In eight of the 31 Limburg municipalities, the same coalition will take office after the elections in March as in the past four years.
This is apparent from an inventory of the new councils of B&W or their intended composition.
Eight municipalities
The municipalities concerned are Beek, Beesel, Bergen, Gulpen-Wittem, Horst aan de Maas, Maasgouw, Meerssen and Voerendaal. In Echt-Susteren and Landgraaf, the same parties also divide the aldermen’s seats. But there respectively D66 and Elderly Party Landgraaf support the coalition for the first time without supplying an alderman.
Local everywhere
Local parties are part of the coalition in all 31 Limburg municipalities. Kerkrade and Simpelveld are leaders with three local parties on the board. A total of 48 local parties supply aldermen. Before the election there were 47.
In four municipalities, the largest party is not part of the new coalition. It concerns OPH in Heerlen, PRO in Gulpen-Wittem, Samen1 in Simpelveld and Viva in Vaals.
National parties
Of the national parties, VVD and PvdA will each have more place in the coalition on balance in four municipalities. For example, the VVD will co-manage in Brunssum, Eijsden-Margraten, Mook en Middelaar, Nederweert and Roermond. In Peel en Maas, the party will not return to the board. The VVD is part of the coalition in a total of 15 Limburg municipalities, although this is happening in Kerkrade without providing an alderman.
Aldermen for PvdA
Compared to 2018, the PvdA now supplies aldermen in Brunssum, Maastricht, Roermond, Roerdalen (in a combination list with GroenLinks) and Heerlen. In the latter municipality, PvdA member Casper Gelderblom becomes alderman on behalf of PvdA, GroenLinks and the Party for the Animals.
In Beekdaelen, the PvdA is no longer part of the coalition. In total, the party will co-government in ten Limburg municipalities, of which in two municipalities also on behalf of another party.
CDA in coalitions
The CDA remains the national party that has a place in most municipal councils. The party is part of the coalition in 22 Limburg municipalities. That is one less than in 2018. The CDA is disappearing from the lectures in Kerkrade, Roerdalen, Roermond, Stein and Weert. She makes her (r)entry in Leudal, Nederweert, Simpelveld and Venlo.
Eight places for D66
D66 comes to eight participations in the new coalitions, a plus of one. In Nederweert and Roermond, the party will not return to the municipal council. In Peel en Maas and in Echt-Susteren, the party will participate in the coalition for the first time, although it does so in Echt-Susteren without providing an alderman. In Weert, D66 returns to the board after many years.
Five places for GroenLinks
GroenLinks will no longer return to the lectures of Beekdaelen, Maastricht and Mook en Middelaar. In Heerlen and Roerdalen, the party will be part of the coalition, although it will not do so with an alderman from its own ranks, but on behalf of a progressive combination list. On balance, GroenLinks is part of a coalition in 5 Limburg municipalities.
SP, Volt and PvdD
The SP only controls in its stronghold Heerlen. In Gennep the party disappears from the board. In Venlo, where the party provided an alderman in the previous period, the SP did not participate in the elections.
Volt will co-govern in Maastricht, the only municipality in Limburg where the party emerged in the elections.
The Party for the Animals (PvdD) is participating for the first time in a coalition in Limburg. In Heerlen, the party, together with PvdA and GroenLinks, will supply one joint alderman. He is a member of the Labor Party. The PvdD only participated in the elections in Heerlen and Maastricht.
more women
The number of female aldermen in the 22 municipalities for which the personnel composition is known has risen to 17, five more than before the municipal elections. There will certainly be a few more in the remaining nine Limburg municipalities. In Beesel and Vaals, a majority of the aldermen are women, two out of three. In Peel en Maas and Roerdalen half are women: two out of four. In Echt-Susteren and Stein, two of the five aldermen are women.
men’s teams
In eleven Limburg municipalities, the aldermen’s team consists exclusively of men. These are Beek, Beekdaelen, Eijsden-Margraten, Gulpen-Wittem, Heerlen, Horst aan de Maas, Kerkrade, Landgraaf, Mook en Middelaar, Valkenburg and Venray.
Also read: Local parties key players in Limburg councils