The general election takes place in 10 days time. Here is a round-up of the latest news from the campaign front.

BBB embraces “right wing” label

Caroline van der Plas, the half-Irish leader of pro-countryside party BBB, says her party has become more right-wing, particularly on migration and economic policy.

In an interview with Nu.nl, she admitted she initially struggled with the label but now embraces it. “People immediately think you’re bad if you’re right-wing,” she said. “At some point I thought: you have to be able to stand for something.”

Van der Plas said the shift reflects changing circumstances, not a change in principles. “Migration was important at the 2023 election, but now you hear us talk about it more,” she said. Economically, she said, the party wants lower taxes for businesses.

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She also defended BBB’s proposal to make appointments to the Council of State more transparent by giving parliament a role in approving candidates. While stressing the court functions well, she said its composition should “better reflect society”. “It’s strange that you can never touch something that’s been around for nearly 500 years,” she said.

Rob Jetten sets sights on winning

D66 leader Rob Jetten says his party could now become bigger than the PVV, after rising four seats to 18 in the most recent opinion poll. Support for Geert Wilders’ far right grouping has fallen steadily and is at 29 in the latest poll, down eight on the general election two years ago.

Jetten said in a speech in Leiden on Saturday that he was ready for the “end sprint”. “It is only the result on the finishing line that counts,” he said.

Much of the D66 campaign has focused on positivism and working together and Jetten said he saw the Christian Democrats, with Henri Bontenbal as its leader, as the best potential coalition partner.

Bontenbal meanwhile has said that he would opt for the VVD over D66 – if you held a gun to his chest.

JA21 would prefer the PVV to D66

Joost Eerdmans, leader of the far right party JA21, has said he would rather govern with Geert Wilders’ PVV than with D66, though he admitted he is aware of the risks.

“I have my eyes open and have seen how the PVV acted in government twice before,” he told Goedemorgen Nederland on NPO 1. On both occasions, the PVV pulled out of the coalition.

Eerdmans said JA21 shares more common ground with the PVV than with D66, though he acknowledged that Wilders’ party faces widespread exclusion from coalition talks. “You shouldn’t put up blocks before the results are in,” he said. “JA21 would rather work with the PVV on the right than bring D66 into a coalition.”

He also addressed criticism after a far-right protest against asylum policy in Amsterdam last weekend, when asked whether such demonstrations reflected “realistic right-wing” politics. Eerdmans distanced himself from the event, saying his party aims to represent a “realistic” but democratic right.