More than a third of the newly elected House of Representatives consists of new faces. There are relatively many newcomers, especially among CDA, JA21 and D66, according to the final results published by the Electoral Council today. Who else is in the Chamber? And what about the gender distribution, experience and distribution across the country?
The first change has already been announced: D66 member Koen Castelein, number 22 on the candidate list, has indicated that he will not accept his seat in Parliament. “It’s Still Too Soon” can be read at the website of the municipality of Hattem, where he is an alderman.
D66 and CDA won many seats, many new MPs represent these parties. Nothing will change in the composition of the SGP, Party for the Animals, Christian Union and Denk factions.
The electoral council has officially determined the distribution of the 150 House seats. 44 seats will change parties after these elections. This includes the twenty seats of NSC, which is disappearing from the House. Many PVV MPs are also not returning, but there are many veterans among the returning PVV members. Geert Wilders is by far the longest-serving Member of Parliament.
Preferred seats
The number of women in the House of Representatives increases from 38 to 42.6 percent. The D66 and GroenLinks-PvdA factions both contain 13 women (50 and 65 percent of the seats respectively). Three small factions consist of only male MPs.
Five women entered the House on the basis of preferential votes. They would not obtain a seat through their position on the candidate list. This does not mean that these MPs were given their seats because they are women. Barbara Kathmann (32nd on the list of GroenLinks-PvdA), for example, gained a lot of popularity as nerdvote.
The threshold for a preferential seat is 17,620 votes. Two candidates met this threshold, but cannot take a seat because their parties did not win enough seats. These are Eddy van Hijum (NSC) and Marieke Koekoek (Volt).
Place of birth and age
The MPs live across the country, but mainly in the Randstad. Eighteen members live in Amsterdam, seventeen in The Hague. But is also well represented with seven MPs, although the province of Groningen as a whole is less well represented. The vast majority of MPs, 46 out of 150, live in South Holland.
The reflection of the places of birth of the MPs more or less follows the population size of the provinces. But not a single representative was born in Zeeland.
After the elections, the House of Representatives looks a lot younger. The number of people in their twenties increased from 5 to 8, and there are now 45 people in their thirties in the House. Previously there were 29. The oldest member is 73-year-old Raymond de Roon of the PVV, who, after fellow party member Geert Wilders, is also one of the longest-serving MPs.
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