2011 Dutch Senate election


The elections of the Dutch Senate of 2011 were held on 23 May 2011, following the provincial elections on 2 March 2011. The 566 members of the twelve States-Provincial elected the 75 Senate members. The new Senate was installed on 7 June 2011. The term ended on 8 June 2015.

Participating parties

Vote weights

The provinces have different population sizes, so the members of the States-Provincial cast weighted votes, to ensure that each vote represents the same number of people. The weight is determined by dividing the population of the province by the number of seats in the States of that province. This number is divided by 100 and rounded.
ProvinceSeatsPopulationVote weight
South Holland553,527,449641
North Holland552,691,426489
North Brabant552,453,936446
Gelderland552,005,298365
Utrecht471,228,579261
Overijssel471,134,434241
Limburg471,122,631239
Friesland43647,280151
Groningen43579,034135
Drenthe41491,342120
Flevoland39391,988101
Zeeland39381,58298

Result

Party20072011difference
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 1416+2
Labour Party 14140
Christian Democratic Appeal 2111−10
Party for Freedom 010+10
Socialist Party 128 *−4
Democrats 66 25 *+3
GreenLeft 45+1
ChristianUnion 42−2
Reformed Political Party 21−1
50PLUS 01+1
Party for the Animals 110
Independent Senate Group 110
Total75750

The coalition parties VVD and CDA and their supporting party, the PVV, won 37 seats in this election, one short of an overall majority. However, the coalition-friendly SGP won the last needed seat, and it is expected that the SGP will help the cabinet in obtaining a majority on most issues.
- * Democrats 66 missed a seat and the Socialist Party gained one due to a mistake of North Holland States-Provincial member Wim Cool, who voted with a blue writing device instead of the prescribed red one.