It was no surprise that the far-right Freedom Party did well. But even its leader, Geert Wilders, did not expect to come second. Yet a combination of strong Euroscepticism and strident anti-Islamic rhetoric won 17 per cent of the vote for Mr Wilders, giving his party four seats in the European Parliament—one fewer than the Christian Democrats. Eurosceptic parties, which include the far-left Socialists and a pair of small Calvinist parties, took nearly a third of Dutch seats.

Mr Wilders campaigned on simple messages: a bigger European Union budget rebate; less interference from Brussels, especially on immigration policies; and blunt rejection of Turkey’s joining the EU. His party promises to make sure that this “undiluted voice” is heard in Brussels. That may be hard, not least because the Freedom Party plans not to join any parliamentary group, leaving it little speaking time and few staff. But Mr Wilders is confident of his impact. “We still have the whole media circus to play,” he said on television.

His success reflects the qualms that in 2002 led many Dutch voters to back Pim Fortuyn (before he was murdered); and in June 2005 inspired a majority to reject the draft EU constitution. These include hostility to immigration and Islam, and broad fears about loss of sovereignty and national identity. It is compounded by a lack of trust in the establishment. “People don’t believe any more that the Dutch or the EU establishment are able to protect them,” says Bas Heijne, a political observer. The parties that fared worst are from the establishment: the CDA, the liberal VVD and the Dutch Labour party. Labour lost so heavily that Mr Wilders questioned if it could decently stay in the coalition government.

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