University and college graduates’ trust in the cabinet has fallen since the four parties agreed to form a coalition a year ago.

In the spring of 2024 60% of people with a university or vocational college degree said they had confidence in the right-wing government comprising the PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB parties.

But the latest edition of the running survey by the social research institute (SCP), based on surveys carried out in the autumn, found that this figure had shrunk to 52%.

The total proportion of people who gave the cabinet a score of six out of 10 or higher slipped from 55% to 51%, as support among people without a degree-level education was unchanged.

The most common complaints were the cabinet’s failure to solve problems, poor relations between the parties and incompetent ministers.

One university-educated respondent, a 27-year-old man, commented: “Their knowledge of the issues is poor, plans are unrealistic and they’re too busy with populism while achieving little.”

SCP researcher Josje den Ridder said that graduates tended in the past to have a more positive view of the government than non-graduates, but last year there was “no clear difference in education levels”.

“However, that doesn’t mean that the general image that the different groups have of politicians is fundamentally different from before,” she said. “There are still differences when we look at other political views.”

Graduates had more confidence in parliament as a whole, with 61% giving MPs a positive score, compared to 49% of non-graduates.

And although 57% of people said they felt the Netherlands was heading in the wrong direction, the economy was generally seen as strong, with 78% giving it a positive score and 64% saying they did not expect conditions to get worse in the coming months.