A defeat for populism
Fears of a populist surge across Europe eased last week after voters in the Netherlands failed to rally behind the anti-immigrant extremist Geert Wilders. In national elections, his far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), which had until this month been leading in the polls, won just 20 MPS in the 150-seat parliament – far below many predictions. The largest single party in the new assembly will again be Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), with 33 seats. In a victory speech, Rutte told supporters that the Netherlands had “said ‘stop’ to the wrong sort of populism”.
The big loser in the election was the Dutch Labour Party, a partner in the previous coalition government, which lost 29 of its 38 seats – the worst result in its history. The major winners were the Green Left party and the pro-eu, liberal D66. After a fiercely contested campaign, turnout was 82%, the highest in 30 years.