Overview
- Acting chairman Ronald de Bruin announced that the NSC board polled every provincial branch and found none had sufficient 'draagvlak en draagkracht' to mount a campaign, so the party will skip the provincial vote.
- The board says the decision follows a deliberate strategy to focus on planting local roots after earlier choices not to run full municipal slates.
- Europarliamentarian Dirk Gotink resigned his NSC membership after the party invited Mona Keijzer to speak at its congress, citing disagreements including her EU-skeptical stance.
- Mona Keijzer used her appearance to recruit supporters for her Project 2029 movement, a development that has deepened splits between conservative activists inside NSC and those who oppose cooperation with her.
- NSC’s retreat comes after a rapid rise in 2023 to 20 Tweede Kamer seats and the party’s subsequent loss of all parliamentary seats, leaving it leaderless and raising the risk of long-term decline or realignment on the conservative right.