50plus Rise Appears Over

The rise of the 50Plus party has come to an end in the Politieke Barometer. According to this poll, by investigation bureau Ipsos, the party of Henk Krol would get 16 seats in parliament if elections were held today. Though that is significantly more than the two seats the party has now, it is three less than the outcome of the same poll given two weeks ago. The PVV benefits most from the decline in the results for the 50Plus, jumping from 18 seats two weeks ago, to 20 seats in the poll now. The coalition partners PvdA and VVD, who have respectively 38 and 41 seats in the parliament, lose significantly. According to this week’s Politieke Barometer they would have 24 and 31 seats when elections were held now. There seems to be a correlation between the slumping results of 50Plus and the publicity surrounding the business perils of Krol who saw some of his companies declared bankrupt earlier in the week. These include the Gay Krant newspaper, for which he was the chief editor for years, and an online store that sold, among other items, porn movies.