Rotterdam II (electoral district)

Rottedam II was an electoral district of the House of Representatives in the Netherlands from 1848 to 1850, and again from 1897 to 1918.

Profile

Rotterdam II was created as a provisional single-member district in 1848, and included the neighbourhoods 1 and 9 through 14 in the municipality of Rotterdam. It was abolished again in 1850, when it merged with the district of Rotterdam I to form the two-member district of Rotterdam. The district was reconstituted in 1897, when Rotterdam was split into five single-member districts. This district was situated in the north of Rotterdam, corresponding with what is today part of the Noord borough.

Due to the area's urban development in the late 19th and early 20th century, Rotterdam II's electorate grew substantially during its second iteration, from 3,394 in 1897 to 17,453 to 1917.

The district of Rotterdam II was abolished upon the introduction of party-list proportional representation in 1918.

Members

First creation

Abram van Rijckevorsel was elected in the district of Rotterdam II in the inaugural 1848 election. Though political parties did not exist at this time, Van Rijckevorsel is classified as a "pragmatic" liberal.

Election	Member	Party		Ref.
1848	Abram van Rijckevorsel		Independent

Second creation

Dirk de Klerk, c. 1905

During its second iteration, Rotterdam II was consistently held, though sometimes narrowly, by the parliamentary left. The liberal Dirk de Klerk won the inaugural 1897 election, and represented the district until he was defeated by the SDAP candidate Hendrik Spiekman in 1913. Spiekman was re-elected in the June 1917 general election, but died in November of that year. Fellow social democrat Arie de Zeeuw was elected in a subsequent by-election, and represented the district until its abolition in 1918.

Election	Member	Party		Ref.
1897	Dirk de Klerk		Lib
1901
1905
1909
1913	Hendrik Spiekman		SDAP
1917
1917	Arie de Zeeuw		SDAP

Election results

Elections in the 1840s

1848 general election: Rotterdam II

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Abram van Rijckevorsel	Independent	195	65.00
	Mari Aert Frederic Henri Hoffmann	Independent	53	17.67
	Engel Pieter de Monchy	Independent	9	3.00
	A. van Rijckevorsel	Independent	9	3.00
	J.H.C. van der Kun	Independent	6	2.00
	Johan Rudolph Thorbecke	Independent	4	1.33
	Willem Theodore Gevers Deynoot	Independent	4	1.33
	M.A.F. Hoffman	Independent	4	1.33
Others			16	5.33
Total			300	100.00
Valid votes			300	100.00
Invalid/blank votes			0	0.00
Total votes			300	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			339	88.50
	Independent gain
Source: Electoral Council, Huygens Institute

Elections in the 1890s

1897 general election: Rotterdam II

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Dirk de Klerk	Lib	1,135	41.00	1,649	58.00
	Titus van Asch van Wijck	AR	582	21.03	1,194	42.00
	Johannes Theodoor de Visser	CHK	543	19.62
	Herman Schaepman	Ka	425	15.35
	J.G. van Kuykhof	SDAP	83	3.00
Total			2,768	100.00	2,843	100.00
Valid votes			2,768	99.35	2,843	98.61
Invalid/blank votes			18	0.65	40	1.39
Total votes			2,786	100.00	2,883	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			3,394	82.09	3,394	84.94
	Liberal gain
Source: Electoral Council, Huygens Institute

Elections in the 1900s

1901 general election: Rotterdam II

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Dirk de Klerk	Lib	1,637	43.54	2,298	53.96
	Albertus de Jong	AR	1,548	41.17	1,961	46.04
	Herman Verkouteren	CHK	296	7.87
	J.G. van Kuykhof	SDAP	279	7.42
Total			3,760	100.00	4,259	100.00
Valid votes			3,760	99.03	4,259	99.46
Invalid/blank votes			37	0.97	23	0.54
Total votes			3,797	100.00	4,282	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			5,148	73.76	5,148	83.18
	Liberal hold
Source: Electoral Council, Huygens Institute

1905 general election: Rotterdam II

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Johannes Theodoor de Visser	CHP	3,151	46.12	3,328	46.50
	Dirk de Klerk	Lib	3,124	45.73	3,829	53.50
	P.J. Helsdingen	SDAP	557	8.15
Total			6,832	100.00	7,157	100.00
Valid votes			6,832	99.19	7,157	99.53
Invalid/blank votes			56	0.81	34	0.47
Total votes			6,888	100.00	7,191	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			7,751	88.87	7,751	92.78
	Liberal hold
Source: Electoral Council, Huygens Institute

1909 general election: Rotterdam II

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	W.B. van Staveren	AR	4,029	47.77	4,438	49.61
	Dirk de Klerk	Lib	3,200	37.94	4,508	50.39
	Pieter Jelles Troelstra	SDAP	1,205	14.29
Total			8,434	100.00	8,946	100.00
Valid votes			8,434	99.11	8,946	99.11
Invalid/blank votes			76	0.89	80	0.89
Total votes			8,510	100.00	9,026	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			10,761	79.08	10,761	83.88
	Liberal hold
Source: Electoral Council, Huygens Institute

Elections in the 1910s

1913 general election: Rotterdam II

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	W.B. van Staveren	AR	4,431	39.65	5,322	46.48
	Hendrik Spiekman	SDAP	3,395	30.38	6,129	53.52
	Dirk de Klerk	Lib	3,349	29.97
Total			11,175	100.00	11,451	100.00
Valid votes			11,175	98.96	11,451	98.81
Invalid/blank votes			117	1.04	138	1.19
Total votes			11,292	100.00	11,589	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			13,625	82.88	13,625	85.06
	Social Democratic Workers' Party gain
Source: Electoral Council, Huygens Institute

1917 general election: Rotterdam II

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Hendrik Spiekman	SDAP	3,943	80.39
	J. Roeper Bosch	AG	496	10.11
	Willem van Ravesteyn	SDP	466	9.50
Total			4,905	100.00
Valid votes			4,905	96.06
Invalid/blank votes			201	3.94
Total votes			5,106	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			17,453	29.26
	Social Democratic Workers' Party hold
Source: Electoral Council, Huygens Institute

1917 Rotterdam II by-election

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Arie de Zeeuw	SDAP	3,628	39.20	4,844	50.92
	Jan Schouten	AR	3,441	37.18	4,669	49.08
	Dirk de Klerk	Lib	2,035	21.99
	Willem van Ravesteyn	SDP	150	1.62
Total			9,254	100.00	9,513	100.00
Valid votes			9,254	98.71	9,513	99.19
Invalid/blank votes			121	1.29	78	0.81
Total votes			9,375	100.00	9,591	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			17,453	53.72	17,453	54.95
	Social Democratic Workers' Party hold
Source: Electoral Council, Huygens Institute