2026 The Hague municipal election

In the 2022 municipal election, the local populist party Heart for The Hague (HvDH) led by Richard de Mos became the largest party. Because of an ongoing investigation into De Mos and fellow HvDH politician Rachid Guernaoui, other parties were unwilling to cooperate with HvDH, and a broad five-party municipal executive was formed comprising the Democrats 66 (D66), the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), GroenLinks, the Labour Party (PvdA) and the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). In April 2023, De Mos and Guernaoui were acquitted, and sought to return to the municipal executive, of which they had previously been a part between 2018 and 2019. While D66, VVD and CDA were open to start talks with De Mos, GroenLinks and PvdA were not, stating that they would not provide support to a right-wing coalition. This prompted the VVD to leave the executive on 29 June, which then lost its majority and fell. Nevertheless, no majority could be found for a coalition with HvDH, and the four remaining parties established a new executive along with the Party for the Animals (PvdD) and Denk. After two councillors left the PvdA and CDA groups to join HvDH in November 2024, the coalition lost its majority again, but remained in office as a minority executive. Two members of the executive left office in 2025: Martijn Balster (PvdA) resigned in March after losing the confidence of caravan residents in his handling of the municipality's caravan policy, while Robert van Asten (D66) resigned in November after being elected to the House of Representatives in the 2025 general election. Important political issues in that year included the extension of the city's zero-emission zone, which was agreed upon in February despite the CDA's scepticism, and the municipality's policy on hotels, which D66 sought to extend, but which was met with criticism from other coalition parties. ==Electoral system==

The 45 members of the municipal council are elected through semi-open lists under proportional representation in a single constituency. The number of seats per list is determined using the D'Hondt method. The seats won by a list are first allocated to the candidates who, in preferential votes, have received at least 25% of the Hare quota, regardless of their placement on the electoral list. If multiple candidates from a list pass this threshold, their ordering is determined based on the number of votes received. Any remaining seats are allocated to candidates according to their position on the electoral list. ==Contesting parties==

On 6 February 2026, the central polling station announced that twenty candidate lists would be on the ballot. The table below shows parties that won seats in the previous municipal election. Other parties contesting the election include Volt Netherlands, New Social Contract and 50PLUS. ==Campaign==

Richard de Mos led Heart for The Hague into the election. Rita Verdonk, who was placed second on the candidate list in the 2022 election, will not seek re-election. Football player Tom Beugelsdijk was placed 15th on the candidate list. In its election platform, the party advocated giving current residents priority for allocating housing, doubling the number of enforcement officers, and scrapping all asylum accommodation except for Ukrainian women and children. De Mos stated he is open to cooperating with any other party after the election. GroenLinks and the Labour Party (PvdA) contested the election with a joint GroenLinks–PvdA list for the first time, mirroring the national parties' merger process. Alderwoman Mariëlle Vavier served as their lead candidate, while alderman Arjen Kapteijns was not on the candidate list for the municipal council, but is open to another term as alderman. The Democrats 66 contested the election with a list led by Yousef Assad. The party's election platform emphasised public housing, calling the topic its "absolute top priority". The party also called for the extension of the city's tram tunnel, and placed less emphasis on reducing car traffic than it did in the 2022 election. The party hoped to repeat its national success in the 2025 general election and become the city's largest party. On 24 January 2026, Assad ruled out cooperating with Heart for The Hague after election. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy was led by Lotte van Basten Batenburg. Its election platform called for the lowering of municipal taxes, increasing the number of enforcement officers, and boosting housing construction. The party wanted to pay for these investments by cutting 5% of the municipal civil service, which it said would save 50 million euros. Although the party left the municipal executive in 2023 in order to reopen talks with Heart for The Hague, Van Basten Batenburg criticised De Mos' political style in December 2025, and expressed scepticism about the prospect of cooperating after the election. The Hague City Party suffered a leadership crisis in January 2026, when two party representatives openly criticised Fatima Faïd's leadership of the party. A majority of the party's membership voted to retain Faïd as lead candidate, but several other candidates subsequently withdrew their candidacy. The Forum for Democracy candidate list was led by 25-year-old student Robbert van der Meijden. The party's third-placed candidate, Timon Busscher, had previously praised Anders Breivik and Brenton Tarrant, made antisemitic remarks, and was recorded singing the Horst-Wessel-Lied. On 5 February 2026, nine parties in the municipal council released a joint statement denouncing Busscher, and ruling out cooperation with Forum for Democracy as long as the party does not distance itself from his remarks. ==Opinion polling==

Heart for The Hague became the largest party, winning sixteen seats, seven more than the previous election. The Democrats 66 retained its eight seats, while GroenLinks–PvdA won seven, losing one seat compared to the two parties' previous results. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy lost four seats, retaining just three. Volt Netherlands won its first seat in the municipal council, while The Hague City Party and the Party for Freedom both failed to get reelected. A number of candidates, all of whom are women, were elected as a result of preference votes. This includes two candidates from the GroenLinks–PvdA list, one from the Party for the Animals list and one from the Denk list. The second-placed Democrats 66 candidate, Marije Mostert, received more preference votes than the party's lead candidate Yousef Assad. ==Aftermath==

As the largest party in the municipal council, Heart for The Hague was given the initiative in the formation a coalition executive. On 24 March, De Mos nominated Ahmed Aboutaleb, former mayor of Rotterdam, as scout, tasked with exploring potential coalitions. On the same day, De Mos expressed his preference for a two-party majority coalition with either Democrats 66 or GroenLinks–PvdA. However, Democrats 66 started it would not commence negotiations before other options were explored and attempted to form a pact with GroenLinks–PvdA in which they would only enter into negotiations with Heart for The Hague together, but GroenLinks–PvdA ruled out a coalition with HvDH. According to Algemeen Dagblad, the most likely alternative was a right-wing coalition consisting of HvDH, CDA, VVD, and Denk, which would hold a narrow majority. However, on 3 April, Aboutaleb advised that Heart for The Hague and Democrats 66 should open talks for a two-party coalition executive, to which the latter agreed on 8 April, stating "GroenLinks–PvdA had ruled itself out". ==References==