1971 Dutch general election

1971 Dutch general election

28 April 1971
Turnout	79.1%
Party Leader % Seats +/– PvdA Joop den Uyl 24.5% 39 +2 KVP Gerard Veringa 21.8% 35 −7 VVD Molly Geertsema 10.3% 16 −1 ARP Barend Biesheuvel 8.5% 13 −2 D66 Hans van Mierlo 6.7% 11 +4 CHU Bé Udink 4.4% 7 −3 DS'70 Willem Drees Jr. 5.3% 8 New CPN Marcus Bakker 3.8% 6 +1 SGP Hette Abma 2.3% 3 0 PPR Jacques Aarden 1.8% 2 New GPV Piet Jongeling 1.6% 2 +1 NMP Albert te Pas 1.5% 2 New PSP Hans Wiebenga 1.4% 2 −2 BP Hendrik Koekoek 1.1% 1 −6 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Seats Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Piet de Jong KVP Barend Biesheuvel ARP

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 28 April 1971. The Labour Party (PvdA) emerged as the largest party, winning 39 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives. The elections were the first without compulsory voting, causing a sharp fall in voter turnout, down to 79.1% from 94.9% in the 1967 elections. Barend Biesheuvel of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) became Prime Minister, leading the first Biesheuvel cabinet.

His cabinet contained a broad coalition of parties, with ministers from ARP, Christian Historical Union (both Protestant), the Catholic People's Party, the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and moderate socialist Democratic Socialists '70 (DS'70), which had just split off from the PvdA.

However, Biesheuvel's government was short-lived; following a decision to cut government spending, DS'70 withdrew from the government, causing it to lose its majority and fresh elections to be held after just a year and seven months.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Labour Party	1,554,280	24.6	39	+2
Catholic People's Party	1,379,672	21.8	35	–7
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	653,370	10.3	16	–1
Anti-Revolutionary Party	542,742	8.6	13	–2
Democrats 1966	428,067	6.8	11	+4
Christian Historical Union	399,106	6.3	10	–2
Democratic Socialists '70	336,714	5.3	8	New
Communist Party of the Netherlands	246,569	3.9	6	+1
Reformed Political Party	148,192	2.3	3	0
Political Party of Radicals	116,049	1.8	2	New
Reformed Political League	101,790	1.6	2	+1
New Middle Party	95,706	1.5	2	New
Pacifist Socialist Party	90,738	1.4	2	–2
Farmers' Party	69,656	1.1	1	–6
General Elderly Party of the Netherlands	26,878	0.4	0	New
Dutch Appeal	24,376	0.4	0	New
New Roman-Catholic Party	23,047	0.4	0	New
Kabouters	21,982	0.3	0	New
Elderly and Labour Party	21,488	0.3	0	New
Binding Right	15,137	0.2	0	New
Democrats 2000	7,189	0.1	0	New
Elderly Party 65+	5,739	0.1	0	New
Van Velsen List	3,676	0.1	0	New
Elderly Party General Interest	1,840	0.0	0	New
Stichting Gedupeerde Groepen 18+ t/m 65+	1,647	0.0	0	New
Rural Party for the Elderly	1,620	0.0	0	New
Party of the Right	477	0.0	0	0
Positive Social Democrats	400	0.0	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	46,567	–	–	–
Total	6,364,719	100	150	0
Registered voters/turnout	8,048,726	79.1	–	–
Source: Nederlandse verkiezingsuitslagen

Popular Vote PvdA   24.60% KVP   21.84% VVD   10.34% ARP   8.59% D66   6.78% CHU   6.32% DS70   5.33% CPN   3.90% SGP   2.35% PPR   1.84% GPV   1.61% NMP   1.51% PSP   1.44% BP   1.10% Other   2.46%