This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Dutch. (June 2010)Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing Dutch Wikipedia article at [[:nl:Tweede Kamerverkiezingen 2010]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template{{Translated|nl|Tweede Kamerverkiezingen 2010}} to thetalk page. For more guidance, seeWikipedia:Translation. This article'slead sectioncontains information that is not included elsewhere in the article. If this information is appropriate for the lead, it should also be included in the article's body. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page.(September 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

2010 Dutch general election

← 2006 9 June 2010 (2010-06-09) 2012 →
All 150 seats in theHouse of Representatives 76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	75.40% ( 4.95pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– VVD Mark Rutte 20.49 31 +9 PvdA Job Cohen 19.63 30 −3 PVV Geert Wilders 15.45 24 +15 CDA Jan Peter Balkenende 13.61 21 −20 SP Emile Roemer 9.82 15 −10 D66 Alexander Pechtold 6.95 10 +7 GL Femke Halsema 6.67 10 +3 CU André Rouvoet 3.24 5 −1 SGP Kees van der Staaij 1.74 2 0 PvdD Marianne Thieme 1.30 2 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Most voted-for party by municipality Cabinet before Cabinet after Fourth Balkenende cabinet CDA–PvdA–CU First Rutte cabinet VVD–CDA

General elections were held in theNetherlands on Wednesday 9 June 2010. This was triggered by the fall ofPrime MinisterJan Peter Balkenende'sfourth cabinet on 20 February withQueen Beatrix accepting the resignation of theLabour Party (PvdA) ministers on 23 February.^[1] Theconservative liberalPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), led byMark Rutte, won the largest number of seats in theHouse of Representatives while thesocial democratic PvdA, led byJob Cohen, came a narrow second. The election was also noted for the rise of theParty for Freedom (PVV), which came third, led by controversial politicianGeert Wilders. On the other hand, Balkenende'sChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA) saw a poor result, losing half its seats (along with popular support) and dropping from first to fourth place. TheSocialist Party (SP) also lost seats. Notably, the 31 seats won by the VVD was its most since1998.^[2]

After the election, the formation of a new government took 127 days. Both the VVD and the PvdA hoped to have a leading role. VVD talks with the PvdA and other left-wing parties (trying to form a so-calledpurple coalition without Christian parties) broke down; however, Rutte was able to form a right-wing coalition of the VVD and CDA, with aconfidence and supply agreement with the PVV. It was the first coalition government not to be led by a Christian democratic or social democratic party in 92 years, as well as the first to be led by the VVD. Rutte was sworn in as prime minister on 14 October, becoming the firstliberal to hold that post since 1918.

The 150 seats of theHouse of Representatives were contested, and filled usingparty-list proportional representation for a nominal four-year term.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(June 2010)

The election follows the PvdA's withdrawal in February from the coalition over the contribution of Dutch soldiers to theWar in Afghanistan.^[3] According to theDutch constitution new elections had to be held within 83 days.

The first radio debate was held on 21 May 2010. The first television debate, held on 23 May was, according to instant polls, won by Mark Rutte on 36%, with Job Cohen second on 24%, and Geert Wilders and Jan Peter Balkenende third, on 18%.^[4]

Polls indicated that the elections were too close to call.^[8]

Turnout was reported to be over 5% lower than the previous elections^[9] allegedly due to heavy rain and stormy weather.^[10]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	1,929,575	20.49	31	+9
	Labour Party	1,848,805	19.63	30	−3
	Party for Freedom	1,454,493	15.45	24	+15
	Christian Democratic Appeal	1,281,886	13.61	21	−20
	Socialist Party	924,696	9.82	15	−10
	Democrats 66	654,167	6.95	10	+7
	GroenLinks	628,096	6.67	10	+3
	Christian Union	305,094	3.24	5	−1
	Reformed Political Party	163,581	1.74	2	0
	Party for the Animals	122,317	1.30	2	0
	Trots op Nederland	52,937	0.56	0	New
	Party for Human and Spirit	26,196	0.28	0	New
	Pirate Party	10,471	0.11	0	New
	List 17 / Feijen List	7,456	0.08	0	New
	Partij één	2,042	0.02	0	New
	New Netherlands	2,010	0.02	0	New
	Heel NL	1,255	0.01	0	New
	Evangelical Party Netherlands	924	0.01	0	New
Total		9,416,001	100.00	150	0
Valid votes		9,416,001	99.71
Invalid/blank votes		26,976	0.29
Total votes		9,442,977	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		12,524,152	75.40
Source: Kiesraad[11]

