Provincial council (Netherlands)

For the states provincial in early modern France, see States provincial (France).

The provincial council (Dutch: Provinciale Staten, PS), also known as the States Provincial, is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has the responsibility for matters of sub-national or regional importance. The number of seats in a provincial council is proportional to its population.

The provincial councils originated as Estates assemblies in the Middle Ages, hence the name 'States Provincial'. From 1813 to 1850, the noble members of the ridderschap chose one-third of the members of the provincial councils. Johan Rudolf Thorbecke's reforms and his 'Provinces Law' (Provinciewet) of 1850 brought this privilege to an end.

The provincial council chooses the provincial executive, which is the executive organ of the province. Originally, the States Provincial themselves also had executive powers and chose the provincial executive from among their own members. On 11 March 2003, the two institutions split.

The principal roles of the provincial council have become to set general policies, represent the people, approve provincial legislation and the annual budget and to oversee the executive. Both the provincial executive and the provincial council are chaired by the King's Commissioner in the province, appointed by the monarch every six years.

The last provincial elections were held on 15 March 2023.

Three months after their election, the combined members of the States Provincial elect the members of the Senate of the States General of the Netherlands.

Number of seats in each provincial council

The size of the provincial councils ranges from 39 members for a province with less than 400,000 inhabitants to 55 members for a province with more than 2,000,000 inhabitants.

Before 2007, they ranged from 47 members for a province with less than 200,000 inhabitants to 83 members for a province with more than 2,500,000 inhabitants. As a consequence of a change to the Provinciewet, starting at the provincial elections of 7 March 2007, the total number of provincial councillors was reduced from 764 to 564. A survey of the change in seats per province:

Province	Seats 2003	Seats 2007	Seats 2011	Seats 2015	Seats 2019	Seats 2023
Groningen	55	43	43	43	43	43
Friesland	55	43	43	43	43	43
Drenthe	51	41	41	41	41	43
Overijssel	63	47	47	47	47	47
Flevoland	47	39	39	41	41	41
Gelderland	75	53	55	55	55	55
Utrecht	63	47	47	49	49	49
North Holland	83	55	55	55	55	55
South Holland	83	55	55	55	55	55
Zeeland	47	39	39	39	39	39
North Brabant	79	55	55	55	55	55
Limburg	63	47	47	47	47	47
Total	764	564	566	570	570	572

A consequence of this reduction in the number of seats is that the election threshold (the minimum number of votes needed for a party to gain at least one seat in an assembly) has risen. Depending on the province, the threshold now lies between 1.5% and over 2% of the votes. Because of this, it has become harder for small parties to win a seat. This may also have consequences for the representation of small parties in the Senate, which is elected by the members of the States Provincial.

National results

Outcome of the provincial elections calculated at national level:

Political party	2003*	2007	2011	2015	2019	2023
Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB)	–	–	–	–	–	137
Forum for Democracy (FvD)	–	–	–	–	86	15
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)	103	102	112	89	80	63
Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA)	169	151	86	89	72	43
GroenLinks (GL)	37	33	34	30	61	51
Labour Party (PvdA)	150	114	107	63	53	46
Party for Freedom (PVV)	–	0	69	66	40	34
Democrats 66 (D66)	20	9	42	67	40	32
Socialist Party (SP)	29	83	56	70	35	23
Christian Union (CU)	19	35	23	29	31	22
Party for the Animals (PvdD)	0	8	7	18	20	25
JA21	–	–	–	–	–	22
50Plus	0	0	9	14	17	8
Reformed Political Party (SGP)	13	13	12	18	14	16
Denk (DENK)	–	–	–	–	4	0
Volt	–	–	–	–	–	11
GroenLinks–PvdA^[1]	–	–	–	–	–	6
CU – SGP^[2]	4	3	1	2	1	1
Pim Fortuyn List (LPF)	10	0	–	–	-	-
Regionalist parties	10	13	8	15	15	17
Total	564	564	566	570	570	572
Turnout	47.62%	46.40%	55.97%	47.76%	56.16%	58.80%

Note *: 2003 election calculated for the 2007 number of seats (564).

Elections by party by province

Provincial elections, 2003

Outcome of the 2003 Dutch provincial elections:

Province	2003
	CDA	PvdA	VVD	GL	SP	D66	CU	SGP	LPF	(others)	total
Groningen	12	20	7	5	3	2	4	0	0	2	55
Friesland	16	15	6	3	1	1	3		0	7+1+1+1	55
Drenthe	12	19	9	4	0	2	2	0	1	2	51
Overijssel	24	15	9	3	3	2	4	2	1	0	63
Flevoland	10	12	11	3	2	2	4	1	2	0	47
Gelderland	24	18	13	5	4	3	3	4	1	0	75
Utrecht	16	14	14	6	3	4	3	2	1	0	63
North Holland	17	24	20	8	5	5	1		2	1	83
South Holland	20	20	18	5	4	4	3	4	4	1	83
Zeeland	13	10	7	2	2	1	3	6	0	1+2	47
North Brabant	30	17	15	4	6	3	1		2	1	79
Limburg	28	14	9	3	4	2	0	0	1	2	63
Total	222	198	138	51	37	31	26+5	19+5	15	22	764

