Local elections 2018: GroenLinks win in Amsterdam but a left-wing coalition will be tricky
GroenLinks emerged as the big winner in Amsterdam in Wednesday’s local elections, boosting its share of the city council vote from six to 10 seats – according to preliminary results. D66, who overtook the PvdA four years ago, slumped from 14 to eight.
The final results from Amsterdam will not be published until Friday morning. Although all the ballot papers have been counted, the reports from each of the city’s 560 polling stations still have to be processed, according to the Parool newspaper.
Watching the results come in, one D66 supporter told the Parool: ‘This is awful, but it is also what you get if you take responsibility in this country.’
Housing had been the biggest issue in the local campaign and support for the Socialist Party, who held the housing portfolio, has halved. The party had also campaigned on an Amsterdam for Amsterdammers ticket.
Newcomers Denk and Forum voor Democracy are both likely to enter the city council with three seats, while the ChristenUnie, Bij1 founded tv presenter Sylvana Simons and the pensioners party PvdO may debut with one seat in the 45 seat council chamber.
The results mean GroenLinks leader Rutger Groot Wassink will need at least four parties to put together the left-leaning administration he has already said is his preference.
In total, 12 parties are now represented on the city council.
New council make-up:
GroenLinks 10 (6)
D66 8 (14)
VVD 6 (6)
PvdA 5 (10)
SP 6 (3)
PvdD 3 (1)
Denk 3
Fvd 3
CDA 1 (1)
PvdO 1
CU 1
Bij1 1
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