Populist right takes Holland
The Dutch elections have wider political significance.


Right-wing populist Geert Wilders won a “historic victory” for his Freedom party in last week’s Dutch elections, says Senay Boztas in The Spectator. The “shock” result saw his PVV party top the poll, with a quarter of the vote, more than doubling its representation in Parliament. Wilders declared that the antiimmigration PVV can now “no longer be ignored” and is set to govern. There had been widespread mistrust of the government following a series of scandals under former prime minister Mark Rutte, and anger over immigration, both of which prepared the ground for Wilders’ anti-establishment message.
Tremors across Europe
Wilders may be celebrating, but the election itself really just marks “the end of the beginning”, says Jon Henley in The Guardian. With the PVV still well short of a majority, we can expect “endless horse-trading” as it tries to build a viable coalition to govern. The mainstream right-wing parties who had previously ruled out working with the PVV now say that “the result must be respected”, but “whole swathes” of Wilders’ manifesto are unacceptable to potential coalition partners, or “simply illegal”. Promises include a referendum on leaving the EU and an end to the free movement of EU workers. Wilders has said he is prepared to put his anti-Islam programme “on ice”, but experts say he will “need to go much further” than that.
In short, “the route to power for Wilders looks complicated”, says the Financial Times. The continued opposition of the centre-right VVD to serving directly in a Wilders-led government means “he has no chance of assembling a majority coalition”. The result will, however, still “send tremors across Europe” as his success “will embolden other anti-immigration, eurosceptic populists who are hoping for big gains in European parliamentary elections in June”. Wilders’ victory “once again underscores the potency of immigration as a campaign issue” at a time when Europe is struggling to cope with a surge of irregular migrants and asylum seekers.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Tipping the political balance
Indeed, if Wilders does end up becoming Holland’s leader, he will be far from alone in the EU, says The Economist. Even after the Polish elections, which saw centrist liberals returned to power, populists of various stripes still run Italy, Hungary and Slovakia, and are doing well in the polls in Austria, Germany and even in Belgium. Centrist parties on both right and left are therefore shifting towards tougher immigration policies in many countries.
Similar forces are at work in the US as huge numbers of asylum seekers cross the southern border, which might well tip “the political balance… to the populist right” there too, says William Galston in The Wall Street Journal. The perceived failure of Joe Biden’s administration to respond to this effectively has created “new fiscal and social pressures across the country” and has divided even his own party. With Republicans “more trusted than Democrats to deal with border security by margins of 20 percentage points or more”, Biden needs to change course if he is to have a chance of being re-elected.
This article was first published in MoneyWeek's magazine. Enjoy exclusive early access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a MoneyWeek subscription.
Related articles
- Betting on US politics – who'll be the next US President?
- Pedro Castillo: leftist outsider who rode to power in Peru
- Rishi Sunak: the maharaja of the Yorkshire Dales
Sign up for MoneyWeek's newsletters
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.
He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.
Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.
As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.
Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri
-
Could investing in sugar protect you during a downturn?
Sugar has some defensive qualities during economic downturns, but is now the right time to invest in sugar?
By Dan McEvoy
-
Trump’s tariffs: how should the UK respond?
Every right-thinking person knows that free trade is a surer route to the wealth of nations than protectionism. So, what is Trump thinking?
By Stuart Watkins
-
Trump wants to colonise Mars – will it happen?
Donald Trump wants to plant the US flag on Mars. Could humans really live there?
By Simon Wilson
-
Why are energy bills so expensive in the UK?
Electricity bills in the UK are higher than in any comparable rich country. Some blame the net-zero zealotry of the government for that. What is really to blame for high energy bills?
By Simon Wilson
-
Will Putin invade Europe? Why investors know Russia is a paper tiger
Opinion Markets are right to ignore talk of Putin invading Europe, says Max King.
By Max King
-
Why French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for office
Marine Le Pen, presidential candidate and leader of France's right-wing National Rally party, has been barred from standing by the country's judges.
By Emily Hohler
-
Five years on: what did Covid cost us?
We’re still counting the costs of the global coronavirus pandemic – and governments’ responses. What did we learn?
By Simon Wilson
-
Will Trump force the Fed to lower interest rates?
Opinion Markets are ignoring the risk that Donald Trump forces the central bank into reckless interest rate cuts
By Cris Sholto Heaton
-
London can lure Brexit-fleeing banks back to UK – but the City must move quickly
Opinion Many banks fled to Paris in the wake of Brexit but are now in full-scale retreat. The City should move quickly to lure them back, says Matthew Lynn
By Matthew Lynn
-
Protests erupt in Turkey after the arrest of president Erdogan's rival
Turkey's president has jailed his main political opponent, Ekrem Imamoglu
By Emily Hohler