Provincial elections, 2007

Outcome of the 2007 Dutch provincial elections:

Province	2007
	CDA	PvdA	VVD	GL	SP	D66	CU	SGP	PvdD	(others)	total
Groningen	9	12	5	3	7	1	4	0	1	1	43
Friesland	12	12	5	2	4	0	3	0	0	5	43
Drenthe	10	13	8	2	5	0	3	0	0	0	41
Overijssel	17	9	7	2	6	0	5	1	0	0	47
Flevoland	8	7	9	2	6	0	5	1	1	0	39
Gelderland	15	10	9	3	7	1	4	3	1	0	53
Utrecht	11	8	10	4	5	2	4	1	1	1	47
North Holland	11	10	13	5	9	2	2		2	1	55
South Holland	13	10	12	3	8	1	4	2	1	1	55
Zeeland	10	6	6	2	5	0	3	5	0	2	39
North Brabant	18	8	11	2	12	1	1		1	1	55
Limburg	18	8	7	2	9	1	0	0	1	1	47
Total	151	114	102	32	83	9	35+3	13+3	9	13	564

Due to defections from one party to another and other such reasons the number of seats can fluctuate during each inter-elections period. This table only shows the distribution straight after the elections.

The named 'others' for 2007 are:

• in Groningen: PvhN (by 1 seat)
• in Friesland: FNP (by 5 seats)
• in Utrecht: Mooi Utrecht (by 1 seat)
• in North Holland: ONH/Verenigd Senioren Partij (by 1 seat)
• in South Holland: Leefbaar Zuid-Holland (by 1 seat)
• in Zeeland: PvZ (by 2 seats)
• in North Brabant: Brabantse Partij (by 1 seat)
• in Limburg: PNL (by 1 seat)

Provincial elections, 2011

Outcome of the 2011 Dutch provincial elections:

Province	2011
	CDA	PvdA	VVD	GL	SP	D66	CU	SGP	PvdD	PVV	50+	(others)	total
Groningen	5	12	6	3	6	3	3	0	1	3	0	1	43
Friesland	8	11	6	2	3	2	3	0	0	4	0	4	43
Drenthe	6	12	9	2	4	2	2	0	0	4	0	0	41
Overijssel	11	9	8	2	4	3	3	2	0	4	1	0	47
Flevoland	4	6	9	2	3	3	3	1	1	6	1	0	39
Gelderland	9	9	11	4	5	4	3	2	1	6	1	0	55
Utrecht	6	7	11	4	4	5	2	1	1	5	1	0	47
North Holland	5	11	13	5	5	6	1		1	6	1	1	55
South Holland	6	10	12	3	5	5	2	2	1	8	1	0	55
Zeeland	6	7	7	1	3	2	2	4	0	5	0	2	39
North Brabant	10	7	12	3	8	5	0		1	8	1	0	55
Limburg	10	6	8	3	6	2	0	0	0	10	2	0	47
Total	86	107	112	34	56	42	23+1	12+1	7	69	9	8	566

The named 'others' for 2011 are:

• in Groningen: PvhN (by 1 seat)
• in Friesland: FNP (by 4 seats)
• in North Holland: ONH (by 1 seat)
• in Zeeland: PvZ (by 2 seats)

Provincial elections, 2015

Outcome of the 2015 Dutch provincial elections:

Province	2015
	CDA	PvdA	VVD	GL	SP	D66	CU	SGP	PvdD	PVV	50+	(others)	total
Groningen	5	6	4	3	8	4	4	–	2	3	–	3+1	43
Friesland	9	7	5	1	5	3	3	–	1	4	1	4	43
Drenthe	6	7	7	2	5	4	3	0	–	5	1	1	41
Overijssel	11	5	6	2	5	5	4	2	1	5	1	0	47
Flevoland	5	3	7	2	5	4	3	2	2	6	2	0	41
Gelderland	9	6	9	3	6	7	4	3	2	5	1	0	55
Utrecht	6	5	9	4	4	9	3	2	2	4	1	0	49
North Holland	5	7	11	4	6	10	1		3	6	1	1	55
South Holland	7	5	10	3	5	7	3	3	2	8	2	0	55
Zeeland	6	4	6	1	4	3	2	6	–	4	1	1+1	39
North Brabant	9	4	10	3	9	7	1		2	7	2	1	55
Limburg	11	4	5	2	8	4	–	–	1	9	1	1+1	47
Total	89	63	89	30	70	67	29+2	18+2	18	66	14	15	570

