Seven MPs from the far-right PVV have left the party in a dispute over strategy with its leader, founder and only member, Geert Wilders.

The group, led by long-serving MP Gidi Markuszower, criticised Wilders’ handling of the election campaign, when the PVV lost 11 seats, as well as his failure to create any kind of membership structure since founding the party in 2006.

The split leaves Wilders’ party as the fourth largest faction in the Dutch parliament with 19 MPs, behind the coalition parties D66 (26) and VVD (22) as well as the left-wing alliance GroenLinks-PvdA (20).

In a letter obtained by the Telegraaf newspaper, the breakaway MPs blamed Wilders for the election defeat, saying “the campaign came to a halt because the leader could not be bothered any more”.

They called for an immediate change of tack including a less hostile attitude to the incoming minority coalition of D66, VVD and CDA.

“Spreading insulting images on X about Islam is okay, but ultimately does not solve any of the electorate’s problems,” the document said. That, the dissidents say, is threatening the party’s continuity.

The party’s popularity has declined again since then. PVV won 26 seats in the October general election but opinion polls suggest the party would win just 17 seats if there were an election tomorrow. The rival parties on the far right, Forum voor Democratie and JA21, have risen in the polls to 14 and 11 seats respectively.

Wilders described the decision as a “black day” for the PVV. “I am going to be leader for a long time to come,” he told reporters. “This is a setback, but I have every confidence that we will rise above it.”

The PVV, he said, was committed to being a loud voice in opposition rather than working with the new government.

The seven dissidents will continue as a separate parliamentary party under the leadership of Markuszower, an MP since 2017 and a former confidant of Wilders. He told reporters the new party would be prepared to work with the minority cabinet.

The group includes four of the top seven MPs on the party’s October list, including four new parliamentarians.

D66, the biggest party in the incoming coalition, is currently working on draft legislation that would require all political parties to have formal membership systems.