After 15 years of Mark Rutte and two general elections that have broadly been uncompetitive, the times seem to be changing. After four volatile years marked by the nitrogen question and the war in Ukraine, the Rutte IV cabinet made up of the VVD, D66, CDA and ChristianUnion barely clung on for the ride. Now, three separate contenders are challenging the VVD's chokehold on the position of prime minister.
The BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Citizen Movement) entered the Dutch House of Representatives in 2021 with a single representative as a protest party against the government's nitrogen plans.
The BBB caused true shockwaves, however, when they participated in 2023's provincial elections, where they became the largest party in all twelve provincial governments, leading to them governing most of them and frustrating the execution of Rutte IV's Nitrogen Act on the provincial level.
Now their goal is to seek to recreate the same wave in the Dutch lower house. With Omtzigt in the race for the same voting bloc, can they recreate their success in 2023 once more?
\", \"color_hex\": \"#8BC11F\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#BBE36B\", \"is_active\": 1, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_BBBvan_der_Plas_9.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"Unbelievable! When the BBB won 20% in 2023, they thought it was the absolute peak, but now the BBB has won the election outright, a feat that has never before been achieved in Dutch parliamentary history since the implementation of the proportional voting system.
Some predictions for the upcoming four years: every member of the house of representatives must now follow a mandatory internship at a farm, the red-white-blue national flag will henceforth be blue-white-red and instead of the kingdom of the Netherlands we will now be speaking of the Boer Republic of the Netherlands, and the royal army will be replaced by the Farmers Defense force. I hope you are happy with what you have done.
\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"Tough shit.
\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"Sorry, the exitpolls have not arrived on our end. How did the BBB do? Did they win the most seats? If so, they will have the first chance to form a cabinet, congratulations! However, whether Caroline will be prime minister will still depend on whether a majority can be achieved with parties willing to enter in coalition with your party. If not, perhaps you can still play a role in the formation process. If not, but the BBB has still a significant amount of seats, then perhaps a role in the formation process may still be had. In a Rutte or Omtzigt-led cabinet, you might still be able to play a key role. If LinksOm won instead, your anti-nitrogen policies may prove unsurmountable and opposition seems the most likely option, although you never know.
\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 16, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"D66\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"Democraten 66\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 5, \"description\": \"Democrats 66 was, as the name implies, founded in 1966 as a party for democratic renewal against the at the time highly pillarized and rigid Dutch system of governance. In this capacity they made an, at the time, spectacular entrance with 7 seats in the Dutch House of Representatives in 1967. This was followed by a turbulent 1970s for the party, during which it almost dissolved. In the 1980s, they suffered from their participation in the ill-fated 'fighting cabinet' Van Agt II. After a stint in the opposition during the Lubbers years, D66 played a key role in reconciling the differences between the VVD and the Labour Party, setting the stage for the two purple Kok cabinets.
More recently, D66 proved itself a key opposition ally of the Rutte II cabinet constituted of the VVD and the Labour Party. Following the Labour Party's fall from grace in 2017, D66 joined the CDA and ChristianUnion in Rutte III. It proved the big winner besides Rutte's VVD in the 2021 general elections and outgrew the CDA to become the second largest party in Rutte IV. Previous parties in that position received a beating in the following elections. Can D66 avoid this insurmountable fate?
\", \"color_hex\": \"#32CD32\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#84CF84\", \"is_active\": 1, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_D66Dijkgraaf_1.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 17, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"Groep Omtzigt\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"Groep Pieter Omtzigt\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 2, \"description\": \"Group Pieter Omtzigt is the new political party of Pieter Omtzigt, a representative in the Dutch House of Representatives since 2003. Until 2021 Omtzigt was a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), where he had been a thorn in the side of the party establishment for a long time. Having acquired praise for uncovering the Childcare Benefits scandal, he tried to run for party leader, but narrowly lost in a controversial leadership election against then minister of Health Hugo de Jonge. Due to the pressures of COVID-19, De Jonge then resigned that position again but in favor of then-finance-now-foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra instead of Omtzigt. Following the 2021 election, a series of leaked insults from fellow party members targeting Omtzigt caused him to leave the CDA and continue as an independent; he now runs with his own list of Omtzigt-aligned former CDA representatives.
