VVD, PvdA win seats after MH17

Governing parties the VVD and PvdA have gained support after the tragic Malaysia Airlines plane crash. According to pollster Maurice de Hond, the wake of the crash proved positive for only these two parties, the other parties in The Netherlands lost seats. In the week after the day of National Mourning, July 23rd, VVD rose with four seats to 27, becoming The Netherlands' biggest party, with four seats more than D66. The PvdA rose with three seats to 14. According to Maurice de Hond, the last time that the VVD had the most seats was in March 2013. Other parties lost seats. The CDA and D66 both lost two seats, PVV, SP and ChristenUnie lost one seat. De Hond says that the number of steady voters for the VVD and PvdA have increased by 10 percent compared to a few weeks ago. Half of the VVD-voters from 2012 say they would vote for the party again. This is about one-third for the PvdA. This shift means that the combination of the two governing parties, along with the D66, ChristenUnie and the SGP have risen from 71 to 74 seats. The elections for the Provincial States and the Senate are in around seven months. If the recovery of the governing parties is not temporary, then the chance increases that these five parties will have a Senate majority.