1977 Dutch general election

{{Short description|none}}

{{Infobox legislative election

| country = Netherlands

| previous_election = 1972

| next_election = 1981

| seats_for_election = All 150 seats in the House of Representatives

| majority_seats = 76

| election_date = 25 May 1977

| turnout = 88.1% ({{increase}} 4.6 pp)

| leader1 = Joop den Uyl

| party1 = Labour Party (Netherlands)

| last_election1 = 43

| seats1 = 53

| percentage1 = 33.8%

| leader2 = Dries van Agt

| party2 = Christian Democratic Appeal

| last_election2 = 48

| seats2 = 49

| percentage2 = 31.9%

| leader3 = Hans Wiegel

| party3 = People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

| last_election3 = 22

| seats3 = 28

| percentage3 = 17.9%

| leader4 = Jan Terlouw

| party4 = Democrats 66

| last_election4 = 6

| seats4 = 8

| percentage4 = 5.4%

| leader5 = Hette Abma

| party5 = Reformed Political Party

| last_election5 = 3

| seats5 = 3

| percentage5 = 2.1%

| leader6 = Marcus Bakker

| party6 = Communist Party of the Netherlands

| last_election6 = 7

| seats6 = 2

| percentage6 = 1.7%

| leader7 = Ria Beckers

| party7 = Political Party of Radicals

| last_election7 = 7

| seats7 = 3

| percentage7 = 1.6%

| leader8 = Bart Verbrugh

| party8 = Reformed Political League

| last_election8 = 2

| seats8 = 1

| percentage8 = 0.9%

| leader9 = Bram van der Lek

| party9 = Pacifist Socialist Party

| last_election9 = 2

| seats9 = 1

| percentage9 = 0.9%

| leader10 = Hendrik Koekoek

| party10 = Farmers' Party (Netherlands)

| last_election10 = 3

| seats10 = 1

| percentage10 = 0.8%

| leader11 = Willem Drees Jr.

| party11 = Democratic Socialists '70

| last_election11 = 6

| seats11 = 1

| percentage11 = 0.7%

| map = TweedeKamer 1977.png

| map_caption = Most voted-for party by municipality

| title = Cabinet

| before_election = Den Uyl cabinet

| before_party = PvdA–KVP–ARP–D66–PPR

| after_election = First Van Agt cabinet

| after_party = CDA–VVD

}}

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 25 May 1977.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1396 {{ISBN|978-3-8329-5609-7}} The Labour Party remained the largest party, winning 53 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.Nohlen & Stöver, p1414 Following the election, it took 208 days of negotiations to form a new government. This was a European record for longest government formation that stood until after the 2010 Belgian general election.{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5icaxxHSmnBBG2Njff5zmhjM2idLg?docId=CNG.f743df69e39530a06cd5cbf6c176ca6f.231 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124183352/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5icaxxHSmnBBG2Njff5zmhjM2idLg?docId=CNG.f743df69e39530a06cd5cbf6c176ca6f.231 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 24, 2013 |title=Belgium's shoddy political record poses financial threat

|author=Laurent Thomet |date=January 8, 2011 |access-date=2011-01-27 |quote=Without a government for nearly seven months, Belgium now holds a dubious record in Europe and with no end in sight to the political crisis, fears are growing of a backlash from watchful markets. The divided country on Saturday broke the 208-day mark set by the Netherlands in 1977 for being without a government.}} The Christian Democratic Appeal was formed by the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP), Christian Historical Union (CHU) and the Catholic People's Party (KVP) in 1976. The first joint party leader was a member of the KVP, Dries van Agt.

Eventually a coalition was formed between the Christian Democratic Appeal and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy with Dries van Agt as Prime Minister.