![Frans Timmermans during European Commission confirmation hearings in 2019](/sites/nltimes.nl/files/styles/news_article_full_mobile_1x/public/2022-11/48865712988_336b0ba50d_o.jpg?h=a1e1a043)
Timmermans' candidacy boosts left-wing bloc's position in the polls
The PvdA and GroenLinks announcing that they’d participate in the parliamentary election together, possibly with Frans Timmermans as their leader, gave the left-wing bloc a real boost in the polls. PvdA/GroenLinks gained seven seats, bringing them to 27 - about the same number as the VVD, according to EenVandaag and Ipsos’s first poll after the Rutte IV Cabinet collapsed.
The poll was held this weekend, so after the PvdA and GroenLinks announced that Frans Timmermans was a candidate to lead the combination.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s announcement that he was leaving politics and Dilan Yesilgöz’s candidacy to succeed him had seemingly little effect on the VVD’s standings. The party has 28 seats in the latest poll, the same as last month.
BBB is currently the third largest party with 24 seats, one more than last month. And PVV comes in fourth place with 19. According to EenVandaag, Geert Wilders’ populist party gained four seats in one fell swoop after the Cabinet collapsed over the asylum policy.
The D66 has been in free fall for several months, and Sigrid Kaag’s announced departure and the candidacy of Rob Jetten for new leader did not change that. The party lost two seats this month, dropping to 10 in the polls. In the parliamentary election in 2021, the D66 won 24 seats in parliament. The CDA, which still doesn’t have a candidate for the new leader, is also not doing great. It currently has six seats in the poll.
JA21 seems to suffer from the PVV’s gains in the government’s asylum woes. The far-right party currently stands at four seats in the polls, compared to 10 early this year. On the left-wing side, the PvdD lost three seats this month, dropping to seven - the lowest number in two years. The SP is also heading for a loss, according to the poll, dropping from its current nine seats in parliament to six. And Volt stands at four seats.
In this poll, BIJ1 and 50Plus would disappear from the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament. The poll was conducted before Sylvana Simmons that she would not lead BIJ1 in the upcoming election.