Nation Runner

Flag of NetherlandsCountry desk · updated 12 Nov

Netherlands

150 seats, and the cabinet parties hold 66.

Key takeaways

  1. 1

    Parliament. Democrats 66 holds the most seats: 26 of 150 (17%). A majority needs 76.

  2. 2

    Headlines. The tone is getting grimmer: 17% of the last 14 days' headlines read grim, 9% upbeat. Top topic: Economy (14%).

  3. 3

    Government. Government barometer 58/100 (Builder). 0 of 2 moves on file read as smart, 0 as harmful.

  4. 4

    Next vote. Provincial and water-board elections on 17 March 2027, in 124 days.

Headline mood · 14 days

Line: mood · bars: stories

12 Nov · 8 stories · upbeat2 upbeat · 6 neutral · 0 grim

What the headlines are about

  • Other 47%
  • Economy 14%
  • Politics 11%
  • Society 11%
  • Security 9%
  • Climate 8%

A simple word-list estimate from the daily wire headlines. Not a judgement.

Who holds the seats · House of Representatives

150 seats · 76 for a majority (line)

Democrats 66

26 seats · 17.3%

26 on the House seating plan of March 2026. The Kiesraad database for 29 October 2025 lists Democrats 66 at 1,790,634 votes, 16.94 percent of 10,571,990 valid votes. The Verian report of 1 April 2026 prints 13.0 percent for 27–30 March.

Map · mood compared

Netherlands

Overall mood: 17% grim, 9% upbeat · today +25

What changed today

12 Nov

  • 12 Nov: 8 stories (average 7); tone more upbeat than usual.

New headlines

3 more headlines
Earlier this week: 10 more headlines

Headlines and summaries come from the linked sources; the selection is automatic.

Go deeper

Parties, people, promises, money

Chamber · March 2026 · votes set 7 Nov 2025

150 seats, and the cabinet parties hold 66.

The seat map is the House of Representatives plenary seating plan of March 2026. It lists Democrats 66 at 26, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy at 22, GroenLinks and Labour at 20, the Party for Freedom at 19, and the Christian Democratic Appeal at 18. It also lists JA21 at 9, Forum for Democracy at 7, Groep Markuszower at 7, and the smaller groups that bring the rows to 150. A majority of 150 is 76. The cabinet page says the cabinet is Democrats 66, the People's Party, and the Christian Democrats, sworn in on 23 February 2026. Those three hold 66 seats, so they do not have a majority. Vote shares are the Kiesraad database for 29 October 2025, not a figure on the later seating plan.

A score on this desk is an editorial average of six work topics, times ten, with the method written on the row.

The room

House of Representatives

150 seats · 76 to govern · seating plan March 2026 · cabinet parties 66

The deal

Minority cabinet

76 seats would be a majority of 150. Democrats 66, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, and the Christian Democratic Appeal have 26, 22, and 18 on the March 2026 plan. That sum is 66. The cabinet page names those three parties and no fourth partner.

The mood

Election vs now

The left bar is the share of valid votes in the Kiesraad database for 29 October 2025. The right bar is seats on the March 2026 plan divided by 150. They are different counts.

  • D66
    13.0%
  • VVD
    12.0%
  • PRO
    15.3%
  • PVV
    11.5%
  • CDA
    11.3%
  • JA21
    9.8%
  • FvD
    8.1%
  • Markuszower
    0.0%
  • BBB
    1.2%
  • CU
    3.1%
  • DENK
    2.1%
  • PvdD
    3.0%
  • SGP
    2.4%
  • SP
    2.7%
  • 50PLUS
    2.6%
  • Keijzer
    0.0%
  • Volt
    1.6%

The first point is the national vote share in the Kiesraad database, set on 7 November 2025. The later points are Verian percentages in the report of 1 April 2026, which prints February and 27–30 March. That report says copying is allowed when Verian is named. It is a sample, not the same question as votes cast. An August 2026 Verian note prints virtual seats for some parties and does not print a percentage for each party, so those seats are not drawn on this percentage chart.

The trend

From election night to now

Public pollster blend — not a forecast

The split

Seat share beside the 2025 vote

The right bar is seats divided by 150. The left bar is the national vote share. The later seating plan and the vote table are different counts.

The mismatch

Seats they hold vs the poll

The seat bar is the March 2026 headcount, divided by 150. The other bar is the Verian percentage in the 1 April 2026 report. An empty bar means that report did not print the group as its own list.

