Confidence in cabinet slips to 16%, VVD voters most critical

Just one in six voters have confidence in the Dutch cabinet less than nine months after the four-party coalition took office, a new survey shows.
RTL Nieuws’s regular news panel found that support had slumped from 37% shortly after Dick Schoof’s cabinet was sworn on July 2 to 16% now.
Supporters of the right-wing liberal VVD were among the most critical, with 50% saying they should form a coalition with the left-wing opposition party GroenLinks-PvdA after the next election.
Just 21% were in favour a revamp of the current formation with the far-right PVV and farmers’ party BBB, while 18% would not support either option.
“PVV, BBB and NSC aren’t grown-up enough to be partners in government,” said one VVD supporter. “Time to go back to more stable partners.”
VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz enjoyed the strongest support among her own party’s voters, with 78% saying they had confidence in her. Seven in 10 PVV voters supported Geert Wilders while Caroline van der Plas was backed by two-thirds of BBB voters.
PVV voters were critical of Wilders for failing to make progress on his priorities, such as curbing immigration, and for his public feuds with cabinet ministers and coalition partners. They are also increasingly unhappy with his support for Donald Trump and reluctance to invest in defence or support Ukraine.
Christian Democrat (CDA) leader Henri Bontenbal enjoyed the highest approval rating among his own supporters, with 93% saying they had confidence in him.
D66 leader Rob Jetten enjoyed 86% confidence, but Frans Timmermans, leader of the GroenLinks-PvdA alliance, has slipped from 81% to 72% since last year.
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.
We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.
Make a donation