D66 are the big winners in Dutch local elections

ALDE Party member D66 was the big winner in last Wednesday’s municipal elections across the Netherlands. The social liberal party, campaigning for the creation of more jobs, lower taxes and better education, became the leading political party in most of the bigger cities across the country including Utrecht and The Hague, where they beat the populists of Geert Wilders.

But they recorded their best result in the capital city Amsterdam, where they beat the social democrat PvdA party - which had run the local government there for more than sixty years.

Speaking after the result, D66 leader Alexander Pechtold said: "Today our party proved that we could seize an opportunity of winning these elections in order to give opportunities to our citizens."