International

This Wednesday saw local councils elected throughout the Netherlands, and huge gains for the Socialist Party. In 2010 the SP won 226 seats; this time they came close to doubling that, to around 450, according to the latest tallies.

In towns such as Arnhem, Groningen, Heerlen en Hengelo, where the SP has been during the last four years part of a governing coalition, results were particularly impressive, demonstrating that people appreciate that socially progressive choices can be made even in times of crisis.

The party has grown steadily over the last quarter century from a localised and marginalised extra-parliamentary group into a mass and national party, and this was reflected in the fact that in twenty-one local authorities people had their first chance to vote SP in a council election. Seats were won everywhere, and in some twenty towns, including Heerlen, Enkhuizen, Nijmegen and Helmond, the Socialist Party came out on top. The list includes Gennep, where standing for the very first time the SP won almost a third of votes cast, 29.5%. In the country’s two biggest cities the SP also did extremely well, winning 10% in Rotterdam and 11% in Amsterdam.