\", \"color_hex\": \"#008A89\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#00DCDC\", \"is_active\": 1, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_Groep_OmtzigtOmtzigt_2.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"Wow... You really trashed everyone else, didn't you? I guess your credentials had even staying more power than anyone would have expected.
You probably do not even have enough people in your group to fill this faction. Even your lijstduwer has likely been elected.\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"
Someone has won a majority? Something has gone wrong, or you did not select proportional.
\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"How did you do? Did your group win the most seats? If so, the initiative to form a new cabinet is yours, congratulations! With your CDA roots and credentials fighting for the victims of the Childcare Benefits scandal, it is likely a broad range of coalition partners would be available to form a cabinet with you. You could go left with LinksOm, SP, the Animal Party, D66 and Volt, or right with the VVD, the leftovers of CDA, JA21 and the BBB, or a centrist combination of the two. If you did not come in first, you might still play a key role in the cabinet formation, irrespective of the winner, depending on the winner.
\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 106, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"LinksOm\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"LinksOm (Partij van de Arbeid-GroenLinks)\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 3, \"description\": \"LinksOm (Leftwards) is the culmination of leftwing cooperation in the wake of the disastrous 2021 elections, when not a single municipality voted for a left-wing party. The party is composed of the Dutch Labour Party, the traditional social democratic force of the Dutch left on the one hand, and the Dutch Green party, themselves a fusion of several smaller leftwing parties on the other. They already ran on a single ticket in the 2023 Provincial elections, which saw them beat the VVD in size, although they had to tolerate the insurgent BBB above them. Now, the combination is hoping to recreate this feat in the lower house, with the hopes of setting the Netherlands up with the first left-wing prime minister since Wim Kok’s tenure.
\", \"color_hex\": \"#D90000\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#CC6868\", \"is_active\": 1, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_init_2.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"Ontwaakt, ontwaakt verworpen der aarde!
Ontwaakt, verdoemde in hongers sfeer!
Reedlijk willen stroomt over de aarde
En die stroom rijst al meer en meer.
Sterft, gij oude vormen en gedachten!
Slaafgeboornen, ontwaakt, ontwaakt!
De wereld steunt op nieuwe krachten,Begeerte heeft ons aangeraakt!
Congratulations, comrade! With the support of our allies in Pyongyang, LinksOm, or as we will now reveal, the new New Communist Party of the Netherlands, has crushed Mark Rutte's bourgeoise tyranny and installed a government beholden to the worker with a majority of its own. To a green and equal future!\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"
Someone has won a majority? Something has gone wrong, or you did not select proportional.
\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"How did you do? Did LinksOm win the most seats? If so, the initiative to form a new cabinet is yours, congratulations! The most logical move would be to try and form a coalition with other leftwing parties like the Animal Party and Socialist Party, but this is unlikely to carry you to the necessary majority of 76 seats. Likely some compromises will need to be made with left-liberals like Volt and D66, and even Christian Democrats like Omtzigt or CDA. If need be, the VVD could also be a potential partner, but beware that this path could lead you to a repeat of 2002 and 2017 in 2029. If you did not win, perhaps the combined strength of your two parties can at least finally pull that cabinet to the left.
\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 25, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"PVV\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"-\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 6, \"description\": \"The populist Freedom Party was founded in 2006 as the successor of Geert Wilders' one-man parliamentary faction, following his departure from the VVD. The party is notable for its nationalist, Eurosceptic and anti-Islam views. The PVV entered the House of Representatives with nine seats in 2006, but grew to be a major power block in 2010, when they won 24 seats and came in third behind the VVD and the Labour Party.
Following that election, they entered into a supply and confidence agreement with the VVD and CDA, which fell through just 18 months in because the PVV did not support the government's austerity measures. This cost the PVV the ensuing snap election, leading to a two-way race between the VVD and the Labour Party and a purple cabinet. By 2017, it seemed like the PVV was competing with a wounded VVD to become the nation's largest, but the VVD won convincingly in the end. The PVV led the opposition against Rutte III and IV, but the populist right is starting to fragment: new kids on the block like FvD, BBB and JA21 compete for the PVV's voters. Can the PVV retain its relevance in this hostile environment?
