Here’s what you need to know about election night: Amsterdam is once again a red stronghold

The Amsterdam election night only really got going on Wednesday evening around 10:30 pm. After a neck-and-neck race with GroenLinks, the Labor Party (PvdA) turns out to be the largest in the city. The party wins the municipal elections with nine seats, which attracted the lowest turnout ever.

Amsterdam can again expect a progressive city government in the next four years. After the PvdA had to hand over the leadership to GroenLinks for eight years, the social democrats are back. Or as alderman and party leader Marjolein Moorman, to whom the ‘Marjolein effect’ was attributed, said on the results evening in the ecstatic Kompaszaal: “Social democracy is far from dead.”

‘Not from the left yet’

This was already apparent from the exit poll that Ipsos conducted at the request of the NOS. It was presented around 10.30 pm on Wednesday evening, based on 22 voting locations in Amsterdam. The PvdA would become the largest party in Amsterdam with 17.3 percent, 9 seats, GroenLinks scored 16.5 percent (9 seats).

However, around 00.30 in the night from Wednesday to Thursday, Mayor Femke Halsema was able to report the provisional result, based on 83 percent of the votes counted. What seems? The PvdA can count on nine seats, GroenLinks on eight.

Still, GroenLinks is not sorry about it. At the start of the campaign, the party seemed to be heading for a halving, in the following weeks the loss increased slightly, but all GroenLinks in the city still expected a blow. The final poll by the municipal research agency OIS also put GroenLinks at a significant loss, but with a loss of 4 percent, that is smaller than expected.

Party chairman Jesse Klaver: “For all those right-wing politicians who thought last year: we’ve got rid of them. I do not think so.”

Result ‘too crazy’

With this result, it seems that the coalition parties PvdA, GroenLinks and D66 – for which it was not a historic night – can continue to govern. Together, the three parties have 25 seats, while 23 seats are needed for a majority to form a city council. This also means that the participation of the VVD, which loses a seat, is not necessary for a new city council.

For the newcomers to the Amsterdam council it was mainly a party. Volt enters the council with two seats. The European party was actually hoping for three, but national party leader Laurens Dassen thinks the result is ‘great’†

Triple for Bee1

JA21 storms into the council with two seats – the party was already represented on the council, but the councilors were elected four years ago as part of Forum for Democracy. Although this party also hoped for a bigger profit, namely a doubling, party leader Annabel Nanninga was satisfied with the two seats she had. “We keep two seats in the lion’s den.”

A party that could speak of a tripling of the number is Bij1. The party goes from one to three seats. Party leader Jazie Veldhuyzen: “This result shows that we have the potential to become bigger. I am proud of the volunteers and candidates. They have worked themselves to pieces.”

Lowest attendance ever

A setback for every party, however, is the turnout percentage: it has never been so low for the Amsterdam municipal elections as this year. The preliminary turnout is 46 percent, which is one percentage point lower than the lowest turnout so far in 1998 (47 percent).

This trend can be seen in several major cities. The turnout in Rotterdam was also much lower than four years ago: 38.9 compared to 46.7 percent. Minister Hanke Bruins Slot (Internal Affairs) will soon investigate the lower turnout.