Rutte’s party losing confidence in his leadership, but Kaag is rising: Poll

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has only just embarked on his fourth term as the country’s political leader, but his popularity among voters of his VVD party is slipping fast. At the end of September, he commanded 92 percent of support among VVD voters. That figure fell to 81 percent, according to an Ipsos opinion poll commissioned by EenVandaag.

“I have always been a Rutte fan, but I am increasingly getting the feeling that his time is over," one voter said. About 34 percent of the VVD voters surveyed stated they had “very high” confidence in the prime minister, compared to 56 percent in the previous survey. Sophie Hermans, who leads the VVD in the Tweede Kamer, won over 61 percent of the party’s supporters.

Roughly 61 percent of his party also thinks the state pension should rise at the same rate the minimum wage increases annually. This has been standard since the 1980s, but Rutte’s new fourth Cabinet plans to do away with it this year to cut spending in favor of other initiatives. All opposition parties from all sides of the political spectrum are against the plan.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and CDA leader, Wopke Hoekstra, has also lost ground within his own party. He maintained 55 percent of confidence among CDA voters, down from 62 percent four months ago.

Sigrid Kaag, the current Minister of Finance, is well-liked in her party, D66. Trust in her abilities rose from 69 percent to 78 percent. Jan Paternotte, the D66 leader in the Tweede Kamer, also garnered 74 percent of support.

Gert-Jan Segers is not in the Cabinet, but his party, ChristenUnie, is the fourth member of the ruling coalition. He leads the party from his seat as a Member of Parliament. He holds 91 percent support within his party.

Of the major opposition parties, support for PVV leader Geert Wilders rose four percentage points to 95 percent. Labour leader Lilianne Ploumen saw support slip from 93 to 82 percent, while confidence in FvD leader Thierry Baudet dropped from 81 to 71 percent.

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