 204,694
  • Reformed Political Party 150,305
  • Party for the Animals 47,754

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?

80.0% of the 12,076,711 registered voters cast a ballot (9,666,602 ballots), up 1.0 points on 2002. 9,654,475 of them were valid votes. The highest turnout since 1989 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Christian Democratic Appeal28.6% of votes29.3% of seats
  • Labour Party27.3% of votes28.0% of seats
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy17.9% of votes18.7% of seats
  • Socialist Party6.3% of votes6.0% of seats
  • Pim Fortuyn List5.7% of votes5.3% of seats
  • GroenLinks5.1% of votes5.3% of seats
  • Democrats 664.1% of votes4.0% of seats
  • Christian Union2.1% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Reformed Political Party1.6% of votes1.3% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 1.1 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 5.0 by votes and 4.7 by seats; Christian Democratic Appeal led Labour Party by 1.4 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of