Geert Wilders’ popularity has waned in response to his use of derogatory and informal language during the budget debate, according to pollster Maurice de Hond’s Peil.nl.
The poll showed his Freedom Party losing the equivalent of two seats in parliament in the wake of the debate.
Nevertheless, many Freedom Party voters said they approved of Mr Wilders’ performance, during which he called Labour Party leader Job Cohen a “company poodle” and told Prime Minister Mark Rutte to “act normal” – the Dutch idiom loses its disparagingly familiar tone in translation.
Fourteen percent of Mr Wilders’ supporters said they disapproved of his remark to the prime minister, and 20 percent objected to it strongly.
If elections were held now, Mr Wilders’ party would win 26 seats, overtaking the Labour Party to become the second largest party in the 150-seat parliament, the poll found.
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© Radio Netherlands Worldwide
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