The next government is likely to consist of 20 ministers and 10 junior ministers and will be dominated by the VVD and D66, sources in The Hague have told the Telegraaf.

Talks are still ongoing on forming a new cabinet, but are thought to be nearing completion, with negotiations now starting on dividing up the workload.

In the new look cabinet, which will be the fourth led by Mark Rutte, the right-wing VVD is set to get eight ministerial posts, D66 six, the Christian Democrats four and ChristenUnie two.

In terms of junior ministers (staatsecretarissen), who do not have a vote at cabinet meetings, four posts are likely to go to the VVD, three to D66, two to the CDA and one to ChristenUnie, the paper said.

The current cabinet started out with 16 ministers and eight junior ministers in 2017.

The Telegraaf says the expansion in the ministerial line up is a response to the pressure of work which led to two ministers in the outgoing cabinet – Bas van ‘t Wout and Bruno Bruins – stepping down early.