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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Katherine Butler, Associate editor, Europe

Geert Wilders convinced Dutch voters the far right could run the country. What is their verdict now?

Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders casts his vote in The Hague.
Vying for power … Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders casts his vote in The Hague. Photograph: Koen van Weel/EPA

What happens when you put far-right populists in charge? Entrusted with ministerial responsibilities, can they deliver the radical solutions that they often preach? Or do they, sooner or later, when faced with complex policy dilemmas, end up self-destructing, leaving an even bigger mess in their wake?

That is the question Dutch voters had to weigh on Wednesday after a tumultuous two-year experiment in which Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party (PVV) entered a rightwing coalition to run the Netherlands for the first time.

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