Rob Jetten, 38, Set to Become the Netherlands' First Openly LGBTQ+ Prime Minister

Three Centrist Parties in the Netherlands Agree on New Coalition, Excluding the Far-Right

Photo by Martijn Beekman / D66

Three centrist parties in the Netherlands have agreed to form a new coalition government that excludes far-right parties.

According to reports from AFP and other foreign media on January 28, the center-left D66, the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) plan to officially sign a coalition agreement on January 30 after finalizing policy details. The three parties together hold 66 out of 150 seats in parliament, falling short of a majority by 10 seats, which means the new government will be a minority coalition.

They excluded the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), which had advocated for hardline immigration policies and caused the previous coalition to collapse last year, as well as the progressive GreenLeft-Labour Party alliance (GL-PvdA), from the negotiations. D66, which led the negotiations and became the largest party in the October 2025 general election, is set to see its leader, Rob Jetten (38), effectively become the next prime minister. If inaugurated, he will be the youngest and the first openly LGBTQ+ prime minister in Dutch history.

Jetten stated, "I look forward to the launch of the new government," and identified affordable housing supply, immigration control, and increased defense investment as top priorities.

Previously, the PVV became the largest party in the November 2023 general election and formed a right-wing coalition with the VVD, the New Social Contract party (NSC), and the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) the following year. PVV leader Geert Wilders, often referred to as the "Dutch Trump," handed the prime minister post to Dick Schoof, a former independent civil servant, in response to criticism over his immigration policies.

However, the PVV left the coalition in June last year, claiming that its coalition partners did not agree to its immigration reduction policies. In the subsequent snap election, the PVV won the same number of seats as D66 (26), but lost its position as the largest party due to a lower vote share. The PVV has since dropped to the fourth-largest party after losing 11 seats and recently saw seven of its lawmakers leave the party, criticizing Wilders' autocratic leadership.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.