Closing summary
It’s now 11.30pm in the Netherlands, and we are closing this blog.
Here’s a summary of the night:
Centrist D66 party is likely to win most seats in the next Dutch parliament, ahead of the PVV party led by firebrand populist Geert Wilders, according to the exit poll (21:03, 21:38).
In his first speech, D66’s 38-year-old leader Rob Jetten – who could become the youngest Dutch prime minister and first out gay to lead the government – said that millions of the Dutch people have turned a page today,” and “said goodbye to the politics of negativity and hate” (22:32).
He pledged to “do everything we can to show all Dutch people … that politics and the government can be there for them again” (22:38).
The projected results could lead to a “grand coalition” government excluding the far-right (21:29, 21:51, 21:57), with Wilders conceding his party is unlikely to be part of the coalition talks (22:15).
But the result technically remains too close to call, as the differences in the exit poll are within the margin of error of 1-2 mandates (21:38), with final results expected in the coming days.
The GreenLeft-PvdA alliance’s leader and former EU commissioner Frans Timmermans resigned from the post as the party appeared to perform below expectations, potentially losing five seats compared to 2023 (22:07).
Our up-to-date story on the election night results is here:
Thank you for joining us tonight.
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in Leiden
Speaking with journalists after his on-stage appearance at the party election party, D66’s Jetten said he was “very proud” of the parties showing “it is possible to beat the populist movements and the extreme right.”
He said there was a “broad majority of political parties that are more pro-European and want to work together with our European partners.”
He said the party used the flag in its communications to reclaim it as a symbol, “showing that we are proud of our country,” and defining himself as a “progressive patriot.”
