1888 Dutch general election


General elections were held in the Netherlands on 6 March 1888, with a second round in 25 constituencies on 20 March. The Liberal Union emerged as the largest party, winning 46 of the 100 seats in the House of Representatives.

Background

This was the first election held after the constitutional revision of 1887, achieved by Minister of the Interior Jan Heemskerk, which had several effects on the parliamentary system. Firstly, this revision fixed the number of seats in the House of Representatives at 100. Secondly, it abolished multi-seat electoral districts except in large cities in favour of single-seat districts, thus allowing for better representation of geographically concentrated political minorities. Thirdly, the revision ensured all members of the House of Representatives would be elected simultaneously every four years, replacing the previous system of staggered elections. Finally, the change greatly extended suffrage and allowed for gradual further extension by law.
The election was won by the confessional parties, leading to the first Coalition government, combining Anti-Revolutionaries and Catholics, led by Æneas, Baron Mackay, thus heralding a period of Antithesis as championed by Abraham Kuyper, in which government alternated between secular liberals on the left and confessional Anti-Revolutionaries and Catholics on the right. The election also saw the first socialist elected into the House of Representatives, with Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, leader of the Social Democratic League, being elected in a rural Frisian district.

Electoral system

Of the 100 seats in the House of Representatives, 79 were elected in single-member constituencies using the two-round system.
The other 21 were elected using two-round plurality block voting in 5 constituencies from 2 to 9 seats. To be elected in the first round, a candidate had to reach an electoral threshold of 50% of the number of valid votes cast, divided by the number of seats up for election in the district.

Results

By district

Social Democratic
Liberal
Conservative
Anti-Revolutionary
Catholic