Government of Amsterdam

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 3 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 Council

Party		seats	change from 2002
	Labour Party	20	5
	VVD	8	1
	GreenLeft	7	1
	Socialist Party	6	2
	Christian Democratic Appeal	2	2
	Democrats 66	2	1
	AA/De Groenen	0	1
	Mokum Mobiel	0	1
	Total	45	-

Dutch municipal elections, 2010:

Municipal Council

Party		seats	change from 2006
	Labour Party	15	5
	VVD	8	0
	GreenLeft	7	0
	Democrats 66	7	5
	Socialist Party	3	3
	Christian Democratic Appeal	2	0
	Save Amsterdam	1	1
	Proud of the Netherlands	1	1
	Party for the Animals	1	1
	Total	45	-

Dutch municipal elections, 2014:

Municipal Council

Party		seats	change from 2010
	Democrats 66	14	7
	Labour Party	10	5
	VVD	6	2
	GreenLeft	6	1
	Socialist Party	6	3
	Christian Democratic Appeal	1	1
	Party for the Animals	1	0
	Party for the Senior Citizens	1	1
	Save Amsterdam	0	1
	Proud of the Netherlands	0	1
	Total	45	-

Dutch municipal elections, 2018:

Municipal Council

Party		seats	change from 2014
	GreenLeft	10	4
	Democrats 66	8	6
	VVD	6	0
	Labour Party	5	5
	Socialist Party	3	3
	Party for the Animals	3	2
	Denk	3	3
	Forum for Democracy	3	3
	Christian Democratic Appeal	1	0
	Party for the Elderly	1	0
	Christian Union	1	1
	Amsterdam Bij1	1	1
	Total	45	-

Eight boroughs of Amsterdam.

Unlike most other Dutch municipalities, Amsterdam is subdivided into eight boroughs (stadsdelen or 'districts'), a system that was implemented in the 1980s and significantly reformed in 2014. Before 2014, the boroughs were responsible for many activities that previously had been run by the central city. The idea was to bring the government closer to the people. All of these had their own district council (deelraad), chosen by a popular election. Local decisions were made at borough level, and only affairs pertaining the whole city (like major infrastructural projects), were delegated to the central city council. As of 2014, the powers of the boroughs have been significantly reduced, although they still have an elected council called bestuurscommissie ('district committee').

The boroughs are:

• Amsterdam-Centrum (English: Centre).
• Amsterdam-Noord
• Amsterdam-Oost
• Amsterdam-Zuid
• Amsterdam-West
• Amsterdam-Zuidoost
• Amsterdam Nieuw-West

The eighth, Westpoort, covers the western harbour area of Amsterdam. Because it has very few inhabitants it is governed by the central municipal council.

The mayor of Amsterdam is the head of the city council. The current mayor-designate is Femke Halsema. The mayors since World War II are:

• Feike de Boer (1945–1946)
• Arnold Jan d'Ailly (1946–1956)
• Gijs van Hall (1956–1967)
• Ivo Samkalden (1967–1977)
• Wim Polak (1977–1983)
• Ed van Thijn (1983–1994)
• Schelto Patijn (1994–2001)
• Job Cohen (2001–2010)
• Eberhard van der Laan (2010–2017)
• Femke Halsema (2018-)

See also: List of mayors of Amsterdam.