EU climate chief Frans Timmermans to lead centre-left bloc in Dutch elections

European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans is the only candidate to lead a merged campaign between two left-leaning parties in the Dutch general election in November, the parties announced.

Mr Timmermans, a former Dutch foreign minister who is now the European Union’s climate chief, is set to be confirmed as leader of the Labour Party and Green Left campaign on August 22 after a vote by members.

In a message sent on Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter, the parties lauded Mr Timmermans as a leader “who gives direction to a green and social course” for the Netherlands.

The statement said Mr Timmermans “knows how to bridge differences, who wants to restore confidence and who has a clear vision for the future of our country”.

Members of the two parties agreed last month to go into the November 22 election with a shared manifesto and one list of candidates in an effort to unite the centre-left vote in the splintered Dutch political landscape.

The last four ruling Dutch coalitions have been led by conservative leader Mark Rutte’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy.

Mr Rutte and his last four-party coalition resigned in July after failing to reach agreement on a package of measures to rein in migration.

The outgoing leader, the Netherlands’ longest-serving premier, has announced that he will leave politics once a new coalition is formed after the election.