\", \"color_hex\": \"#598694\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#B3C0C4\", \"is_active\": 1, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_init_3.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 23, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"VVD\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 4, \"description\": \"The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative liberal party and the 'last one standing' of the three broad people's parties (others being Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the Labour Party (PvdA)) that dominated Dutch politics during the 20th century. VVD was the smaller one at the time and usually only helped CDA prime ministers, when they didn’t form a coalition with the Labour Party, to a majority. This changed in the 1990s, when the traditionally incompatible PvdA and VVD formed a social liberal coalition, shutting the CDA out of government for the first time since its inception.
Under the leadership of Mark Rutte, the VVD has been the ruling party of the Netherlands since 2010, firstly for two years with the CDA with supply and confidence from the populist Freedom Party (PVV), then for four years with the Labour Party, and then for the last eight years with social liberal D66, CDA and the smaller ChristianUnion.
\", \"color_hex\": \"#120A8F\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#3C378C\", \"is_active\": 1, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_init_4.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"2025: VVD wins comfortably, 2029: VVD wins comfortably, 2033... The year is 2053 and General Elections are held. To the surprise of none at all, Mark Rutte's optimistic politics have won once again. Queen Amalia goes through the same routine her father has participated in every four years during his entire reign. 86-year old Mark Rutte and his cabinet is welcomed to the palace for the bordes picture.
'Say Mark' she says 'What will become of this country when you are gone?'. 'Don't worry, your majesty' the prime minister replies. 'They are going to upload my mind onto a computer. Such a time will never come'.
\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"Someone has won a majority? Something has gone wrong, or you did not select proportional.
\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"How did you do? Did the VVD once again win the most seats? If so, the initiative to form a new cabinet is yours, as is becoming routine by now! Where you go from here will depend on the rest of the outcome. If LinksOm did well, perhaps a renewed purple coalition may be in the cards, although they will be weary seeing what happened to the PvdA in 2017. Alternatively you could look to the 'motorblock' (VVD-CDA-D66) that powered your previous cabinets, and possibly augment it with a party like Volt, or even CU, although they really seem done with that combination. If you did not win, the VVD may well still be a key part of your victorious rival's coalition. However, for you there will likely not be a place in that process, as certain groups, like the VVD's youth league JOVD have already for a longer time called for you to make way for a successor to lead the party.
\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 108, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"Caroline\", \"last_name\": \"van der Plas\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"BBB\", \"state\": \"Overijssel\", \"priority\": 4, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#0000FF\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#90C0FF\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2021DE_CDU／CSULaschet_0.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"Caroline van der Plas is the lone current BBB representative in the Dutch lower house and the face of the BBB. She made headlines when she arrived in The Hague in a tractor after the last election, and garnered praise for her relatability and no-nonsense approach to politics.
Thirty years earlier, Van der Plas served in the municipal government of Deventer for the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). She left the CDA following the provincial elections of 2019 because she perceived that the party was not doing enough to support the agrarian sector. She then founded the BBB with Wim Groot Koerkamp and Henk Vermeer in 2019.
Van der Plas has been credited with a strong campaign during the 2023 Provincial Elections, which led to the BBB winning the largest share of the vote in all twelve provinces of the Netherlands and intends to replicate her success.
\", \"candidate_score\": 0.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 109, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"Pieter\", \"last_name\": \"Omtzigt\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"Groep Pieter Omtzigt\", \"state\": \"Overijssel\", \"priority\": 5, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#0000FF\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#90C0FF\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_BBBvan_der_Plas_2.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"Pieter Omtzigt had been a long-time representative for the Christian-Democratic CDA, where his resistance to party policies such as the supply and confidence agreement with Geert Wilders' far-right Freedom Party (PVV) in 2010 made him be distrusted by the party establishment. In an attempt to get rid of him, the party gave him an unelectable position on the list in 2012, but Omtzigt survived through a preferential voting campaign
During the Rutte III cabinet, he was credited together with SP-representative Renske Leijten for bringing to light the Childcare Benefits Scandal, which the coalition, of which the CDA was part, refused to acknowledge until the evidence was undeniable. He narrowly lost in a controversial leadership contest to lead the CDA in the 2021 election and his presence almost ended Mark Rutte's political career when it was leaked that he pushed for Omtzigt to be promoted away to be less of a pest. When it was revealed that some CDA members had said shockingly offensive things about him behind his back, he left the CDA and continued as an independent member of parliament. Omtzigt now hopes to leverage his credentials to capture a broad coalition of voters dissatisfied with the Rutte government without overexerting himself to the point of having a burnout like four years ago.
