Timmermans opted for the style of a candidate prime minister who could start like this – now he is resigning

Better times are coming, says Frans Timmermans in the dark Maassilo in Rotterdam, where GroenLinks-PvdA met on election night. But Timmermans no longer experiences those times as leader of the merged party: he is resigning, “deeply disappointed,” he says emotionally to his supporters. “We have not succeeded, I have not succeeded, in convincing millions of people to give us their vote.”

Timmermans’ resignation comes after a loss (according to forecasts) of five parliamentary seats, to twenty. That defeat is a major disappointment for the party. Not only because of the loss itself, in the party they had been afraid for days that the VVD would become bigger than GroenLinks-PvdA. Exactly that happened, with all kinds of complicating factors for possible cabinet participation.

And: the story of the merger of GroenLinks-PvdA was that the parties would be stronger together. If GroenLinks and PvdA were to merge, the party could become a stable left-wing power factor – perhaps even become the largest party in the country. Now that GroenLinks-PvdA has become the fourth party and the attractive effect is apparently disappointing, this is a more complicated story.

There will not be a new leader of GroenLinks-PvdA immediately. All eyes are on Jesse Klaver, number three on the candidate list and the former party leader of GroenLinks. He’s keeping a low profile this evening. He first has to process Timmermans’ departure, he says. The thinned-out faction will meet on Thursday to discuss a new group leader.

Disappointment

Frans Timmermans became the party leader in 2023 who embodied the ambitions of the young movement: as European Commissioner, he was a prime minister in the waiting room. The social democrat, who became a Member of Parliament in 1998, was experienced, enthusiastic and acceptable to both GroenLinks voters and those of the PvdA. In Brussels he talked about climate. As early as 2006 he wrote that he was in favor of a merger of both parties. He also liked a merger with D66.

The 2023 election result, 25 seats, was already a slight disappointment. But Timmermans’ party leadership remained internally unchallenged in the last two years. In parliamentary debates he could handle Geert Wilders (PVV), party members said. And he brought peace to the complicated merger process.

The campaign was often flat, centrist, strongly focused on a group of voters who did not want Timmermans

He also led the party through complicated issues, such as the internal debate on Gaza. MP Kati Piri submitted a motion to end defensive support for Israel. That motion, which did not pass, was very sensitive internally and was submitted just before the party congress this summer. Timmermans, who traditionally supports Israel, supported Piri. The congress supported the motion en masse, after which the unrest only persisted within a small group.

But Timmermans’ leadership also had weaknesses – and these have become increasingly visible in recent months. He failed to convince voters who are not yet left-wing or progressive. Timmermans sometimes had difficulty showing the enthusiasm that gave the PvdA a major victory in the European elections in 2019. He was also surprised by the criticism and attacks he had to endure as a left-wing party leader, which he was not used to.

Stubborn

In recent months, Timmermans showed two faces in this campaign. Sometimes he showed his progressive heart, on evenings in the country or in debates, then they at GroenLinks-PvdA said that he was at his best. But the campaign was also often flat, centrist, strongly focused on a group of voters who did not want him anyway.

He seemed to foresee that. In NRC he said last month: “A few years ago, the left was almost a swear word, that is no longer the case. But we still have to fight for voters to say: ‘And now it is the left’s turn’.”

That moment has not yet come – although Timmermans’ campaign was aimed at that. He opted for a style in which he sought coalitions, as a candidate prime minister who could start like that. It bothered him that political opponents like Dilan Yesilgöz kept calling him ‘radical’. But the image outside his own progressive circle was persistent. The left-wing leader, who so often sought the middle, could not avoid this.

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