The farmers’ party BBB has been plunged into a fresh crisis after six provincial councillors in Overijssel broke away over what they called a “recent and irreconcilable difference.”

The six announced on Monday they had formed a new local party, Provincie Belang Overijssel (Provincial Interest Overijssel or PBO).

The split means the five-party administration headed by the BBB no longer has a majority, but the new group said it supported the coalition’s plans and was not looking to bring down the provincial government.

Earlier on Monday one of the party’s seven MPs, Lilian Helder, abruptly quit her seat in The Hague, also citing “irreconcilable differences of opinion” and complaining that she had been marginalised during last year’s coalition negotiations.

Tensions had grown within the BBB’s party in Overijssel in recent months over the coalition deal it struck with parties including GroenLinks and the Labour party (PvdA).

Wind turbines

It included plans for 90 new wind turbines, despite the party’s opposition to building wind farms on land, as well as a scheme to encourage farmers to cut nitrogen compound emissions and a new road bypass around Zenderen to carry traffic from Almelo to Hengelo.

The BBB took 31% of the vote in Overijssel in March 2023 to become by far the largest party with 17 of the 47 seats. The latest split leaves it with just nine deputies after two members broke away last June over the wind farm plan.

The crisis has hit the BBB in a region of the Netherlands seen as its heartland. Its vote share in Overijssel was the second largest in the provincial elections and the BBB held its election night party in Bathmen, a village just outside Deventer.

In a statement, the six PBO members said their decision to leave the party was “prompted by a recent and irreconcilable difference in how we should fulfil [the BBB’s] core values.”

High emotions

Aart van den Brink, one of the breakaway members, denied that it was a protest against the wind farm plan, but he admitted that the issue had exposed divisions within the BBB group.

“There were long sessions with a lot of speeches where emotions sometimes ran high,” he told local broadcaster Oost.

“As a provincial assembly member you have to be able to shut out your personal preferences and emotions, and our breakaway group has a different vision from the rest of the BBB.”

“This is not because of the content or the coalition agreement, or because of the policies of the provincial government,” he said. “It’s about how you substantiate your political work as a party.”

Carla Evers, leader of the local BBB group, said she was disappointed that the six members had chosen to quit.

“The remaining party members will continue to work for farmers, citizens and businesses in Overijssel, as the voters asked us to do,” she said. “We are not walking away from that.”