Rob Jetten’s centrist liberals lead Dutch election, exit poll says

The centrist liberals under Rob Jetten have taken a shock lead in the Dutch election, according to the main exit poll, two years after his party languished in sixth place in the last vote.

Jetten staged a remarkable campaign in recent weeks, and the Ipsos I&O exit poll suggests his D66 liberals have won 27 seats, two more than anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders who won the last election.

The final result is too close to call, even though Dutch exit polls are generally considered reliable.

Three other parties are close behind, including the conservative liberals, the left-wing Green-Labour party and the Christian Democrats.