GroenLinks has emerged as the biggest party among Dutch nationals abroad, with 18% of the vote, while D66 came in second with 16% and the VVD was third with 14%, according to the results of the first ever ‘foreign’ election for the senate.

In total, almost 26,000 of the 37,000 Dutch expats who had signed up cast their ballot for a special electoral college which will, in turn, vote for the senate in May.

Far right JA21 was in fourth place with 9% of the vote and the PvdA in fifth with 8%.

Populist farmers party BBB did not take part in the elections for the Dutch expat vote, saying the process to register was complicated and its focus was on the domestic situation. ‘Next time you can vote for BBB, guaranteed,’ the party said on its website.

It is the first time Dutch expats will have been able to have an impact on the make-up of the senate, following a change in the voting regulations earlier this year.

The measure is ‘very important in the equal treatment of Dutch nationals who live abroad,’ Leiden University lecturer Simon Otjes told Dutch News earlier.

In total the expat vote will determine around 0.2 of a senate seat. Although this might sound very little, the electoral college vote could have a key role in helping one or more parties to an extra place in the senate, Otjes said.