The BBB has won seventeen seats in the province of Drenthe, making it the largest party. The party received the most votes in each municipality. Just over a third of all votes went to the BoerBurgerBeweging.
In Drenthe, 33.5 percent of those entitled to vote voted for the BoerBurgerBeweging. This is the highest in any other province. The province of Overijssel follows, where 31.2 percent of voters voted for the BBB. However, not all votes have been cast yet.
“This is a lot. It hardly fits on the board anymore”, Gert-Jan Schuinder, leader of the BBB, responded last night after the results of the first Drenthe municipality came in. That was the municipality of Emmen. The party won 35 percent of the vote. The BBB has achieved the greatest victory in the municipality of De Wolden. There, 45.4 percent of eligible voters vote for the party. In the municipality of Midden-Drenthe, the profit is also quite good at 44 percent.
Almost all parties that are now in the Provincial Council of Drenthe will lose seats. This is not the case with two parties. The Party for the Animals doubles in number of seats and ends up with two seats. The party with party leader Renate Zuiker has won votes in every municipality. Strong Local Drenthe has received fewer votes in percentage terms, but retains its only seat.
Apart from BBB, there will be a second new party in Drenthe politics. Volt, with Marloes Kramer-Hammenga as party leader, has managed to win a seat. In percentage terms, the party did best in Meppel. That’s where Kramer-Hammenga comes from. “It helps that you know people anyway. But that’s not all, you also have to have a good story. And Meppel is convinced of that,” she responds.
JA21 did not participate in the elections four years ago, but is in the Provincial Council. The four party members switched from Forum for Democracy, and later Frank Duut (ex-50PLUS) also joined it. One seat remains for the party. With 2.5 percent of the vote, JA21 is the smallest party to have passed the electoral threshold.
The parties that are in the Drenthe coalition are losing heavily. The council consisted of PvdA, VVD, CDA, GroenLinks and CDA. Where the parties jointly won 24 seats in 2019, they now have 15.
The PvdA received the most votes four years ago, but now it has become the second party. The PvdA loses two seats and ends up with four seats. It is exactly the same with the VVD: it also goes from six seats to four seats. CDA and GroenLinks also lose two seats.
Forum for Democracy loses most seats. The party entered the province four years ago with six seats. By the way, there were still two left last year, because the rest left the group and continued as JA21. FvD now has 1 seat.
There is a very good chance that BBB will join the new coalition. As the largest party, it has at least the initiative to form a coalition. 22 seats are needed to reach a majority.
If BBB does not get into the council, a very fragmented coalition is needed. To reach a majority, without BBB, at least nine parties are needed. A majority with the BBB will consist of at least three parties.