From Catholic stronghold to ‘swing state’: this is how Brabant voted then and now

A hundred years ago, in 1925, the people of Brabant also went to the polls for a new House of Representatives. By far the largest party in the province was the Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP), a predecessor of the CDA. The RKSP obtained 77 percent of the Brabant votes compared to a national result of 28.6 percent. For comparison: the second party in Brabant was the SDAP (later PvdA) with 6.6 percent.

That was not without reason. The lives of the vast majority of Brabanders took place within the Catholic world. The ‘pillar’ had its own Catholic newspaper, broadcaster, trade union, school, sports club, association life and of course the church.

In 1954, out of fear of losing Catholic workers to the left-wing PvdA, the church even went so far as to ban excursions outside the pillar in practice. The bishops feared for the ‘salvation’ of those who chose a socialist or liberal party, broadcaster, newspaper or trade union. Anyone who did so would, for example, no longer be allowed to be baptized, no longer allowed to go to confession and no longer be allowed to marry in the church. Communists would even be banished from the church altogether.

In the strongly pillarized Catholic south, the Catholic party was the sole ruler until well after the Second World War. The question was not whether the Catholics would get the most votes, but how big their victory would be.

View the election results of important parties in Brabant since the Second World War here. Can’t see the graph below clearly? Then tap here.

This changed in the 1970s. From that time onwards, Brabanders became less religious and the pillars in Dutch society broke down. The individual became increasingly important. This also included the choice of a political party.

Although the CDA and its predecessors were continuously the largest parties in Brabant until the end of the twentieth century, there has been no monopoly since the early 1970s. Other parties such as the PvdA, the VVD and D66 managed to win over Brabant voters. In 1998 the PvdA even became the largest.

After reaching a low point in the 1990s, the CDA managed to recover at the beginning of this century under the leadership of Jan-Peter Balkenende (a Protestant from Zeeland). But the party did not receive barely more than a third of Brabant votes, although that was still a larger share than the national average.

From 2010 onwards, the VVD became the largest in Brabant, although that position no longer means as much as before. Like the rest of the country, Brabant is fragmented. Parties on the flanks such as the PVV and SP managed to lay a foundation. The PVV even managed to win the last election.

Other populist parties rise and collapse at the next election. In the previous elections this was NSC, before that the BBB and Forum for Democracy. And 50PLUS and the LPF are also on the list of political firebrands.

Over the past hundred years, Brabant has changed from a pillarized stronghold into a true ‘swing state’ following the American example. With around two million eligible voters, there is something to be achieved in our province.

Politicians from old and new parties know this and undoubtedly hope to win over Brabant voters. Unlike the past, these days voters decide for themselves.