The faces

Open a dossier

The prime minister has a Commons portrait. The other ministers, the Speaker, and the opposition group chair are on the people list without a new picture.

Tap a face for the full profile

The rude gauge

Growth king or a fight with work

Who grows the pie, who picks a fight with work. Cabinet sits at 58 / 100. The number is an editorial reading, not an official index. Six topics are averaged and multiplied by ten: energy supply, hiring, keeping and investing money, building, hours in paid work, and paperwork. Ten means the public record makes that easier for work. Zero means it makes it harder. A row is not left in the middle on every topic. The band is a label for that average, not a court ruling.

Against the workBuilderGrowth king

Full causal chains live on every promise

This week

The pulse

Chamber

House seating plan

Democrats 66 26, People's Party 22, Christian Democrats 18. Together 66 of 150.

Office

Cabinet

The cabinet page says Rob Jetten was sworn in on 23 February 2026.

Politics 101

How this country actually works

What this chamber drawing is

150 seats. 76 to govern. The cabinet parties have 66.

Counts are the Tweede Kamer plenary seating plan of March 2026. The rows sum to 150. 76 is half of 150, rounded up. Vote shares are the Kiesraad database for 29 October 2025, rounded to two decimals. That table and the later seating plan are different counts. Groep Markuszower and Lid Keijzer were not separate lists on election day.

Who holds the offices this desk names

Jetten, Prime Minister. Van Campen, Speaker. Klaver, Progressief Nederland.

The cabinet page names Rob Jetten, sworn in on 23 February 2026, and prints a party beside each minister. The House news page names Thom van Campen as Speaker from 18 November 2025. The House paper names faction chair Klaver and the name Progressief Nederland from 10 June 2026.

Elections

What is on the calendar

National elections and the major votes on these desks, for about the next 24 months. The date comes from the election authority. A poll appears only when a named pollster published it in the last 60 days.

Provincial and water-board elections

Date set

17 Mar 2027

124 days

The Electoral Council calendar sets polling day for the provincial councils and water boards on 17 March 2027.

Date source: Kiesraad

How foreigners are seen

Openness in Netherlands

Published surveys only. Each figure shows its source and year.

Who's welcomed

Share of adults in Netherlands with a favourable opinion of each country Pew asked about. A view of a country, not of its people.

Welcoming index

Derived from the two published measures below, not a survey result. Each input keeps its own year.

69.9/100

Mean of Gallup 7.46 of 9 (2016), rescaled to 82.9, and MIPEX 57 of 100 (2023).

The measures behind it (shown separately)

What expats say

InterNations Expat Insider 2025: rank out of 46 destinations, 1 is best.

  • Ease of settling in34 of 46
  • Culture and welcome33 of 46
  • Local friendliness28 of 46
  • Finding friends37 of 46

InterNations, Expat Insider 2025

All desks side by side

Pick a measure. Countries without a published figure show Unknown and sit at the end; they are not counted in the average.

Average of the 20 of 22 desks with a figure: 63.3 of 100. Unknown left out: Georgia, Thailand.

  1. Canada85.72024
  2. United States80.72020
  3. Portugal78.42023
  4. Australia76.82019
  5. Spain73.32024
  6. Ireland72.52023
  7. Netherlandsthis desk69.92023
  8. Switzerland65.12019
  9. Italy65.12023
  10. United Kingdom64.72020
  11. Germany64.62023
  12. South Korea64.12020
  13. France63.62024
  14. Japan59.22019
  15. Mexico51.92019
  16. Malta51.52024
  17. Cyprus50.62024
  18. United Arab Emirates46.72019
  19. Greece43.12024
  20. Estonia38.72024
  21. GeorgiaUnknownMIPEX does not cover this country, so the index cannot be built.
  22. ThailandUnknownMIPEX does not cover this country, so the index cannot be built.

In plain words

  • Expats ranked Netherlands 34 of 46 for ease of settling in (2025); its best sub-score was local friendliness at 28.
  • Of the 3 countries Pew asked about here, China drew the most favourable opinions (30%, 2025).
  • Favourable opinions of United States went from 46% in 2019 to 29% in 2025 (Pew).

Sources and method are listed under “How we source this” at the bottom of the page.