The named 'others' for 2015 are:

• in Groningen: Groninger Belang (by 3 seats), PvhN (by 1 seat)
• in Friesland: FNP (by 4 seats)
• in Drenthe; Sterk Lokaal (by 1 seat)
• in North Holland: ONH (by 1 seat)
• in Zeeland: Zeeland Lokaal (by 1 seat), PvZ (by 1 seat)
• in North Brabant: Lokaal Brabant (by 1 seat)
• in Limburg: Volkspartij Limburg (by 1 seat), Lokaal-Limburg (by 1 seat)

Provincial elections, 2019

Outcome of the 2019 Dutch provincial elections:

Province	2019
	FVD	CDA	PvdA	VVD	GL	SP	D66	CU	SGP	PvdD	PVV	50+	DENK	(others)	total
Groningen	5	3	5	4	6	4	3	4	–	1	2	1	–	3+2	43
Friesland	6	8	6	4	3	2	2	3	–	1	3	1	–	4	43
Drenthe	6	5	6	6	4	3	2	3	–	1	3	1	–	1	41
Overijssel	6	9	4	6	5	3	3	4	2	1	3	1	–	–	47
Flevoland	8	3	3	6	4	2	2	3	1	2	4	2	1	–	41
Gelderland	8	7	5	8	6	3	4	4	3	2	3	2	–	–	55
Utrecht	6	5	4	8	8	2	5	4	1	2	2	1	1	–	49
North Holland	9	4	6	9	9	3	6	1	–	3	3	1^[3]	1	–	55
South Holland	11	4	4	10	5	2	5	3	2	2	4	2	1	–	55
Zeeland	5	7	4	4	2	2	1	2	5	1	2	2	–	2	39
North Brabant	9	8	3	10	5	5	5	1		2	4	2	–	1	55
Limburg	7	9	3	5	4	4	3	–	–	2	7	1	–	2	47
Total	86	72	53	80	61	35	41	31+1	14+1	20	40	17	4	15	570

The named 'others' for 2019 are:

• in Groningen: Groninger Belang (by 3 seats), PvhN (by 2 seats)
• in Friesland: FNP (by 4 seats)
• in Drenthe; Sterk Lokaal (by 1 seat)
• in Zeeland: PvZ (by 2 seats)
• in North Brabant: Lokaal Brabant (by 1 seat)
• in Limburg: Lokaal-Limburg (by 2 seats)

Provincial elections, 2023

Outcome of the 2023 Dutch provincial elections:

Province	2023
	BBB	CDA	VVD	PvdA	GL	SP	D66	CU	SGP	PvdD	PVV	FVD	50+	JA21	Volt	(others)	total
Groningen	12	2	2	5	5	2	2	3	–	2	2	1	–	–	1	3+1	43
Friesland	14	4	3	5	3	1	1	2	–	1	2	1	–	1	–	4+1	43
Drenthe	17	3	4	4	2	2	1	2	–	2	2	1	–	1	1	1	43
Overijssel	17	4	4	3	4	1	2	3	2	1	2	1	–	2	1	–	47
Flevoland	10	2	4	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	1	2	–	1	41
Gelderland	14	4	6	5	5	2	3	3	3	2	2	1	1	2	2	–	55
Utrecht	7	4	6	3	7	1	5	3	2	3	2	1	1	2	2	–	49
North Holland	8	2	8	7	7	2	4	1	–	4	3	2	2	3	2	–	55
South Holland	8	4	8	4	6	2	4	2	2	3	4	2	1	4	1	–	55
Zeeland	9	5	4	6		1	1	1	5	1	2	1	–	1	–	2	39
North Brabant	11	4	9	4	5	4	4	1		2	4	1	1	2	1	2	55
Limburg	10	5	5	3	4	3	3	–	–	2	6	1	1	2	–	2	47
Total	137	43	63	46+6	51+6	23	32	22+1	16+1	25	34	15	8	22	11	17	572

The named 'others' for 2023 are:

• in Groningen: Groninger Belang (by 3 seats), PvhN (by 1 seat)
• in Friesland: FNP (by 4 seats), Provincial Interests Frisia (by 1 seat)
• in Drenthe: Sterk Lokaal (by 1 seat)
• in Flevoland: Strong Local Flevoland (by 1 seat)
• in Zeeland: PvZ (by 2 seats)
• in North Brabant: Lokaal Brabant (by 1 seat)
• in Limburg: Lokaal-Limburg (by 2 seats)

See also

• Provinces of the Netherlands
• Interprovinciaal Overleg
• Estates of the realm, for the origin of the term
• Provincieraad, the equivalent body in Belgium

References

1. Combinated list in Zeeland.
2. Combinated list in two provinces (North Holland and North Brabant, also Friesland in 2003).
3. Combined list with Party of the Elderly.

External links

• Website of the Interprovinciaal Overleg (IPO)