Who is Rob Jetten, tipped to become youngest Dutch prime minister?

Rob Jetten’s achievement in dragging his socially liberal D66 celebration from fifth place to the high of Dutch politics in less than two years has been extraordinary.

But politically, all the stars were completely aligned for the 38-year-old to do so.

The end result of Wednesday’s election is too close to call, with Jetten vying with anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders for the most seats in parliament.

No other political chief commanded as much screen time during the marketing campaign as Jetten and his smile and cheerful message resonated with voters, while his rivals sometimes struggled.

Hardly a night time went by without him on TV. When Wilders cancelled an look because of security fears, Rob Jetten seized the second and took his place. He even featured in a TV quiz show recorded months in the past called The Smartest Person.

And his D66 celebration was untarnished by involvement in Wilders’ ill-fated 11-month coalition, largely because Jetten had fared so poorly in the last election in 2023. The authorities collapsed last June when Wilders’ celebration stop following a row over migration.

But perhaps more than anything else, he was ready to convey a optimistic message summed up by the slogan Het kan wel – an optimistic phrase that borrows from Barack Obama’s “Yes, we can”.

It contrasted strongly with Wilders, who he accused of “sowing division”.

If his celebration does come high, Rob Jetten could become the Netherlands’ first overtly homosexual prime minister.

A self-confessed politics nerd as a little one, the younger Jetten grew up in a small city in the southern province of Brabant and came out when he was younger.

Jetten has not made his personal life half of his political id, but 5 years in the past he posted a video in which he learn out a long record of homophobic messages from his telephone, to show why an worldwide day against homophobia was important.

Jetten is now engaged to Argentine hockey participant, Nicolás Keenan, and they are due to marry next yr.

He was an early supporter of the centrist D66, which describes itself as progressive and socially liberal celebration, and officers soon noticed his potential.

After a few years working for Dutch rail community ProRail, Jetten was elected as an MP in 2017 and had a couple of early experiences as chief before he served under long-serving prime minister Mark Rutte as climate minister.

But not everything has labored out easily in Jetten’s profession.

A parliamentary colleague complained he was “pushy” on the climate, and his massive ambitions as minister were cut short when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine despatched power costs hovering.

He led D66’s disastrous marketing campaign in 2023 when the celebration came away with only 9 seats, two years after his predecessor Sigrid Kaag managed second place after Rutte.

Jetten was not yet as fluent in entrance of the cameras. Some media appearances he gave were criticised as boring, and one critic labelled him “Robot Jetten”.

“Robot Jetten is going to be prime minister!” one reporter said to him incredulously as his success turned clear on Wednesday night time.

“Sometimes it can work out really crazy in politics,” Jetten replied with a broad grin.

Supporters see him as a form of mini-Mark Rutte, who is now head of Nato.

And that comparability will swimsuit Jetten positive, as many Dutch now look back warmly on the stability of the Rutte years, after two years of relative turmoil.

Both males always seem cheerful and pragmatic, and both are infamous for getting by on valuable little sleep.

However, celebration colleague Roy Kramer seen a distinction: “Rutte is a chatterbox, Jetten is a bit quieter,” he instructed Dutch newspaper Het Parool.

The liberal chief has massive ambitions, and few challenges are more urgent than tackling the Netherlands’ housing disaster, with a scarcity of some 400,000 houses.

Jetten desires to construct 10 cities and complains Dutch governments have not actually achieved anything spectacular for the previous 10 to 15 years. He is making massive guarantees and will come under stress to ship.

For Jetten to succeed he will need some of Rutte’s teflon political coating that saw him through 4 governments.

He has already survived one awkward second in the marketing campaign, when a joke about Crown Princess Amalia fell flat in entrance of 2,000 college students in Rotterdam.

“I think the best way of promoting work in the military is being able to end up training with the Crown Princess. I bet a few guys in this audience would be interested in that,” he said.

The debate moderator hit back saying: “what kind of sexist remark is that?”

Jetten later admitted it was inappropriate, but it seems to have executed him no hurt.