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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Simon van Teutem

Dutch voters have been seduced by positivity – liberals elsewhere, take note

Man with short hair in a suit and tie grinning broadly surrounded by microphones and cameras aimed at him
D66 party leader Rob Jetten in The Hague on 30 October, the day after the Dutch elections. Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock

Progressives often treat patriotism as radioactive. Flags and anthems are left to the populist right. But the centrist D66 party, which almost tripled its seats in this week’s Dutch election and looks set to form the next government in the Netherlands, has shown that another approach is possible.

Under the leadership of Rob Jetten, it used what we might call progressive patriotism – and voters responded. Five strategies defined that success. Politicians across Europe could learn a thing or two.

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