Local politics increasingly fragmented

Local politics is increasingly fragmented. The municipal councils that will be installed this week consist of 142 more parties than after the elections in 2018, NRC reports based on its analysis of the election results.

Brendrecht, Zeewolde, and Hellendoorn are the only municipalities where one party obtained the majority. There are very few municipalities with large parties that got more than nine seats on the council. The factions are also getting smaller. There are now 593 one-person factions in the city councils. Den Bosch even has seven one-person factions in its 39 seats.

According to NRC, the increasing fragmentation does not necessarily mean that the formation of mayor and aldermen offices will take longer. Four years ago, when formation took an average of eight weeks, specific local issues were more likely to slow than negotiations than the many small parties involved.