Socialists jump in latest poll; Scandal impact on ruling party unclear

The SP made the most progress in Maurice de Hond's latest poll, gaining three seats compared to the poll two weeks ago. The VVD also seems to have turned things around with two more seats than the previous poll. The SP currently stands at 20 seats in the Tweede Kamer (lower house of parliament), 5 more than the 15 seats they got in the 2012 elections. The VVD now stands at 23 seats, 18 less than in 2012. As the poll methodology does not indicate when the participants were surveyed, it is unclear whether the recent resignations by VVD members Minister Ivo Opstelten, State Secretary Fred Teeven and Mark Verheijen have had an effect in the poll. The PvdA is continuing on its downward trend, losing another seat in this poll. The Labor party currently stands at 14 Tweede Kamer seats, a massive 24 less than in 2012. The latest results show a fictitious Tweede Kamer with the five largest parties very close together and the PvdA at a substantial disadvantage: PVV (24 seats), VVD (23 seats), CDA (22 seats), D66 (21 seats), SP (20 seats) and PvdA (14 seats). The smaller parties remained mostly stable during the past two weeks, with only GroenLinks gaining one seat and the Partij voor de Dieren losing a seat.