\", \"candidate_score\": 0.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 112, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"Frans\", \"last_name\": \"Timmermans\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"LinksOm (PvdA)\", \"state\": \"Limburg\", \"priority\": 9, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#B56B21\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#DE9B59\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_BBBvan_der_Plas_0.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"Frans Timmermans has spent two terms in Brussels as the Dutch European Commissioner and deputy chairman of the European Commission. He has unsuccessfully sought the chairmanship of the Commission in that capacity. In 2019 he was the 'Spitzenkandidat' for the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) and almost became President of the European Commission despite losing that election when Manfred Weber's nomination was blocked by some member states. Despite Rutte's attempts, Timmermans' nomination was similarly blocked and eventually had to contend with Ursula von der Leyen as his superior.
After 2019, Timmermans worked on the European Green Deal, a capacity in which he irritated the Rutte Cabinet by refusing to budge on European Nitrogen rules. Consequently, they refused him an (admittedly unprecedented) third nomination to be the Dutch European Commissioner in 2024, which brought him back to the national political scene: ready to lead LinksOm to victory as he did with the PvdA in the European Elections of 2019.\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 111, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"Jesse\", \"last_name\": \"Klaver\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"LinksOm (GroenLinks)\", \"state\": \"Noord-Brabant\", \"priority\": 6, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#0000FF\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#90C0FF\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_init_5.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"
Jesse Klaver has been the leader of GroenLinks (Dutch Green party) since 2012, after previously having been a representative in the lower house for two years and before that having led the party’s youth wing DWARS.
After the dramatic implosion of the Dutch Labour party (PvdA) in 2017, GroenLinks found itself as the largest left-wing party in parliament, leaving them as the leading voice of the left against the Rutte cabinets.
Although GroenLinks, like the rest of the Dutch left, suffered defeat during the 2021 elections, they have maintained this position. Perhaps for that reason, the members of the PvdA and GroenLinks chose to make him the first on the list (Lijsttrekker) of the LinksOm fusion party. Can Klaver become the first left-wing prime minister of the Netherlands since Wim Kok left office in 2002?
\", \"candidate_score\": 0.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 514, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"Mark\", \"last_name\": \"Rutte\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"VVD\", \"state\": \"Zuid-Holland\", \"priority\": 8, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#FF0000\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#FFA0A0\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_BBBvan_der_Plas_3.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"Mark Rutte can by now claim many achievements: first liberal prime minister since World War I, first prime minister from the VVD, longest serving prime minister in Dutch history, having presided over the longest-lasting cabinet since World War II.
At the same time, these achievements could also be his Achilles’ heel. Crises that took form over the last decade, which can be safely called ‘the Rutte decade', are now firmly attached to his name. Others question if he shouldn't make room for a new leader after leading the VVD for nearly nineteen years. But then again, is there really anyone else who can lead the VVD?
