Rob Jetten’s centrist liberals lead Dutch election, exit poll says

Centrist liberals led by Rob Jetten have taken a shocking lead in the Dutch election, according to the main exit poll, two years after his party fell to sixth place in the last vote.

Jetten has mounted a remarkable campaign in recent weeks, with the Ipsos I&O exit poll showing the D66 liberals winning 27 seats; That’s two more than anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders, who won the last election.

Although Dutch exit polls are generally considered reliable, the final result is too close to predict.

Three other parties are close behind, including the conservative Liberals, the left-wing Green Labor Party and the Christian Democrats.

Wilders was ahead in the polls throughout the election campaign, but after he pulled the plug on his own coalition over asylum and immigration in June, all mainstream leaders made it clear they did not want to work with him again.

Jetten’s party, meanwhile, mounted a highly successful campaign, capitalizing on his flamboyant performances during TV debates. The 38-year-old liberal leader’s appearance on a game show during the campaign boosted his profile.

There was palpable excitement as party supporters gathered for the results in a hall in Leiden, a city halfway between Amsterdam and The Hague. A second exit poll, taken half an hour after voting ended at 21:30 (20:30 GMT), confirmed the initial predictions.

“This was a campaign of optimism, it shows that the Dutch are tired of two years of stagnation, we are aware of the big challenges and want progress on them,” said D66 supporter Eline.

This election was driven in part by immigration and overcrowded asylum centres, but the biggest issue for voters was the chronic housing shortage of about 400,000 homes out of a population of 18 million.

Jetten’s party said it would build 10 cities as part of its plan to combat the crisis.