What it means for you

What it means for you

Only figures with a source and a date. Each source is listed under “How we source this” at the bottom of the page. Anything not listed here is not on file.

  • Work

    From 1 July 2026 the government minimum-wage page prints a gross hourly minimum of 14.99 euros for employees aged 21 and older. That is the statutory hourly rate, not a weekly total.

  • Taxes

    The 2026 tax-changes note on open.overheid.nl prints a general value-added-tax rate of 21 percent and a reduced rate of 9 percent for both 2025 and 2026. Value-added tax is the tax on most goods and services.

  • Benefits

    The Social Insurance Bank page for amounts from 1 July 2026 prints a gross state pension of 1662.16 euros a month for a person who lives alone, before the health-insurance contribution. The state pension is the public old-age payment.

Sources, licences and image credits

Data

  • Wire (public RSS feeds): X, DutchNews, NOS Politiek, NL Times.
  • The left bar is the share of valid votes in the Kiesraad database for 29 October 2025. The right bar is seats on the March 2026 plan divided by 150. They are different counts.
  • Editorial economic-competence gauge, not a court and not a Nobel. Six axes: energy, hiring, capital, building, hours in work, red tape. Scores are a judgement from public records of this term and the last — not a bribery charge, not a voting recommendation.

Survey sources

  • Netherlands — Gallup Migrant Acceptance Index 2016: Gallup. Neli Esipova, John Fleming and Julie Ray, “New Index Shows Least-, Most-Accepting Countries for Migrants”, Gallup, 23 August 2017. The full-country table lists the Netherlands at 7.46. The survey-methods note says the index was asked in 138 countries in 2016, so the year used here is 2016. A later Netherlands score was not on that page. Source. Gallup allows a contextual citation when the publication date and a link are given. The table and graphics are not reproduced.
  • Netherlands — MIPEX overall score 2023: MIPEX. Migrant Integration Policy Index, Netherlands country page, headed 2023. “Scoring 57 on the MIPEX 100-point scale.” Source. The overall score is cited from the country page. The report is not reproduced.

Image credits

  • Democrats 66 mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Progressief Nederland mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Party for Freedom mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Christian Democratic Appeal mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • JA21 mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Forum for Democracy mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Geometric mark for the Markuszower group, not a party logo — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Farmer–Citizen Movement mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Christian Union mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • DENK mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Party for the Animals mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Reformed Political Party mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Socialist Party mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • 50PLUS mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Geometric mark for the Keijzer seat, not a party logo — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Volt mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Flag of the Netherlands — Zscout370 · Public domain Source
  • Rob Jetten, Prime Minister — Martijn Beekman · CC BY 4.0 Source
Questions the desk actually answers

FAQ

Questions the desk actually answers

Is the Netherlands desk live on Nation Runner?
Yes. It draws the House seating plan of March 2026, the Kiesraad result of 29 October 2025, and the prime minister, Speaker, and opposition group chair named on official pages. It is an editorial dashboard, not an official record.
Which culture figures does the Netherlands desk show?
Gallup’s Migrant Acceptance Index for the Netherlands in 2016 (7.46 out of 9) and the Migrant Integration Policy Index score of 57, with 2023 printed beside that score. The Pew Spring 2025 row already on the perceptions page is cited there.
Does the money tab score Dutch political financing?
No. Zeros mean the access scale is not filled. A zero is not a finding that a party has no donors.
How we source this

Seats: House seating plan, March 2026. Votes: Kiesraad database, 29 October 2025. Ballot support: Verian and EenVandaag, report of 1 April 2026. Offices: cabinet page, the Speaker news page, and the House paper on the group name. Culture: Gallup 2016 and the Migrant Integration Policy Index headed 2023.

How foreigners are seen

Pew asks adults for their opinion of a country. That is a view of the country, not of its people or of any visitor. We never estimate a pair that was not asked; it shows as unknown.

InterNations ranks come from expats living in the country (46 destinations in 2025). Gallup's Migrant Acceptance Index runs from 0 to 9. MIPEX scores integration law and policy from 0 to 100.

Welcoming index: the mean of the Gallup index rescaled to 0–100 (score ÷ 9 × 100) and the MIPEX overall score, rounded to one decimal. It is derived, not a survey result, and the two inputs come from different years. If either input is missing the index is unknown: it is not estimated, it sorts last and it is left out of the average.

What it means for you

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