Will you once again be elevated to the office of prime minister, or has 15 years of VVD policy finally caused the Dutch voter to say 'enough!'?\", \"candidate_score\": 0.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 21, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"CDA\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"-\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 7, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#0E644A\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#71B7A1\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"'\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 67, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"SP\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"-\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 8, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#450101\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#7A4E4E\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"'\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 68, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"FvD\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"-\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 9, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#800000\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#8A6565\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"'\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 77, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"PvdD\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"-\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 10, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#1B4D1C\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#5A6E5A\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"'\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 78, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"CU\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"-\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 12, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#9AEFF5\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#BEF6FA\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"'\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 79, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"Volt\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"-\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 13, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#AA00FF\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#E3B1FC\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"'\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 91, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"JA21\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"-\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 15, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#000080\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#53538A\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"'\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 92, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"DENK\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"-\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 16, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#3AC0C3\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#9CC1C1\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"'\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 116, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"BIJ1\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"-\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 17, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#DADE00\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#CDCF7A\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"'\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 512, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"Newcomers/others\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"-\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 19, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#000000\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#A8A8A8\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"'\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 117, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"\", \"last_name\": \"SGP\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"-\", \"state\": \"-\", \"priority\": 18, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#B56B21\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#DE9B59\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"'\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"'\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 110, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"Ahmed\", \"last_name\": \"Aboutaleb\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"LinksOm (PvdA)\", \"state\": \"Zuid-Holland\", \"priority\": 1, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#B56B21\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#DE9B59\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_init_6.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"
Ahmed Aboutaleb is the Dutch-Moroccan mayor of Rotterdam, the second-largest city in the Netherlands. He was born on August 29, 1961, in Beni-Sidel, Morocco. He moved to the Netherlands in 1976 and started his political career in the municipal government of Amsterdam. He also served as state secretary of social affairs under the Fourth Balkenende cabinet between 2007 and 2008, so national politics is not alien to him.
Aboutaleb is highly popular in his city, and part of the more conservative side of the PvdA. As such, he is a somewhat unlikely candidate to lead LinksOm, as his appeal towards GroenLinks is a bit limited. With him as the LinksOm candidate, concessions must almost certainly be made to keep the coalition together.
Nevertheless, his personal popularity could also carry LinksOm to great heights if he can keep the new fusion party together.
\", \"candidate_score\": 1.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 515, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"Dilan\", \"last_name\": \"Yeşilgöz-Zegerius\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"VVD\", \"state\": \"Noord-Holland\", \"priority\": 8, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#FF0000\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#FFA0A0\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_init_7.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius is the incumbent minister of Justice and Security, and is, like most of her colleagues in her party, a close ally to prime minister Rutte. She was previously a parliamentarian for the VVD and temporarily the state secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate, in the capacity of which she replaced minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Bas van 't Wout.
With Mark Rutte's announced intention to leave the office after the formation of a new government, Yeşilgöz is seen as his successor within the VVD.
Can Yeşilgöz prove that the VVD can withstand the pressure of the opposition even without their golden goose of Rutte, and become the first female and foreign-born prime minister of the Netherlands? Or is an election defeat an inevitable fate for the VVD with Rutte's departure?
\", \"candidate_score\": 0.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 516, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"Robbert\", \"last_name\": \"Dijkgraaf\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"D66\", \"state\": \"Zuid-Holland\", \"priority\": 8, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#FF0000\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#FFA0A0\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_D66Dijkgraaf_0.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"Robbert Dijkgraaf is the incumbent Minister of Education, Culture and Science. Being a renowned string theorist, he previously served as the director and Leon Levy professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He is widely considered to be one of the most intelligent people in the country, and convincing him to take on a ministry was already viewed a major coup. That he now agreed to replace Sigrid Kaag as leader of D66 is even more surprising.
Nonetheless, Robbert will have to contend with a few challenges: although she graciously stood aside in the face of his intention to ascend to party leadership, it is clear that she still desires to be this country's first female prime minister, and that she is not grateful to him for his maneuver. In addition, he will have to fend off allegations that he is now importing celebrity politics from the country he lived in for ten years. Can Dijkgraaf leverage his reputation to pull D66 on top? Or will the art of politics prove to be quite a different matter than the building blocks of our universe?
\", \"candidate_score\": 0.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 517, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"Geert\", \"last_name\": \"Wilders\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"PVV\", \"state\": \"Limburg\", \"priority\": 8, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#FF0000\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#FFA0A0\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_init_8.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"Geert Wilders is the leader of the right-wing populist Freedom Party. Born from a Dutch father and an Indo-European mother, he started his political career in the VVD, as a staffer for the party's parliamentary faction at the time led by Frits Bolkestein. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1998, which makes him, together with SGP-leader Kees van der Staaij the most senior member of the body. As VVD parliamentarian, he has even been the mentor of Mark Rutte. Following a dispute about whether Turkey should be allowed to join the EU he started his own party, the PVV - of which he is to this day the only member.
