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3/7/06

FT.com - Social democrats gain in Netherlands by Ann Bickerton, Amsterdam

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Social democrats gain in Netherlands by Ann Bickerton, Amsterdam

The political parties of the left scored sweeping gains at the expense of those of the centre-right coalition in local government elections in the Netherlands on Tuesday. The social democratic PvdA gained more than 500 town hall seats, an increase of 50 per cent on its 2002 total, while the left-wing Socialist Party had doubled its tally, after 60 per cent of local councils had declared a result.

The Christian Democrat Alliance, the party of Jan Peter Balkenende, prime minister, and its cabinet allies – the liberal VVD and centrist D66 – were the big losers. Opinion polls reported that, were the result mirrored in a snap general election, PvdA would win 49 of the 150 parliamentary seats, while CDA – currently the largest single political party – would lose 13 of its 44 seats.

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