Who is Rob Jetten, tipped to become youngest Dutch prime minister?

Rob Jetten’s achievement in dragging his socially liberal D66 party from fifth place to the top of Dutch politics in less than two years has been extraordinary.

But politically, all the stars were perfectly aligned for the 38-year-old to do so.

The result of Wednesday’s election is too close to call, with Jetten vying with anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders for the most seats in parliament.

No other political leader commanded as much screen time during the campaign as Jetten and his smile and cheerful message resonated with voters, while his rivals sometimes struggled.

Hardly a night went by without him on TV. When Wilders cancelled an appearance because of security fears, Rob Jetten seized the moment and took his place. He even featured in a TV quiz show recorded months ago called The Smartest Person.

And his D66 party was untarnished by involvement in Wilders’ ill-fated 11-month coalition, largely because Jetten had fared so poorly in the last election in 2023. The government collapsed last June when Wilders’ party quit following a row over migration.

But perhaps more than anything else, he was able to convey a positive message summed up by the slogan Het kan wel – an optimistic phrase that borrows from Barack Obama’s “Yes, we can”.

It contrasted strongly with Wilders, who he accused of “sowing division”.

If his party does come top, Rob Jetten could become the Netherlands’ first openly gay prime minister.

A self-confessed politics nerd as a child, the young Jetten grew up in a small town in the southern province of Brabant and came out when he was young.

Jetten has not made his private life part of his political identity, but five years ago he posted a video in which he read out a long list of homophobic messages from his phone, to prove why an international day against homophobia was important.

Jetten is now engaged to Argentine hockey player, Nicolás Keenan, and they are due to marry next year.

He was an early supporter of the centrist D66, which describes itself as progressive and socially liberal party, and officials soon spotted his potential.

After a few years working for Dutch rail network ProRail, Jetten was elected as an MP in 2017 and had a couple of early experiences as leader before he served under long-serving prime minister Mark Rutte as climate minister.

But not everything has worked out smoothly in Jetten’s career.

A parliamentary colleague complained he was “pushy” on the climate, and his big ambitions as minister were cut short when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine sent energy prices soaring.

He led D66’s disastrous campaign in 2023 when the party came away with only nine seats, two years after his predecessor Sigrid Kaag managed second place after Rutte.

Jetten was not yet as fluent in front of the cameras. Some media appearances he gave were criticised as dull, and one critic labelled him “Robot Jetten”.

“Robot Jetten is going to be prime minister!” one reporter said to him incredulously as his success became clear on Wednesday night.

“Sometimes it can work out really crazy in politics,” Jetten replied with a broad grin.

Supporters see him as a kind of mini-Mark Rutte, who is now head of Nato.

And that comparison will suit Jetten fine, as many Dutch now look back warmly on the stability of the Rutte years, after two years of relative turmoil.

Both men always appear cheerful and pragmatic, and both are notorious for getting by on precious little sleep.

However, party colleague Roy Kramer noticed a difference: “Rutte is a chatterbox, Jetten is a bit quieter,” he told Dutch newspaper Het Parool.

The liberal leader has big ambitions, and few challenges are more pressing than tackling the Netherlands’ housing crisis, with a shortage of some 400,000 homes.

Jetten wants to build 10 cities and complains Dutch governments have not really achieved anything impressive for the past 10 to 15 years. He is making big promises and will come under pressure to deliver.

For Jetten to succeed he will need some of Rutte’s teflon political coating that saw him through four governments.

He has already survived one awkward moment in the campaign, when a joke about Crown Princess Amalia fell flat in front of 2,000 students in Rotterdam.

“I think the best way of promoting work in the military is being able to end up training with the Crown Princess. I bet a few guys in this audience would be interested in that,” he said.

The debate moderator hit back saying: “what kind of sexist remark is that?”

Jetten later admitted it was inappropriate, but it appears to have done him no harm.