Netherlands Appoints First LGBTQ Prime Minister...Youngest Ever at 38

Formed a coalition but failed to secure a majority...Uncertain whether he will serve out his full term

The Netherlands has seen the emergence of its youngest-ever and first openly LGBTQ prime minister.

According to local media including DPA News Agency on the 23rd (local time), Jetten Rob (38), leader of the centrist liberal party Democrats 66 (D66), was sworn in as prime minister before King Willem-Alexander at Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague.

Prime Minister Jetten is the youngest prime minister in Dutch history and the first to come out publicly as gay. It is also the first time that a politician from Democrats 66 has become prime minister.

The pro-European, liberal Democrats 66 became the largest party in the early general election held last October, campaigning on climate action policies, the supply of affordable housing, and tough immigration policies.

Afterward, Democrats 66 formed a coalition government with the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), securing 66 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives.

They excluded the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), which had advocated hardline immigration policies and broke up the coalition last year, as well as the progressive GreenLeft-Labour alliance (GL-PvdA), and formed a minority government that did not secure a majority.

There is little precedent for minority governments in the Netherlands, and with radical right-wing parties holding around one-third of the seats in the House of Representatives, it is uncertain whether Prime Minister Jetten will be able to complete his full four-year term.

The new government is pursuing large-scale spending cuts in the social welfare and healthcare systems. As the war in Ukraine drags on, it has also announced plans for a substantial additional increase in defense spending, in line with Europe-wide moves toward greater strategic autonomy in defense.