Dissident anti-Islam MP Hero Brinkman received 18,865 preference votes in last week’s general election, enough to give him a seat in parliament even if he had been too low on PVV’s list of candidates to make the top 24, the voting council said on Tuesday.

Brinkman caused a stir during the campaign by calling for more democracy within the PVV, which only has one member – Geert Wilders.
Although MPs are elected on the basis of party lists, a large number of preference votes can propel a candidate ahead of the rest.
Former news reader Pia Dijkstra, who chairs a government commission on part time work, also won enough preference votes to take a seat for the Liberal democrats D66. Dijkstra’s election means number 10 on the D66 list will not become an MP after all.
The final result of the election shows the VVD Liberals took 80,752 more votes than Labour.
Rita Verdonk, who lost her seat in parliament in Wednesday’s vote, was 10,000 votes too short for a place.
The new parliament will have a record 62 female MPs.