The Netherlands goes to the polls to vote for 342 local councils on March 18 and Dutch News is focusing on the campaigns in 10 towns and cities where most internationals live. First up, the Dutch capital Amsterdam.
It is the place where most people want to live – but with a shortage of almost 40,000 homes, housing is the top issue for local elections in Amsterdam on March 18.
The Dutch capital is known throughout the world for its historic canal district, museums and of course its liberal nightlife. And thanks partly to a drive to attract businesses after Brexit, Amsterdam “leads the charge” in Dutch AI, fintech and deeptech, as well as hosting big names like the European Medicines Agency, Booking and traditional Dutch firms such as Heineken.
This prosperity is reflected in its population, which is becoming more international even as it reaches the limits of growth. The latest “state of the city” report showed Amsterdam grew by 10,000 people a year from 2008 but increased by just 2,600 people in 2024 – with 7,100 fewer immigrants from abroad. Just over one in three of the 930.000 Amsterdammers was born in the capital while 38% were born outside the Netherlands. Some 130,000 non-Dutch residents will be able to vote in the local elections.
Housing
“Many young people are looking for a house and are living with their parents; many elderly people would like a suitable house; many young families are not able to find a house,” said Erik Schmit, economics spokesman for the D66 party, the progressive democratic group with seven seats on the 45 seat council. “It’s getting more difficult. Prices have been rising. And that’s why we need a breakthrough.”
While parties like D66, the centre-right VVD and Christian Democrats (CDA), stress the role of house building for all of these different groups, the two largest parties, left-wing PvdA and GroenLinks, are most concerned with the growing division between rich and poor. The two parties are campaigning separately but will merge into a single unit after the vote.
“We earn around €200 billion [a year] in our region, greater Amsterdam, a fifth of the national earnings,” said local PvdA leader Sofyan Mbarki, whose party has nine seats. “We are the motor of the land. But at the same time we see that homelessness is rising in our city. It is our duty to ensure that we keep our economy healthy but at the same time do not shut our eyes to homelessness.”
Expats
Foreigners themselves form another major issue. With a record low turnout of 46.6% in the last local election, Amsterdam parties have woken up to the fact that many international city residents can vote.
But some have also been keen to blame city problems on “expats”, with a local paper running frequent headlines on pushy foreigners, “first in the queue for housing”.
The PvdA successfully proposed a plan to ask companies employing foreign workers to pay for language and city history lessons and ask international staff to volunteer in their free time for organisations that form the city’s “social fabric”. Mbarki, whose parents were migrants from Morocco, believes wealthier immigrants need to demonstrate that they are contributing.
“I think that everyone who comes here needs to participate and keep participating,” he said. “That isn’t just by working but also in your role as a volunteer. That is what we want to see as the PvdA.”
While the VVD and CDA want to encourage newcomers to take Dutch language lessons and boost international schools, D66 wants to ensure a welcoming tone. “I think where other parties are scapegoating the internationals for the challenges we have in the city, we are saying: no, internationals are a part of our city,” said Schmit. “We have now 100,000-plus internationals…and I think it’s important that they’re part of local democracy.”
Most parties believe in a harder line on tourism, aiming to reduce the 23 million tourists and limit nuisance with plans like an “erotic centre” brothel and banning tourists from coffeeshops selling cannabis – although officials now say the target of 20 million overnight stays is not legally binding.
“We think that the city has done too little to combat nuisance in recent years,” said Rogier Havelaar, of the CDA, which has one seat on the council. “We want a clean city, enforcement needs to improve – and if tourists are peeing in canals or using [illegal] drugs, you could always put them in a cell for 24 hours!”
Government and tax
Another issue for centre-right parties like the VVD, which has five seats, is how local government functions and local taxes. “We’re the party that wants the municipality to focus on basic affairs: building proper housing, especially more houses that people can buy, reducing crime and on lowering government taxes,” said Daan Wijnants, head of the local VVD.
Find out
According to a spokeswoman from the city of Amsterdam, just over 730,000 people will be able to vote for the council, and just over 750,000 for the smaller district council groups. If you can vote, will be sent voting paper between February 24 and March 1, with a QR code in various languages. There is a web section in English, including how to authorise someone else to vote for you.
Some parties are organising events so that internationals can find out more about the 35 different parties standing for election, check if they can vote and compare their programmes.
“I think I can speak for all political parties to emphasise: please come out to vote,” said Wijnants, “because you’re just as good a part of the city as anybody else.”
Amsterdam key information
Current council executive: PvdA, GroenLinks, D66
How many seats on the council: 45
Total number of voters: 736,899
Number of international voters: roughly 130,00
Local election information in English:
Municipality website with election information
D66 (manifesto in six languages)
CDA (in Dutch with executive summary in English)
PvdA (only in Dutch)
GroenLinks (Dutch and English)
Volt (Dutch and English)
DENK (only in Dutch)
PvdD (only in Dutch)
VVD (only in Dutch)
JA21 (only in Dutch)
Forum voor Democratie (only in Dutch)
Election events for internationals
Five of the biggest city parties will hold an English language debate on March 9, sponsored by Dutch News and IamExpat.