Wilders is known as extremely islam-critical, describing the religion as a fascist ideology and calling for the ban of the Quran and of mosques. He also wants the Netherlands to leave the European Union and to take away voting rights of Dutch people with a double nationality. His controversial views have both caused him to be prosecuted for insulting a group and to be subject to many death threats and even concrete assassination plots. As a result, he is protected by an armed security detail at all times.
\", \"candidate_score\": 0.0}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate\", \"pk\": 518, \"fields\": {\"first_name\": \"Sigrid\", \"last_name\": \"Kaag\", \"election\": 11, \"party\": \"D66\", \"state\": \"Zuid-Holland\", \"priority\": 8, \"description\": \"'\", \"color_hex\": \"#FF0000\", \"secondary_color_hex\": \"#FFA0A0\", \"is_active\": 0, \"image_url\": \"https://jetsimon.com/cts-media/public/2025NL_D66Kaag_0.png\", \"electoral_victory_message\": \"'\", \"electoral_loss_message\": \"'\", \"no_electoral_majority_message\": \"'\", \"description_as_running_mate\": \"Sigrid Kaag is the current First Deputy Prime Minister as well as the Minister of Finance in the Rutte IV cabinet. She previously served as Foreign Minister and as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development in the Rutte III cabinet. Before she entered politics, she worked as a diplomat and as UN Special Coordinator for Syria and Lebanon. Kaag became the party leader of D66 in 2020 after a mostly uncontested leadership election, and went on to carry D66 to victory in the 2021 General Election, where D66 won 24 seats, matching its high point in 1994 and coming in second behind Mark Rutte's VVD.
With victory comes peril however: in Rutte I, the CDA was the second largest party, and it received a beating. In Rutte II, it was the Labour Party, who were decimated in 2017. In Rutte III, the recovered CDA took up the mantle again (albeit by a razor-thin margin) and they yet again had to incur a loss in 2021. All expectations for Kaag are that she is due for defeat, and that the rise of LinksOm as a potential new juggernaut on the left seems to suggest that the curse is bound to strike again.
\", \"candidate_score\": 0.0}}]"); campaignTrail_temp.running_mate_json = JSON.parse("[{\"model\": \"campaign_trail.running_mate\", \"pk\": 68, \"fields\": {\"candidate\": 105, \"running_mate\": 108}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.running_mate\", \"pk\": 69, \"fields\": {\"candidate\": 17, \"running_mate\": 109}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.running_mate\", \"pk\": 70, \"fields\": {\"candidate\": 106, \"running_mate\": 110}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.running_mate\", \"pk\": 71, \"fields\": {\"candidate\": 106, \"running_mate\": 111}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.running_mate\", \"pk\": 72, \"fields\": {\"candidate\": 23, \"running_mate\": 514}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.running_mate\", \"pk\": 72, \"fields\": {\"candidate\": 106, \"running_mate\": 112}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.running_mate\", \"pk\": 72, \"fields\": {\"candidate\": 23, \"running_mate\": 515}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.running_mate\", \"pk\": 72, \"fields\": {\"candidate\": 16, \"running_mate\": 516}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.running_mate\", \"pk\": 72, \"fields\": {\"candidate\": 25, \"running_mate\": 517}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.running_mate\", \"pk\": 72, \"fields\": {\"candidate\": 16, \"running_mate\": 518}}]"); campaignTrail_temp.opponents_default_json = JSON.parse("[{\"election\": 11, \"candidates\": [16, 17, 105, 106, 23, 25, 21, 67, 68, 77, 78, 79, 91, 92, 116, 512, 117]}]"); campaignTrail_temp.opponents_weighted_json = JSON.parse("[{\"election\": 21, \"candidates\": [300, 301, 302, 303]},{\"election\": 20, \"candidates\": [201, 