Exit Polls Look Promising for PVV *Updated*

Exit polls in the Netherlands indicate that Geert Wilders' PVV has done very well indeed in the European elections.

At this moment in time it seems they have won 16.9% of the vote, making them the second biggest party with five seats of the twenty five allocated to the Netherlands.

Turnout in the election was around 40%.

The biggest loser is the PvdA, which will go from seven seats to four, whilst the CDA led by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende will go from seven to five.

'This is a fantastic result,' said Wilders. '...But we are just beginning.'

***UPDATE*** 5th June 12:14

The Partij voor de Vrijheid now has 17% of the vote, which translates as 754534 votes, compared to the 19.9% and 883951 votes of the CDA.

Also, a mock election held in over 140 schools with 15,000 pupils taking part saw Geert Wilders' PVV become the largest party, with over 19% of the vote.

***UPDATE*** 5th June 17:59

Tory Totty has this breakdown of Wilders' support:

Wilders’ party has become the largest party in Rotterdam, a traditional Socialist stronghold, where it received 22.5% of the votes, while Labour declines from 31 to 15%. Rotterdam has a large population of Muslim immigrants. It seems the native voters have flocked en masse to Wilders, whose party has even become the biggest in Capelle aan de IJssel, the home town of Prime Minister Balkenende.

The Dutch electoral map shows that the PVV (pale blue on the map) has become:

• the largest party in parts of the southern province of Limburg, Wilders’ home province, which is traditionally Christian-Democrat
• the eastern corner of the northern province of Groningen, which is a communist bulwark,
• the major cities and suburbs of the West, which traditionally tend to vote Labour (inner cities) or Liberal (suburbs).

This indicates that the PVV appeals to the whole spectrum of the Dutch indigenous population, from the right to the left, with its program against the Islamization of Europe, its outspoken support for Israel, and against the transformation of the European Union into a European superstate.