Rob Jetton’s centrist liberals are leading the Dutch election, exit polls show

The centrist liberals under Rob Jetten have taken a shock lead in the Dutch election, according to the main exit poll, two years after his party finished sixth in the last vote.

Jetton has run a remarkable campaign in recent weeks, and the Ipsos I&O exit poll shows his D66 Liberals won 27 seats, two more than anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders, who won the last election.

The final result is too close to say, although Dutch exit polls are generally considered reliable.

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

Wilders led the polls during the election campaign, but after he broke up his own coalition in June in a row over asylum and migration, all the leading leaders made it clear they did not want to work with him again.

Meanwhile, Jetten’s party mounted a highly successful campaign, capitalizing on his polished performances during televised debates. The fact that the 38-year-old Liberal leader appeared on a game show during the campaign added to his profile.

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

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

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

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