200, 202, 203]},{\"election\": 16, \"candidates\": [165, 166, 167, 168]},{\"election\": 3, \"candidates\": [16, 17, 18, 19]},{\"election\": 9, \"candidates\": [78, 77, 79, 80]},{\"election\": 15, \"candidates\": [153, 152, 154, 155]},{\"election\": 10, \"candidates\": [91, 92, 93]},{\"election\": 4, \"candidates\": [24, 23, 25]},{\"election\": 11, \"candidates\": [105, 106, 16]},{\"election\": 12, \"candidates\": [116, 117, 118, 119]},{\"election\": 14, \"candidates\": [142, 143, 144, 145]},{\"election\": 5, \"candidates\": [21, 20, 22]},{\"election\": 8, \"candidates\": [68, 67, 69, 70]},{\"election\": 13, \"candidates\": [131, 134, 132, 133]}]"); campaignTrail_temp.difficulty_level_json = JSON.parse("[{\"model\": \"campaign_trail.difficulty_level\", \"pk\": 1, \"fields\": {\"name\": \"Eitje\", \"multiplier\": 1.33}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.difficulty_level\", \"pk\": 2, \"fields\": {\"name\": \"Very Easy\", \"multiplier\": 1.2}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.difficulty_level\", \"pk\": 3, \"fields\": {\"name\": \"Easy\", \"multiplier\": 1.1}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.difficulty_level\", \"pk\": 4, \"fields\": {\"name\": \"Normal\", \"multiplier\": 0.97}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.difficulty_level\", \"pk\": 5, \"fields\": {\"name\": \"Hard\", \"multiplier\": 0.95}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.difficulty_level\", \"pk\": 6, \"fields\": {\"name\": \"Impossible\", \"multiplier\": 0.9}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.difficulty_level\", \"pk\": 7, \"fields\": {\"name\": \"1953\", \"multiplier\": 0.83}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.difficulty_level\", \"pk\": 8, \"fields\": {\"name\": \"1672\", \"multiplier\": 0.75}}, {\"model\": \"campaign_trail.difficulty_level\", \"pk\": 9, \"fields\": {\"name\": \"1940\", \"multiplier\": 0.68}}]"); campaignTrail_temp.global_parameter_json = JSON.parse("[{\"model\": \"campaign_trail.global_parameter\", \"pk\": 1, \"fields\": {\"vote_variable\": 1.125, \"max_swing\": 0.12, \"start_point\": 0.94, \"candidate_issue_weight\": 10.0, \"running_mate_issue_weight\": 3.0, \"issue_stance_1_max\": -0.71, \"issue_stance_2_max\": -0.3, \"issue_stance_3_max\": -0.125, \"issue_stance_4_max\": 0.125, \"issue_stance_5_max\": 0.3, \"issue_stance_6_max\": 0.71, \"global_variance\": 0.01, \"state_variance\": 0.005, \"question_count\": 25, \"default_map_color_hex\": \"#C9C9C9\", \"no_state_map_color_hex\": \"#999999\"}}]"); campaignTrail_temp.candidate_dropout_json = JSON.parse("[{\"model\": \"campaign_trail.candidate_dropout\", \"pk\": 1, \"fields\": {\"candidate\": 36, \"affected_candidate\": 18, \"probability\": 1.0}}]"); campaignTrail_temp.temp_election_list = [{"id": 11, "year": 1960, "is_premium": 0, "display_year": "2025NL"}]; campaignTrail_temp.show_premium = true; campaignTrail_temp.premier_ab_test_version = -1; campaignTrail_temp.credits = ""; credits = function() { credits = ["CODER", "Thomahawk2k#6729", "", "WRITERS", "Thomahawk2k#6729", "Zim#6563", "", "PLAYTESTERS", "Killeritch#5465", "Snazzrazz Mazzlejazz#8272", "big_square#9593", "jackalopemaster#1737", "jchung28#4972", "marin#3730", "", "PROOFREADERS", "Killeritch#5465", "Snazzrazz Mazzlejazz#8272", "big_square#9593", "jackalopemaster#1737", "jchung28#4972", "marin#3730", "", "DecstarG#4326/the 2000N team for the more versatile and stable endings system.", "Thomahawk2k's uncle for the D'Hondt electoral system.", "nina_96#6281 for the coalition system, chart system and some other advanced scripting. I encourage everyone to play her 2021 Germany mod when it comes out.", ""] text = "CREDITS:\n\n" for (i in credits) { text += credits[i] + "\n" } alert(text) } HistHexcolour=["#D90000","#8BC11F","#000080","#800000"]; HistName=[" Party Cartel"," WEF-Controlled Opposition"," Traitors"," FvD"]; HistEV=[120,18,7,5]; HistPV=["8,434,947","1,226,905","447,126","353,699"]; HistPVP=["80.6%","11.7%","4.3%","3.4%"]; quotes = [`"At your service" - Pim Fortuyn`, `"Niet links, niet rechts, maar recht door zee!" - Rita Verdonk`, `"Cámaron que se duerme se lo lleva la chingada" - King Willem-Alexander`, `"I can stand my little man" - Dries van Agt`, `"Schnapps und Frauen" - Jeroen Dijsselbloem`, `Normaal. Doen.