electionstracker

Netherlands 2012 general election

What was the result of the 2012 general election in the Netherlands?

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy won 41 of 150 seats with 26.6% of the vote. 74.6% 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 : People's Party for Freedom and Democracy won 41 of 150 seats with 26.6% of the vote; 74.6% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 0.8 points on 2010.

  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 41 +10 seats 26.6% +6.1 points
  • Labour Party 38 +8 seats 24.8% +5.2 points
  • Party for Freedom 15 −9 seats 10.1% −5.4 points
  • Socialist Party 15 0 seats 9.7% −0.2 points
  • Christian Democratic Appeal 13 −8 seats 8.5% −5.1 points
  • Democrats 66 12 +2 seats 8.0% +1.1 points
  • Christian Union 5 0 seats 3.1% −0.1 points
  • GroenLinks 4 −6 seats 2.3% −4.3 points
  • Reformed Political Party 3 +1 seat 2.1% +0.3 points
  • Party for the Animals 2 0 seats 1.9% +0.6 points
  • 50PLUS 2 1.9%
  • 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 2010 general election, party by party.

76 of 150 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 26.6%

    Share of the vote won by People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

    People's Party for Freedom and Democracy won 41 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 2010. Party for Freedom lost 9 seats.

  3. 74.6%

    Voter turnout

    Down 0.8 points on 2010.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy41+1026.6+6.12,504,948
Labour Party38+824.8+5.22,340,750
Party for Freedom15−910.1−5.4950,263
Socialist Party1509.7−0.2909,853
Christian Democratic Appeal13−88.5−5.1801,620
Democrats 6612+28.0+1.1757,091
Christian Union503.1−0.1294,586
GroenLinks4−62.3−4.3219,896
Reformed Political Party3+12.1+0.3196,780
Party for the Animals201.9+0.6182,162
50PLUS21.9177,631
Largest party without seats000.3−0.230,600

± is the change against the Netherlands 2010 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 2,504,948
  • Labour Party 2,340,750
  • Party for Freedom 950,263
  • Socialist Party 909,853
  • Christian Democratic Appeal 801,620
  • Democrats 66 757,091
  • Christian Union 294,586
  • GroenLinks 219,896
  • Reformed Political Party 196,780
  • Party for the Animals 182,162
  • 50PLUS 177,631
  • Largest party without seats 30,600

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?

74.6% of the 12,689,810 registered voters cast a ballot (9,462,223 ballots), down 0.8 points on 2010. 9,424,235 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1998 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy26.6% of votes27.3% of seats
  • Labour Party24.8% of votes25.3% of seats
  • Party for Freedom10.1% of votes10.0% of seats
  • Socialist Party9.7% of votes10.0% of seats
  • Christian Democratic Appeal8.5% of votes8.7% of seats
  • Democrats 668.0% of votes8.0% of seats
  • Christian Union3.1% of votes3.3% of seats
  • GroenLinks2.3% of votes2.7% of seats
  • Reformed Political Party2.1% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Party for the Animals1.9% of votes1.3% of seats
  • 50PLUS1.9% of votes1.3% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 1.0 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 5.9 by votes and 5.7 by seats; People's Party for Freedom and Democracy led Labour Party by 1.7 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of