When the first exit poll of the 2025 elections rolls in, it remains remarkably quiet in Bathmen. “Hey, that’s the Dutch flag at D66,” said the audience. BBB submits and ends up with 4 seats. That would be 3 fewer than the party currently has. Disappointment prevails among the members.
Wouter de Winther: two options after Jetten’s victory
Van der Plas: ‘Modity suits us’
After the second exit poll, Van der Plas takes the stage: “It is not an easy result. It feels worthless and it hurts a lot. It is not a loss of our mission. We have proven that BBB is not a one-hit wonder.”
Video: Caroline van der Plas bursts into tears during speech
Van der Plas acknowledges that BBB ‘now requires modesty’. When Van der Plas thanks her family, she bursts out: “You don’t know what you mean to me.”
After elections, Yesilgöz’s dreamed center-right cabinet seems a serious possibility: what does D66 do?
Further on in the room, a disappointed BBB Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Frank Rijkaart looks at the exit poll. “It is a loss. But democracy is fun, even if you don’t like the results,” said the minister responsible for the elections.
Minister Mona Keijzer is also disappointed: “It remains to be seen what kind of cabinet will come. But you see that no voter is anymore loyal as before. Look at D66. What has Rob Jetten suddenly done?” Keijzer responds.
Bathmen turns green
Outside in Bathmen, a bright green glow is unmissable. It illuminates the facade of the meeting center where the BoerBurgerBeweging holds its election evening. When it becomes clear that BBB has to give up some seats, the atmosphere remains optimistic, but the disappointment is visible.
Elections are over, this is what will happen in the coming days: ‘Continue partying or cry’
At the bar is long-time BBB member Harm van Nieuwenhuizen. “I think it’s a shame. But BBB will certainly join the government again one day.”
Van Nieuwenhuizen thinks back to the period when he got on the tractor to The Hague together with Van der Plas. BBB member Connie is also not happy. “It’s such a shame”, she blames others for the loss. “BBB has not always received positive news, which does not make it easy.”
Not a smooth campaign
BBB’s campaign went smoothly. It is partly due to the focus on national themes. Moreover, the prominent role of Keijzer and a more tired Van der Plas in TV debates reinforces that image.
Education Minister Gouke Moes (BBB) is full of praise for the campaign “It is good for the long term. We are critical of Islam, stand for housing and migration. And we have more recognizable faces. Unlike Wilders or Bontenbal,” said the minister.
Cheering VVD members want to know whether Rob Jetten will turn right or left: ‘GL/PvdA not stable’
The question is whether BBB can recover. The party still stands head and shoulders above the rest in the Senate and in the provinces. Van der Plas is optimistic: “Politics is not a sprint, it is a marathon and we are running that marathon. Step by step with our feet in the clay.”