--- title: Dutch Populist Wilders Lags in Polls Due to 'Trump Effect' description: Geert Wilders' Freedom Party has been ahead through much of the run-up to national elections. But how his lead is slipping canonical: https://time.com/4694764/geert-wilders-lead-slipping-because-trump/ author: Joseph Hincks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-08T06:20:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:43:25.884Z article:section: Politics og:title: Dutch Populist Wilders Lags in Polls Due to 'Trump Effect' og:description: The Netherlands' elections are a litmus test for Europe's populist movements og:url: https://time.com/4694764/geert-wilders-lead-slipping-because-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8d1f3288aca1a09/6988bd810b72e3934b6ece32/gettyimages-642549352.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: PVV Candidate Geert Wilders Addresses The Crowds At Campaign Rally og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Dutch Populist Wilders Lags in Polls Due to 'Trump Effect' twitter:description: The Netherlands' elections are a litmus test for Europe's populist movements twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8d1f3288aca1a09/6988bd810b72e3934b6ece32/gettyimages-642549352.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Dutch Populist Geert Wilders Is Lagging in the Polls Due to the 'Trump Effect' by [Joseph Hincks](https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Mar 8, 2017 6:20 AM UTC  PVV Candidate Geert Wilders shakes hands with supporters as he kicks off his election campaign on Feb. 18, 2017, in Spijkenisse, the Netherlands PVV Candidate Geert Wilders shakes hands with supporters as he kicks off his election campaign on Feb. 18, 2017, in Spijkenisse, the NetherlandsDean Mouhtaropoulos—Getty Images by [Joseph Hincks](https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Mar 8, 2017 6:20 AM UTC Under the jingoistic slogan “Netherlands ours again!” the populist leader of anti–European Union, anti-Islam Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, has been ahead through much of the run-up to Holland’s national elections. But the latest polls — one week before Holland votes — show Wilders starting to lose his grip on the race. And the slip in his lead might be partly down to Donald Trump, Bloomberg [reports](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-07/dutch-populist-wilders-feels-trump-burn-as-he-slides-in-polls). A Peil.nl poll, published Sunday, projects that Wilders’ Freedom Party, which is known by its Dutch initials PVV, will take 25 seats in the country’s 150-seat parliament. That’s four fewer than were being forecast a week ago and just one more than Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Liberals, who are projected to take 24 seats. “There was a rise shortly after Trump was elected, but now support is falling,” the owner and founder of Peil.nl Maurice de Hond told Bloomberg. “Voters have now become negative about the measures taken by President Trump. This could also be a reason for the somewhat weakened position of the PVV,” he added. Bloomberg describes the Dutch elections on March 15 as a bellwether for [Europe’s populist movements](http://time.com/4643051/donald-trump-european-union-koblenz/). France — whose Front National leader [Marine Le Pen](http://time.com/4590375/donald-trump-poy-marine-le-pen-france/) has also campaigned on a virulent anti-E.U., anti immigration platform — goes to the polls in April and May. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4694764/geert-wilders-lead-slipping-because-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4694764/geert-wilders-lead-slipping-because-trump/"},"headline":"Dutch Populist Geert Wilders Is Lagging in the Polls Due to the 'Trump Effect'","datePublished":"2017-03-08T06:20:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:43:25.884Z","description":"The Dutch elections on March 15 are a litmus test for Europe's populist movements","url":"https://time.com/4694764/geert-wilders-lead-slipping-because-trump/","keywords":["Netherlands","europe","E.U.","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8d1f3288aca1a09/6988bd810b72e3934b6ece32/gettyimages-642549352.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joseph Hincks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8d1f3288aca1a09/6988bd810b72e3934b6ece32/gettyimages-642549352.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"PVV Candidate Geert Wilders Addresses The Crowds At Campaign Rally","caption":"PVV Candidate Geert Wilders Addresses The Crowds At Campaign Rally","creditText":"Dean Mouhtaropoulos—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/netherlands/","name":"Netherlands"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4694764/geert-wilders-lead-slipping-because-trump/","name":"Dutch Populist Geert Wilders Is Lagging in the Polls Due to the 'Trump Effect'"}}]}] ```