Student parties are holding their ground everywhere

The provisional results of the local elections are in for all municipalities. Local parties often come out on top, except in the biggest cities.

The far-right party Forum for Democracy (FvD) has won seats in many municipalities. It is also gaining a foothold in university towns, although it usually secures only one or two seats. FvD has secured just one seat in Utrecht. Enschede (3) and Eindhoven (4) were the only cities where it won more.

The left-wing party GroenLinks-PvdA is the largest party in most student cities. This is an alliance formed by the Green Left and the Labour Party, which officially remain two separate parties, but have merged in many municipalities, just as they did in the House of Representatives. Amsterdam is one of the exceptions.

Student parties contested the elections in various cities. The largest, called STIP, is based in Delft and has retained six seats. Student parties are also holding their ground in Groningen (3) and Leiden (2). In Utrecht, Student & Starter has dropped from two to one seat. In Maastricht, the student party MOED also holds one seat on the council. Connect Wageningen no longer fits into this list, as it has merged with the European-leaning party Volt. Together, they have gone from two to one seat.

Cities
In Utrecht, GroenLinks-PvdA emerged as the largest party, with fourteen seats. The distribution of seats continues as follows: D66 (9), VVD (5), CDA (3), Party for the Animals (2), DENK (2), Volt (1), Student & Starter (1), BIJ1 (1), Ja21 (1), ChristenUnie (1), EenUtrecht (1), Stadsbelang Utrecht  (1), FvD  (1), Utrecht Solidair (1), and Utrecht Nu! (1). PVV and SP both lost their only seats in Utrecht.

GroenLinks gained two seats in the capital, Amsterdam, while PvdA lost two. They now hold ten and seven seats, respectively. This means that left-wing parties remain by far the largest bloc. D66 (8) and VVD (6) both gained one seat.

Rotterdam (along with The Hague) is an exception to the rule that local parties struggle to gain a foothold in large cities. GroenLinks-PvdA and Leefbaar Rotterdam made slight gains, and both ended up with eleven seats. They are followed by D66 and the VVD, each with five seats.

GroenLinks has won two seats in Nijmegen and now holds eleven seats. PvdA remains a separate party there as well, with four seats. Together, they have more than twice as many seats as D66, which has gone from six to seven. Stadspartij Nijmegen has lost a seat, dropping to six.

GroenLinks and the PvdA remain two separate camps in Maastricht too, and obtained four and three seats, respectively. But the winners there are D66 and CDA, both of which have jumped from four to six seats.

With ten seats, GroenLinks-PvdA remains by far the largest party in Wageningen, although it lost two seats. Party for the Animals, which has always viewed animal testing at the university with great suspicion, secured two seats.

Eindhoven has seen a rise in support for CDA and D66, but GroenLinks-PvdA (13) remains by far the largest party and has lost only one seat. The local parties have yet to gain a foothold here, but FvD (4) has.

In Enschede, GroenLinks-PvdA is now level with the local party Burgerbelangen Enschede, which has lost two seats. They now both have eight seats. FvD is also notable, with three seats.

The student party STIP is no longer in joint first place in Delft. It won six seats, just as it did last time, but has been overtaken by D66 (from 6 to 7 seats). GroenLinks also had six, but has merged with PvdA and now has nine seats.

In Leiden, GroenLinks-PvdA lost two seats, but remains the largest party, with twelve seats. The parties D66 and Partij Sleutelstad follow with six seats each. The latter saw an increase of three seats. Students for Leiden has two seats, just like last time.

In the far north, in the student city of Groningen, GroenLinks-PvdA also lost two seats, but remains the largest party with thirteen seats. D66 managed to secure six seats this year, whilst the Party for the Animals and VVD each secured four. Student en Stad has three, just as in 2022.

In Tilburg, GroenLinks-PvdA had to compete with the local party Lijst Smolders Tilburg. Both parties secured eight seats. They were closely followed by VVD with seven seats and D66 with six.

In The Hague, the local party Hart voor Den Haag/De Mos emerged as the big winner, winning 16 seats. That is seven more than in 2022. Trailing some way behind are D66 with eight seats and GroenLinks-PvdA with seven.

In Breda, VVD and GroenLinks-PvdA lost one seat each, but they remain in first and second place. CDA and Breda Beslist are making gains.