THE GUARDIAN: Far right neck and neck with liberal D66 but all major mainstream parties have ruled out working with anti-Islam firebrand
Geert Wilders is almost certain to be shut out of the next Dutch government after a knife-edge general election in which support for his far-right Freedom party (PVV) slumped and the liberal-progressive D66 party made spectacular gains.
With 99.7% of ballots counted, the two parties were neck and neck on a projected 26 seats each in the 150-seat parliament, with D66 an estimated 15,000 votes ahead after the capital, Amsterdam, declared preliminary results on Thursday.
“It’s incredibly tense,” D66’s 38-year-old leader, Rob Jetten, who is in pole position to become prime minister, told reporters. “We have to wait for the next few hours – or more like days – for the final results.” But, he added, he was “very confident” of being able to form a new coalition government. » | Jon Henley, Europe correspondent | Thursday, October 30, 2025
PROFILE: Rob Jetten »
