The chairwoman of left-wing green party GroenLinks and one GroenLinks MP have stepped down after being caught out lying their romance.

Marjolein Meijer and MP Rik Grashoff had told party leaders their romance began in April 2017 but yesterday the date was revealed to be late 2016 and before the general election

The two party stalwarts are stepping down because they ‘had not put the full truth on the table’, the party said in a statement. ‘These new facts have lead to a breach of trust between the party management, supervisory board and MPs.’

Grashof,a former party chairman, was number 5 on the GroenLinks list for the 2017 general election and Meijer had a major role in drawing up the list.

Party leader Jesse Klaver said in a letter to party members that no-one should judge others when it comes to love. However, in a close team, you need to be able to trust that everyone is telling the truth, he said.

‘This is an unfortunate way to say goodby to two colleagues who have meant so much for the party,’ Klaver said.