2 hours Ago
Confidence Cut in Half Within Six Months
When the Jetten I Cabinet was sworn in back in February, 33 percent of voters said they trusted the new lineup of ministers and state secretaries. Fast forward just over six months, and that number has been sliced roughly in half. What's striking is that this erosion of trust isn't limited to opposition voters or political rivals. Even among supporters of D66, the party leading the coalition for the first time, confidence has slid from a strong 76 percent down to 49 percent. That's a steep drop for a party's own base to register in such a short window.
Context helps put these numbers in perspective. The previous cabinet, led by the independent Dick Schoof, opened with 37 percent voter confidence and had dropped to 24 percent by the same six-month mark. Things went downhill even faster for that government afterwards, especially once it fell apart on two separate occasions. By its ninth month, trust in the Schoof administration had also bottomed out at 16 percent, the same level Jetten's cabinet is facing now, but reached far more quickly.
Why Voters Are Losing Faith
The core issue driving this decline appears to be a growing sense that the government simply isn't delivering results. Major promises- tackling the nitrogen emissions crisis, easing the housing shortage, constructing ten new cities, and managing the flow of asylum seekers- have largely stalled without visible progress. It's telling that only around 10 percent of voters still believe the cabinet will manage meaningful breakthroughs on these pressing issues before its term is out.
Jetten Personally Fares Better, But Still Slipping
Prime Minister Rob Jetten himself still polls better than his cabinet overall, though his numbers have fallen sharply too. At the start of his term, 47 percent of voters expressed confidence in him personally. That has now dropped to 29 percent after six months in office. Interestingly, voters seem to separate his personality from his performance: 59 percent still find him likeable and down-to-earth. However, only 13 percent consider him a genuinely strong leader, and just 19 percent believe he has what it takes to bring together different people and parties around a shared agenda.
