| Country: | Netherlands |
| Previous Election: | 1977 |
| Next Election: | 1982 |
| Seats For Election: | All 150 seats in the House of Representatives |
| Majority Seats: | 76 |
| Election Date: | 26 May 1981 |
| Turnout: | 87.0% (1.1 pp) |
| Leader1: | Dries van Agt |
| Party1: | Christian Democratic Appeal |
| Last Election1: | 49 |
| Seats1: | 48 |
| Percentage1: | 30.8% |
| Leader2: | Joop den Uyl |
| Party2: | Labour Party (Netherlands) |
| Last Election2: | 53 |
| Seats2: | 44 |
| Percentage2: | 28.3% |
| Leader3: | Hans Wiegel |
| Party3: | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy |
| Last Election3: | 28 |
| Seats3: | 26 |
| Percentage3: | 17.3% |
| Leader4: | Jan Terlouw |
| Party4: | Democrats 66 |
| Last Election4: | 8 |
| Seats4: | 17 |
| Percentage4: | 11.1% |
| Leader5: | Fred van der Spek |
| Party5: | Pacifist Socialist Party |
| Last Election5: | 1 |
| Seats5: | 3 |
| Percentage5: | 2.1% |
| Leader6: | Marcus Bakker |
| Party6: | Communist Party of the Netherlands |
| Last Election6: | 2 |
| Seats6: | 3 |
| Percentage6: | 2.1% |
| Leader7: | Henk van Rossum |
| Party7: | Reformed Political Party |
| Last Election7: | 3 |
| Seats7: | 3 |
| Percentage7: | 2.0% |
| Leader8: | Ria Beckers |
| Party8: | Political Party of Radicals |
| Last Election8: | 3 |
| Seats8: | 3 |
| Percentage8: | 2.0% |
| Leader9: | Meindert Leerling |
| Party9: | Reformatory Political Federation |
| Last Election9: | 0 |
| Seats9: | 2 |
| Percentage9: | 1.2% |
| Leader10: | Gert Schutte |
| Party10: | Reformed Political League |
| Last Election10: | 1 |
| Seats10: | 1 |
| Percentage10: | 0.8% |
| Map: | Tweede Kamerverkiezingen 1981.png |
| Cabinet | |
| Before Election: | First Van Agt cabinet |
| Before Party: | CDA–VVD |
| After Election: | Second Van Agt cabinet |
| After Party: | CDA–PvdA–D66 |
General elections were held in the Netherlands on 26 May 1981.[1] [2] The Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) emerged as the largest party, winning 48 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.[3]
The incumbent Christian Democratic Appeal-People's Party for Freedom and Democracy coalition lost its overall majority leading to a new coalition being formed between the CDA, the Labour Party (PvdA) and Democrats 66, with the CDA's Dries van Agt continuing as Prime Minister. However due to disagreements between the CDA and PvdA on government spending the coalition collapsed after just a year, leading to fresh elections.
| Province | CDA | PvdA | VVD | D'66 | PSP | CPN | SGP | PPR | RPF | GPV | Others | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24.8 | 38.6 | 17.8 | 9.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.9 | ||
| 33.2 | 33.2 | 12.7 | 9.5 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 1.9 | ||
| 34.4 | 26.1 | 16.6 | 10.2 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 2.1 | ||
| 21.4 | 39.3 | 13.4 | 8.8 | 2.6 | 4.1 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 2.6 | ||
| 43.4 | 25.3 | 12.6 | 11.2 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 2.6 | ||
| 42.7 | 23.6 | 14.5 | 11.2 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.4 | ||
| 22.7 | 28.4 | 21.3 | 12.4 | 3.5 | 5.3 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.5 | ||
| 37.8 | 26.8 | 13.2 | 9.2 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 1.9 | ||
| 23.7 | 31.2 | 19.8 | 12.0 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 0.9 | ||
| 20.8 | 30.8 | 18.9 | 14.6 | 1.7 | 4.6 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 3.1 | ||
| 28.9 | 22.6 | 21.9 | 11.4 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 2.6 | ||
| 29.5 | 27.2 | 17.0 | 9.9 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 8.0 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 1.7 |