Dutch far-right leader celebrates election win

Reuters Videos
Updated
2

STORY: Beating all predictions, the exit poll put Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) at 35 out of 150 seats, 10 seats ahead of the closest rival, former EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans' Labour/Green Left combination. That margin was far greater than expected and appeared to be too great for the outcome to change.

Exit polls are generally reliable with a margin of error of roughly two seats.

At a cafe in The Hague, Wilders fans erupted in cheers, hugged and threw their arms in the air.

"I’m in politics for 25 years now and this is the happiest day of my life so far in politics," Wilders told Reuters.

In a victory speech, Wilders vowed to bring an end to a "tsunami of asylum and immigration."

Wilders' rode a wave of anti-immigration sentiment, blaming a housing shortage on flows of asylum seekers and drawing on widespread concerns about the cost of living and the overburdened healthcare system.