The results of the Dutch general election on Wednesday haven’t stormed the world’s headlines but they contain quite a few surprises and pointers to where Dutch and European politics are heading.
Altogether some 37 parties stood for 150 seats in the lower house of parliament at The Hague. Of these, 16 have passed the threshold to get at least one member in the new chamber. Mark Rutte, the incumbent prime minister – a legend for managerial rather than political skills – increased his share of the vote and the number of seats (to 35) for his liberal conservatives of the VVD, a gain of two on the 2017 election. Rutte is now the longest serving Dutch PM of the modern era, and this is his fourth election win in just over a decade.
