Provincial Council of South Holland

The Provincial Council of South Holland (Dutch: Provinciale Staten van Zuid-Holland), also known as the States of South Holland, is the provincial council of South Holland, Netherlands. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 55 seats are distributed every four years in provincial elections.

Provincial Council of
South Holland
Type
Type
Leadership
President
Secretary
Eric Meurs
Structure
Seats55
Political groups
Government (28)
  •   VVD (9)
  •   GL (5)
  •   PvdA (5)
  •   CDA (4)
  •   CU (3)
  •   SGP (2)

Opposition (27)

Elections
Last election
20 March 2019
Meeting place
Meeting place of the Provincial Council of South Holland in The Hague
Website
staten.zuid-holland.nl

History

Before the establishment of South Holland as a province, the southern part of Holland was represented in the States of Holland by 50 of its 90 members. The States of South Holland were instituted in 1840, when the province of Holland was split in two and the province of South Holland was established. The composition of the States was determined in Royal Decrees published on 9 and 11 November, and its members were first assembled on 15 December 1840. The States comprised 10 members representing the province's aristocracy, 41 members elected by city councils, and 35 member elected by municipal councils of rural areas, making for a total of 86 members. Among the cities were Rotterdam (represented by ten members), The Hague (eight), Leiden (five), Dordrecht (four), Delft (three), Gorinchem, Gouda, Schiedam (two each), Brielle, Maassluis, Schoonhoven, Vlaardingen and Woerden (one each). All rural districts were represented by two members, except for the district of Meerkerk, which was represented by three. All members were elected to six-year terms, with a third of the seats up for election every two years. Elections were held on 1 June, while the newly elected members took office exactly a month later, on 1 July.[1] In this period, the States of South Holland were responsible for electing the province's 12 members of the 58-member House of Representatives.[2]

This composition was retained until 1850, two years after the Constitutional Reform of 1848, when the Provincial Act of Minister of the Interior Johan Rudolph Thorbecke introduced direct elections to the Provincial States. The States were now composed of 80 members elected directly in electoral districts, serving six-year terms, with half of the seats up for election every three years. New members still took office on 1 July, but elections were now held on the second Tuesday in May, while by-elections had to be scheduled no later than two months after the seat in question became vacant. The first direct election was held in 1852; in a transitional arrangement, the members were elected in thirteen electoral districts, each of which elected six or seven seats using a majoritarian electoral systems. In 1853, the province was definitively divided into seventeen districts, ranging in size from three to thirteen seats.[1] Two additional seats were added in 1897, bringing the total to 82. In this period, the States were responsible for electing the province's members of the Senate.[2]

Since 1919, the States of South Holland have been elected using party-list proportional representation in one province-wide district. In that year, terms were cut to four years, with all seats up for election at once every four years. The States were temporarily dissolved during the German occupation of the Netherlands, starting in the summer of 1941.[2] Prominent members of the States of South Holland have included Suze Groeneweg, Dirk Jan de Geer and Pieter Oud.

Current composition

Since the 2015 provincial elections, the seats of the States of South Holland are as following:[3]

Party Votes Seats
# %
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy212,47017.6210 2
Party for Freedom172,17814.288 0
Democrats 66155,25212.877 2
Christian Democratic Appeal146,48812.157 1
Labour Party120,2039.975 5
Socialist Party112,8329.365 0
Reformed Political Party59,7534.963 1
ChristianUnion57,8994.803 1
GreenLeft57,2964.753
Party for the Animals49,1504.082 1
50PLUS45,0063.732 1
Netherlands Local7,0260.580New
United Local Parties South Holland6,0970.510New
Libertarian Party2,1430.180New
Jesus Lives1,3310.110New
Free-thinking Party7870.070New

See also

References
  1. "Provinciale Staten van Zuid-Holland (1840-1861)". Huygens Resources (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  2. Otten, F.J.M. "Inventaris van het archief van het Provinciaal Bestuur van Zuid-Holland, (1300) 1850-1945" (PDF). Nationaal Archief (in Dutch).
  3. (in Dutch) Verkiezingsuitslagen Provinciale Staten 1918 - heden, Electoral Council. Retrieved on 22 April 2015.
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