`, `"De uil van Minerva spreidt zijn vleugels bij het vallen van de avond" - Thierry Baudet`, `"Daar heb ik geen actieve herinnering aan" - Mark Rutte`, `"Doe eens normaal man!" - Geert Wilders`, `Je maintiendrai`, `"My God, my God, have pity for me and this poor people" - William the Silent`, `Eendracht maakt Macht!`, `"Prospera omnes sibi vindicant, adversa uni imputantur." - Johan de Witt`, `"Maybe nothing is completely true, and not even that." - Multatuli`, `"In een land met beperkte vrijheid is voor Oranje geen plaats." - Queen Wilhelmina`, `God may have made the world, but we made the Netherlands`] customquote = quotes[Math.floor((Math.random() * quotes.length))] corrr="\nUse the default method of allocating seats in the Dutch House of Representatives.
The Netherlands use a nationwide list-based proportional system. After all the votes have been tallied, successive quotients are calculated for each party. The party with the largest quotient wins one seat, and its quotient is recalculated. This is repeated until the required number of seats is filled.
This method means every vote is worth nearly the same. It also makes it very easy for small parties to win seats. On the other hand, it is nearly impossible for a single party to win a majority of the seats.
`; } catch {} } window.setInterval(changeOpponentSelectionDescription,200) function replaceFurtherReading() { //I don't understand why it doesn't recognize it when I use do it the regular way but this works too // Get the button element try { const recReadingButton = document.getElementById('recommended_reading_button'); // Add a click event listener to the button recReadingButton.addEventListener('click', function() { const mainContent = document.getElementById("main_content_area_reading"); if (mainContent) { mainContent.innerHTML = `It’s quite difficult to find good English-language resources on our politics, but this link does seem to provide quite a decent overview:
The political system of the Netherlands
About this scenario:
This scenario is essentially (in my view) the most interesting campaign that the next Dutch General Election could become.At the time of writing, the insurgent BBB has recently won the provincial elections, which are essentially our ‘midterms’ because the provinces elect the upper house (‘Eerste Kamer’, also known as the Senate) of our Parliament (Staten-Generaal). The current coalition (composed of VVD, D66, CDA and ChristianUnion) received a beating: they already didn’t have a majority in the Senate, but now they have been reduced even further. This naturally sets some expectations for the elections of the lower house (‘Tweede Kamer’, als known as the House of Representatives). Any new government must have a workable majority in the lower house, otherwise they can be removed by the opposition at any time through a motion of no confidence.
To craft an interesting scenario, a few assumptions have been made that make it competitive from various angles:
None of these assumptions are certain, and that means that there are a variety of alternate scenario’s that could take place. It’s possible that none of these assumptions come true, and that the VVD will be more or less unopposed once again. It is also possible that if the BBB disappoints, another insurgent like JA21 takes its place.
In any case, I hope to turn the actual 2025 (or 2023/2024) General Elections into an NCT mod, using this one as a base. I encourage anyone to use this mod as a template for other Dutch (or foreign) elections.
Thank you to everyone listed in the credits for your contributions. Making this mod has been a pleasure.