Coalition parties' membership dwindling as PVV loses support in the polls

Coalition parties VVD, NSC, and BBB saw their membership numbers decline in 2024, according to figures from the University of Groningen’s Documentation Center for Dutch Political Parties (DNPP). The PVV has only Geert Wilders as a member. But the far-right party’s support has been dwindling in the polls, according to Maurice de Hond.

According to the DNPP, the VVD’s members decreased by 7 percent to almost 21,000. NSC currently has 7,991 members, down from 8,811. The BBB saw a decline of 2.9 percent and now has over 13,000 members.

GroenLinks and PvdA saw their members rise for the second year in a row. GroenLinks saw a plus of 14.5 percent to 46,500 members, and PvdA grew by 9.6 percent to 48,000 members.

With just one member, the PVV can’t decline on that front. But pollster Maurice de Hond noted that Geert Wilders’ party was falling in the polls. The PVV currently stands at 30 seats, down from 32 weeks in the previous poll two weeks ago and 37 seats won in the election.

At the same time, GroenLinks-PvdA climbed three seats in the polls, bringing the left-wing combination to 27 seats. There is now only a three-seat difference between the left-wing parties and the far-right PVV, a significant decrease from the 25-seat difference at the election.

The coalition as a whole currently has 60 seats in the polls. That is a 28-seat decline from the seats it currently holds in parliament and well below the 76 needed for a majority.

According to De Hond, only 22 percent of voters are satisfied with the Schoof I Cabinet’s performance. PVV voters' confidence, in particular, plummeted. At the start of the parliamentary year in September, 83 percent of PVV voters had confidence in the Cabinet. Now, that’s down to 53 percent.