Acting defence minister Jack de Vries, widely regarded as a master strategist within the CDA, is taking a step back from the election campaign after admitting an affair with an aide.

De Vries left his family home several weeks ago and is currently living in defence ministry accommodation because of security requirements, ANP said.
The aide has been given another job within the defence ministry, ANP said.
Sex scandals are rare in Dutch politics and the De Vries affair dominated newspaper websites on Tuesday. The affair is particularly painful for the CDA which regards ‘the family as the cornerstone
of society’, the NRC said in its coverage.