Confidence in Dutch politics soaring since pandemic

Since the coronavirus crisis hit the Netherlands, confidence in politics has increased significantly. For the first time since the Rutte III cabinet took office, a majority of Netherlands residence has confidence in the government. Prime Minister Mark Rutte and politics in general are also currently enjoying majority support, according to a survey by Ipsos on behalf of NOS.

Shortly after the Rutte III cabinet took office, slightly more than a third of Dutch voters said they had confidence in Rutte as Prime Minister. Now nearly two thirds have confidence in him. Almost 60 percent describe him as an ideal Prime Minister, including half of supporters of opposition parties PvdA and GroenLinks. Supporters of far-right parties PVV and FvD have the least confidence in Rutte, though a quarter of them still think he is a good Prime Minister. Half of them consider him unfit.

Voters also think that Hugo de Jonge, currently Minister of Public Health and leader of the CDA in the upcoming parliamentary elections, will be a good Prime Minister. A third support him as Prime Minister, putting him in second place after Rutte and ahead of D66 leader Sigrid Kaag at 23 percent, PvdA leader Lodewijk Asscher at 22 percent, VVD leader Klaas Dijkhoff at 20 percent, and GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver at 16 percent.

Of the currently sitting Ministers, Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance scores best among the Dutch public. Voters gave him a score of 6.7, higher than Rutte's 6.2 and De Jonge's 6.0. Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus received the lowest score at 4.3. 

The vast majority of voters think that Rutte, De Jonge and public health institute RIVM are doing a good job in tackling the coronavirus crisis. But that does not mean that Netherlands residents support the entire policy. 40 percent said they are worried about the rising national debt, and a third said that the coronavirus policy is bad for the economy. Still, only a quarter believe that the coronavirus measures should be relaxed to help the economy. And half think the coronavirus measures should be stricter.