Dijkhoff, Omtzigt favorites for new Prime Minister; Dijkhoff not interested

Pieter Omtzigt and Klaas Dijkhoff are voters’ favorite candidates for Prime Minister, EenVandaag reported after polling 18,076 members of its opinion panel. Fewer voters are enthusiastic about Caroline van der Plas as Prime Minister, according to EenVandaag. Dijkhoff (VVD) already indicated that he is uninterested in succeeding Mark Rutte as VVD leader and Prime Minister.

EenVandaag conducted the poll after caretaker Prime Minister Rutte announced he would leave national politics. Of the 18,076 polled panel members, 2,586 are VVD voters. According to EenVandaag, after weighting, the survey is representative of age, gender, education, marital status, distribution across the country, and political preference measured by the 2021 parliamentary elections.

Over half of the respondents (56 percent) would find it acceptable if independent parliamentarian Omtzigt took over from Rutte. That is the opinion of voters for JA21 and BBB, but also SP and GroenLinks. Former VVD Minister and parliamentarian DIjkhoff received support from slightly less than half of the respondents (46 percent).

Fewer respondents (29 percent) find BBB leader Van der Plas an acceptable successor to Rutte. “Opponents do not agree with her views, and many also mention that she does not yet have enough experience in politics to represent our country on the international stage,” reported EenVandaag.

A third (33 percent) think VVD Justice Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz is an acceptable new Prime Minister, and 29 percent suggested PvdA prominent and European Commissioner Frans Timmermans.

The respondents called it important that the new Prime Minister is decisive, binding, and honest and that they have experience in politics.

Rutte’s announced departure from national politics marks the end of an era. With his almost 13 years in the Torentje, Rutte was the longest-serving Prime Minister.

Dijkhoff, Schippers uninterested VVD leadership

VVD prominent and former party leader Klaas Dijkhoff maintains that he is not interested in leading the VVD in the upcoming elections, he said to Op1. Dijkhoff is often mentioned as a possible successor to Rutte, but he left politics in 2021 because he was ready for something else.

Dijkhoff says he hasn’t changed his mind. “For me, personally, how I want to be a father, for example, cannot be combined with the image I have of what a Prime Minister should deliver,” he said. Dijkhoff said he has made his choice to no longer be a full-time politician and doesn’t expect to change his mind, at least “for the next fourteen years.”

Senator Edith Schippers is also unavailable to lead the VVD, a spokesperson for the liberals’ Senate faction confirmed after reports by NOS. Schippers is popular in the party, and some VVD members consider her the ideal successor to Rutte.

When she returned to the Binnenhof as leader of the Senate faction in June, it was thought this might be the prelude to becoming party leader. But Schippers always said it was “absolutely” not her ambition.

Former VVD parliamentarian Andre Bosman has put himself forward as a candidate to lead the VVD, he told the radio program WNL Haagse Lobby. The politician was the first to step forward after Rutte’s announcement.

Bosman believes that the members should express their views on the party’s course and that it helps if there are several candidates. “So I am very curious about the candidate that the central board will come up with,” he said.

“I’ve been involved with this party for a long time, Bosman said. “The party is close to my heart, and I have quite a few ideas about it.” He said he informed the party chairman of his candidacy.