No less than a quarter of the new Senate is ‘North Holland’. This became apparent today after the members of the Provincial Council elected the new members of the Senate. A substantial North Holland share, but does that give our province an advantage? Spoiler alert: it’s disappointing.
Of the 75 seats, 19 seats will be filled with North Holland heads. This means that no less than a quarter of the seats are held by a North Hollander.
Not crazy at all
According to political researcher Chris Aalberts, it is not surprising that a quarter of the Senate members come from North Holland: “You see that the MPs often live in the Randstad because of their administrative career.”
Doesn’t the North Holland majority cause a skewed representation? No, says Alberts. “The Senate is actually a yes or no machine.”
According to Aalberts, it is about legislation, referenda and budgets and not about regional or local things. “There is a big difference between policy and legislation. The Senate mainly controls, the details are with the House of Representatives.”
Stepped election
Citizens from North Holland could not vote themselves during the Senate elections today, this is done by the members of the Provincial Council in the twelve provinces and the members of the four Caribbean electoral colleges.
This is also referred to as a ‘staged election’: the citizens elected the members of the Provincial Council in March and today they elected the members of the Senate.
BBB largest party
In addition to the victory of BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) during the provincial elections on March 15, the party will also now become the largest in the new Senate with 16 seats. The coalition parties of the House of Representatives will receive 24 seats.
The result is not yet official: the announcement of the final result is on Thursday. The new Senate will meet for the first time in two weeks.