The war in Ukraine overshadowed the election campaign
After the weekend, the first ballot boxes will open for the municipal elections. With our campaign updates, we’ll keep you up to date with various topics that play a role locally, but sometimes also nationally.
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As mentioned earlier, the war in Ukraine overshadowed the election campaign over the past two weeks.
Research agency I&O Research therefore expects that the war will cause a slightly lower turnout next week. Interest in the elections has only slightly increased in recent months, according to a poll.
In comparison, in 2018, 55 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. This while almost three-quarters of the respondents had indicated a week before the ballot boxes opened that they would vote. This week, that intention was significantly lower at 64 percent.
Most vote for local party
The poll also shows that the local parties again collectively get the most votes. In 2018, 29 percent of voters voted for a local party and now 35 percent say they will.
Of the national parties, the VVD leads virtually with more than 11 percent. GroenLinks (7.8 percent) and D66 (7.5 percent) follow. Striking in this poll is the decline of the CDA. The Christian Democrats are expected to lose almost half of their voters.
Such a general picture gives a distorted picture. The CDA, for example, received slightly fewer votes than the VVD in percentage terms in 2018, but did win more council seats than the local liberals.
There is still much to be gained and much to lose, especially on the left-progressive side. Of potential voters for PvdA, Partij voor de Dieren, GroenLinks, SP, D66 and Volt, only a third already know for sure which party they will vote for.
VVD, SGP and the local parties do not have to worry about that. A majority of voters in those parties say they have no doubt who they are going to vote for.
Election update: The war in Ukraine overshadowed the election campaign, Slightly lower turnout expected.
Local politics must be given an important role again
Local politics is about many important issues. Take, for example, the installation of windmills, asylum seekers’ centres or homes.
But during the corona crisis, local democracy was at a distance, concludes the Council for Public Administration (ROB) in an advice requested by the House of Representatives.
“For a long time, municipal councils had less to say about the corona policy and its consequences for the economy and society,” the Council writes.
The corona crisis had major consequences for matters for which the municipalities are responsible, such as youth care, mental health care, sports and culture.
The ROB therefore advises to make decisions at the place where they can be checked. This is one of the most important tasks of local politics.
How much does that earn, being a councillor?
Council members receive a fixed fee that depends on how many inhabitants the municipality has. Between 2018 and 2022, the amount of this fee increased by nearly 13 percent.
They earn at least 1,081 euros per month this year. In the largest municipalities, this can amount to around 2,650 euros per month, according to an analysis by data agency LocalFocus and news agency ANP based on data from statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the Dutch Association for Councillors.
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