Increase in female aldermen stalled in the latest Dutch municipal elections
While the number of female aldermen in the Netherlands consistently grew following previous municipal elections, this growth came to a halt after the most recent elections in March. With most new municipal administrations formed, around 29 percent of aldermen are women, according to a study by NOS and the regional broadcasters.
That is roughly the same as four years ago. The number of women in municipal executive boards gradually increased from 19 percent sixteen years ago to 29 percent in 2022.
The province of Utrecht has the most female aldermen at 33, over a third of all aldermen in the province. Zeeland has the fewest at eight, about a sixth of the total.
In over 80 municipalities, there is not a single female alderman. Renkum in Gelderland is the only municipality to have an all-women municipal administration. A spokesperson for the municipality told NOS that there shouldn’t be anything weird about that. “Quality is independent of gender.
New municipal councils were elected in 340 Dutch municipalities on March 18. A coalition has since been formed in 322 municipalities.
The Association of Aldermen told NOS that there are several possible reasons for the stagnation in the number of women. The hardening of the political climate is the most obvious one. It has become increasingly normal to attack politicians online, and women bear the brunt of those attacks, the association said.
