A senator for the embattled right-wing Liberal VVD has resigned from the party but will remain in the upper house as an independent.

Cees van de Sanden, who has been a member of the senate for two years, told the Volkskrant that the party had “drifted away from its core values of freedom, responsibility, tolerance, social justice and equality”.

He said in particular that he could not support VVD statements about sending asylum seekers to Uganda, describing “antifa” as a terrorist movement, and adopting far-right PVV asylum proposals.

“The party has started supporting decisions and making statements that I cannot reconcile with those core values, or that even run counter to them,” he told the newspaper. “There have also been decisions that are at odds with the rule of law.”

Van de Sanden’s departure means the VVD-BBB coalition now has four fewer seats in the upper house than when the government was sworn in. Three BBB senators have also quit the pro-countryside party.

The resignations make the GroenLinks-PvdA alliance the largest group in the 75-seat senate, which now has four independents. They also reduce the likelihood that the outgoing cabinet will be able to secure enough backing for some of its more contentious legislation.

The VVD is struggling in the opinion polls and is expected to lose a record number of seats in the general election on October 29, following its shift towards far-right populism.

The party which won four elections in a row under Mark Rutte has been in decline since the prime minister resigned in July 2023, and despite a brief recovery in the first half of this year is now projected to finish fourth or fifth, with around 15 seats.