Wilders’ PVV tops opinion polls

Support for the anti-immigration PVV continues to grow in the latest Maurice de Hond opinion poll, which puts Geert Wilders’ party on 32 seats – or around 21% of the vote. This is up one seat on a week ago and more than double the party’s general election total. De Hond puts the Socialist party in second place, with 24 seats or 16% of the vote.

At the same time, backing for the ruling coalition continues to shrink. If there were a general election now, the right-wing liberal VVD would take just 12.6% of the vote – or 19 seats in the 150-seat parliament – while the Labour party (PvdA) is at a record low of 11 seats, the De Hond poll says. The Liberal democratic party D66 is also on the up and would also win 19 seats if there were a general election tomorrow.

Although De Hond’s polling methods have been criticised for over-emphasising the success of more extreme parties, other polls also put the PVV out in front. A Synovate poll last week put the PVV in joint first place with the VVD on 28 seats, with D66 in third place on 20 seats and Labour with 19. And poll comparison website allepeiling.com,which looks at six opinion polls also puts Wilders’ party in the lead.

Dutch News, 8 September 2013