Catholics regain lead in Holland

From Our Netherlands Correspondent THE Catholic People's Party emerged again as the strongest party in the Netherlands provincial council elections. With 31.5 per cent. of the votes they have left the Labour Party behind with 29,4 per cent,
In the 1952 elections for the Second Chamber the Labour Party beat the Catholic People's Party by the small margin of .3 per cent. (29.0 against 28.7).
The downward trend of the Communist Party continued last week, their votes going down from 6.2 to 5.3 per cent.
A barometer These provincial council elections are important not only as a barometer of the strength of the parties — voting is obligatory — but also because the First Chamber members arc chosen by the provincial councils.
The result has made it clear that the small dissident Catholic Conservative party called the Catholic National Party has no future, since its votes have dwindled from 2.7 to 1 per cent.
The strenuous efforts of the Labour Party to attract Catholics to their ranks have not been successful either.