According to a polling station survey on Dutch television, D66 will receive 27 seats, compared to 25 for the PVV and 23 for the right-liberal VVD.
The GL/PVDA – an alliance between the Social Democrats and the Greens – is on 20 and the conservative CDA on 19, according to the survey. Ten more parties are expected to take seats in the 150-seat parliament.
It is not a given that D66 will actually be the largest party. In the corresponding polling station survey in the 2023 election, the party's result was overestimated by a couple of seats, while the PVV was underestimated.
The results nevertheless provide a clear indication that the Netherlands is likely to have a centrist government – without influence for Wilders.
Want to build housing
Former Minister of Climate and Energy Rob Jetten made a breakthrough in the 2017 election campaign when his party made strong progress, partly as a reaction to Donald Trump having just taken over as president of the United States.
Now the party is making an even better choice and could become the country's largest for the first time.
One thing is certain: millions of Dutch people have turned the page today. They have said goodbye to negative politics, he said at his election vigil in Rotterdam, promising a “stable and ambitious” government.
D66 has traditionally been called left-liberal, but like many others in the Netherlands, has moved towards a more restrictive migration policy. At the same time, it is campaigning strongly on the housing issue, which has been a major issue in this year's election campaign. Jetten wants to build ten completely new cities – including on the "inland sea" Ijsselmeer, north of Amsterdam.
Openly gay
Jetten could now become the country's youngest prime minister to date and also the first to be openly gay. Jetten's partner is Nicolas Keenan – Argentine national field hockey player.
But I am neither the “gay candidate” nor the “young candidate”. Much more relevant is that voters reject a failed experiment with the far right. My party wants to bring a new optimism into Dutch politics, he told the news site Politico Europe ahead of the election.
However, forming a government will likely require many compromises and many collaborating parties. One who has already stepped aside is former EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans, who has announced that he is stepping down as leader of the red-green alliance, GL/PVDA.
But better times are coming, he promises at the party's election vigil.
Wiktor Nummelin/TT
Facts: The election in the Netherlands
TT
This is how many seats the parties will receive in the Dutch elections, according to a polling station survey from the television companies NOS and RTL:
D66 (left-liberal): 27 (+18)
PVV (far right): 25 (-12)
VVD (right-liberal): 23 (-1)
GL/PVDA (Greens and Social Democrats): 20 (-5)
CDA (Christian Democrats): 19 (+14)
JA21 (far right): 9 (+8)
FVD (far right): 6 (+3)
BBB (peasant populist): 4 (-3)
SP (left party): 3 (-2)
PVDD (animal rights party): 3 (+-0)
SGP (Christian): 3 (+-0)
Denk (immigrant party): 3 (+-0)
CU (Christian): 2 (-1)
50 Plus (retirement party): 2 (+2)
Volt (pan-European): 1 (-1)
NSC (conservative): 0 (-20)
Source: Ipsos I&O, via NOS and RTL.
