Labour party leader Diederik Samsom will not resign if his party does badly in the provincial government election, he told tv talk show Jinek on Monday evening.

The provincial government election takes place on March 18 and follows poor showings for Labour in the local election last March and the European election last May.

When asked if the provincial election can be seen as a referendum on the current national government, made up of Labour and the right-wing liberals VVD, with a loss sending a clear message, Samsom said he did not agree. ‘There is still a lot for the coalition to do before the next general election in 2017,’ he said.

In addition, he does not want to see the present government fall, saying that is something he could not explain to the voters. ‘It will be the first time in over 20 years that a government goes to full term and I think the Netherlands needs that,’ he said.