Countryside votes en masse at Forum for Democracy

'The day after' is always fraught and uncertain, but one thing is certain: Forum for Democracy (FvD) has made a hefty election gain in the elections for the Provincial Council. In addition, many rural municipalities have voted en masse for Thierry Baudet's party.

State in all provinces FvD in the top 3, which means that the party is popular all over the world. For example, the party is the largest in the provinces of South Holland and Flevoland and the party has finished second in Gelderland, Friesland, Groningen, Limburg, Brabant and North Holland. The profit of FvD is at the expense of the PVV and SP, and to a lesser extent also of the VVD and the CDA.

On the evening of the election results, Baudet told the NOS that he wants to stop the 'climate madness'. By this he means that building windmills and construction of wind turbines must be stopped solar fields† Baudet also wants to get rid of mass immigration and he wants to create more space for entrepreneurs. "We are going for a radical change of course."

Forum popular in the countryside
Farmers also fall for Baudet's ideas, although it is impossible to say what the vote of the agricultural Netherlands ultimately brought the party. Since FvD is large in many rural municipalities, it can be concluded that Baudet's sound is especially popular outside the Randstad. 

In the municipality of Noordoostpolder in Flevoland, where most farmers live nationally (843 in 2016), FvD is in second place. The CDA has won in that municipality. For example, in the municipalities of Hardenberg (Overijssel), Westland (South Holland), Berkelland in Brabant, Ede (Gelderland) or Súdwest Fryslân, FvD is also high in the (provisional) results. 

Coalition loses
GroenLinks has also gained popularity. This party won 5 seats in North Holland and is therefore the largest there. In the other provinces, Jesse Klaver's party finished outside the top 3. The governing parties (VVD, CDA and D66), on the other hand, lost many votes. Incidentally, this does not apply to the ChristenUnie, because the party of Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) gained about 100.000 more votes nationwide.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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