A farmers' protest party is the big winner in provincial elections held Wednesday.
The provincial elections
The provincial elections determine the make-up of the Senate.
The BBB or BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Citizen Movement) party rode a wave of protests against the government's environmental policies and looked set to have won more Senate seats than Prime Minister Mark Rutte's conservative VVD party.
A first exit poll projected BBB won 15 of a total of 75 seats in the Senate, which has the power to block legislation agreed in the Lower House of parliament, with the VVD dropping from 12 to 10 seats.
The meteoric rise of BBB is a major blow for Rutte's governing coalition, casting doubt over its aim to drastically cut nitrogen pollution on farms, the single issue upon which BBB was founded in 2019.
"Nobody can ignore us any longer," BBB leader Caroline van der Plas told broadcaster Radio 1.
