,
mayor of Amsterdam since 2018. The city of Amsterdam is a
municipality under the Dutch Municipalities Act. It is governed by a
municipal council (
gemeenteraad, also known as 'city council', the principal legislative authority), a
municipal executive board (
college van burgemeester en wethouders), and a
mayor (
burgemeester). The mayor is both a member of the municipal executive board and an individual authority with a number of statutory responsibilities, mainly in the area of maintaining public order. The
municipal council has 45 seats. Its members are elected for a four-year term through citywide elections on the basis of proportional representation. Under the Municipalities Act, the mayor is appointed for a six-year term by the national government upon nomination by the municipal council. The other members of the executive board (
wethouders, or 'alderpersons') are appointed directly by the municipal council, but may be dismissed at any time after a no-confidence vote in the council. Because of this
parliamentary system, the alderpersons are not appointed until a governing majority in the council has reached a coalition agreement following council elections. In July 2010,
Eberhard van der Laan (
Labour Party) was appointed
mayor of Amsterdam by the national government for a six-year term after being nominated by the Amsterdam
municipal council. After the
2014 municipal council elections, a governing majority of
D66,
VVD and
SP was formed - the first coalition without the
Labour Party since
World War II. Next to the
mayor, the
municipal executive board consists of eight
wethouders ('alderpersons') appointed by the
municipal council: four
D66 alderpersons, two
VVD alderpersons and two
SP alderpersons.
Municipal Government 2006–2010 After the
2006 municipal elections a coalition was formed between PvdA and GroenLinks, with a majority of 27 out of 45. These elections saw a political landslide throughout the country, with a strong shift to the left, of which Amsterdam was a prime example. The much talked about all-left-wing coalition of PvdA, GroenLinks and SP that polls indicate would become possible after the
national elections of 2006 and that was such a political success in
Nijmegen had its largest majority in Amsterdam, apart from some small towns. PvdA even needed only three more seats to form a coalition and could thus take its pick, which forced potential coalition partners to give in on a lot of issues. In the case of GroenLinks, this was mostly the policy of
preventive searching by the police, which they were opposed to but had to allow. In total, 24 parties took part in the elections, including 11 new ones, but only 7 got seats.
Municipal Government 2010–2014 Dutch municipal elections, 2010:
Municipal Government 2014–2018 Dutch municipal elections, 2014:
Municipal Government 2018–2022 Dutch municipal elections, 2018:
Municipal Government 2022–present == Mayors ==