New Times,
New Thinking.

  1. World
  2. Europe
24 November 2023

Will Geert Wilders lead the most right-wing government in Europe?

After winning the most seats in this week’s election in the Netherlands, the hard-right Party for Freedom will decide the next government.

By Ben Coates

As the first exit polls from the Dutch elections were published on Wednesday evening (22 November), many of the country’s political elite had gathered their supporters in grand surroundings: conference centres, fancy restaurants and wedding venues, where they could toast their success among friends. The Green/Labour alliance held their affair in a former gas factory which fit a thousand guests, while the populist JA21 party held theirs in a former church. Geert Wilders settled for more modest surroundings: a cafeetje (small cafe) in The Hague, where a tiny podium was set up for him next to a dartboard.

At the time, the modest venue seemed fitting: in the run-up to the election, polls had predicted that the veteran anti-Islam campaigner’s Party for Freedom (PVV) would come third or fourth, picking up perhaps 29 parliamentary seats at best. Wilders’ party defied expectations, winning 37 – more than twice as many as at the last election, and enough to make PVV the biggest party in parliament. “A total earthquake is happening,” a jubilant Wilders lieutenant told journalists.

Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month
Content from our partners
Common Goals
Securing our national assets
A mission for a better country and economy
Topics in this article : , ,