Results by province^[11]

Province	VVD	PvdA	PVV	CDA	SP	D66	GL	CU	SGP	PvdD	Others
Drenthe	19.2	26.2	13.0	13.8	9.8	5.2	5.9	4.3	0.5	1.1	1.0
Flevoland	24.5	19.0	16.2	10.6	8.6	5.5	5.6	4.9	2.5	1.4	1.2
Friesland	15.5	24.8	11.4	18.2	11.5	4.7	6.2	5.1	0.6	1.1	0.9
Gelderland	19.4	18.7	13.5	15.7	9.7	6.6	6.6	4.2	3.4	1.1	1.1
Groningen	14.5	27.6	11.4	11.1	11.7	6.5	8.3	6.1	0.5	1.5	0.8
Limburg	15.5	15.6	26.8	16.0	12.9	4.7	5.3	0.6	0.1	1.3	1.2
North Brabant	21.0	16.1	17.4	16.2	13.4	6.5	5.5	1.0	0.4	1.1	1.4
North Holland	23.5	23.6	13.5	9.0	8.4	8.9	8.6	1.5	0.2	1.6	1.2
Overijssel	16.9	19.1	12.6	20.4	9.3	5.9	5.4	6.2	2.5	0.9	0.8
South Holland	22.4	18.6	16.9	11.2	8.2	7.4	6.4	3.6	2.7	1.5	1.1
Utrecht	23.2	18.1	12.5	12.0	7.1	9.2	8.9	4.6	2.2	1.2	1.0
Zeeland	17.5	17.4	15.0	16.3	9.2	4.3	4.8	4.3	8.6	1.4	1.2

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende stepped down from his position in the CDA and resigned his parliamentary seat on the evening of the election, saying he was taking "political responsibility" for the unsatisfactory election results of his party and that "The voter has spoken, the outcome is clear."^[12]

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(December 2010)

Expectations were thatthe formation of a new government would take some time.^[13] The international media also read this as a slim victory for the "austerity-minded" Liberals during theeuro area crisis.^[14]

On 14 October,Mark Rutte was sworn in as prime minister.^[15] Rutte's government resigned on 24 April 2012 over austerity measures.

Some international media speculated that "for the first time in this nation's history, a Jewish man, albeit a secular one, is on the verge of becoming the next prime minister ... Job Cohen, who was until recently the Mayor of Amsterdam, and represents the top of the ticket for the PvdA ... is at the end of a long battle to run the country that began in February when the PvdA backed out of the ruling coalition government because it did not want to send Dutch troops back to Afghanistan."^[3]

• List of members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, 2010–12
• List of candidates in the 2010 Dutch general election

• NSD: European Election Database - NetherlandsArchived 2010-11-30 at theWayback Machine publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1994–2010

• General elections in the Netherlands
• 2010 elections in Europe
• 2010 elections in the Netherlands
• June 2010 in Europe

• Pages using the EasyTimeline extension
• CS1 Dutch-language sources (nl)
• CS1 errors: missing periodical
• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from September 2017
• Articles with permanently dead external links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Government and politics articles needing translation from Dutch Wikipedia
• Wikipedia introduction cleanup from September 2022
• All pages needing cleanup
• Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from September 2022
• All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify
• Articles with multiple maintenance issues
• Articles to be expanded from June 2010
• All articles to be expanded
• Articles to be expanded from December 2010
• Webarchive template wayback links