The Netherlands goes to the polls to elect a new government on November 22. Here’s a round-up of today’s election news.

BBB picks its dream coalition

Caroline van der Plas, leader of the pro-countryside party BBB, has told the Netherlands only overtly religious newspaper that she would like to form a coalition with Pieter Omtzigt’s NSC, the VVD and the fundamentalist Protestant party SGP.

The BBB is currently polling around 12 seats in the 150-seat parliament, well down on its support during the provincial elections earlier this year. But Van der Plas thinks 20 to 25 seats is still a realistic target.

“It would be great if the BBB, NSC and VVD all won 25 seats. Then we would just have to find one more party for a majority,” she told the Nederlands Dagblad. “I have always been charmed by the SGP and a four-party coalition would be good for the country, I think.”

The BBB would rule out being in a coalition if meant farmers could be bought out against their will. And the BBB would insist on providing the minister for farming and fisheries, she told the paper.

Teachers switch sides

More than 50% of teachers and other school staff are planning to vote for a different party than they did in 2021, according to research by teaching union AOb.

The switch is particularly bad news for D66. At the last election, 23% of teachers voted for the Liberal democratic party, but this time round only 4% plan to do so.

The GroenLinks/PvdA alliance is the most popular among teaching staff, with 32% saying they will vote for the green left campaign. The NSC is in second place with 11%, followed by the pro-animal PvdD on 5%.

Employers are pessimistic

Two thirds of Dutch employers are “negative” about the current economic climate, even though most are happy with their own company’s performance, according to research involving 1,300 companies and freelancers by the biggest employers’ organisation VNO-NCW.

Most are glad the current coalition government has gone, saying ministers had lots of plans but achieved little. Yet three in five are also pessimistic about 2024, when the Netherlands will have a new government.

Employers’ favourite coalition is a combination of the NSC, BBB and VVD, although support for the right-wing liberals has gone down. In 2021, 48% of employers voted for the VVD but only 30% now plan to do so. Support for D66 has also shrunk from 12% to 5%

More to follow