AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The parties of the Dutch ruling coalition received a stinging rebuke in local elections on Wednesday, after years of sluggish growth turned voters away from the two parties, which have stuck grimly to austerity since taking national office in 2012.
Labour, junior partner to the pro-business Liberals, lost their position as largest party in Amsterdam after more than 60 years to the progressive liberal D66 party. In The Hague, seat of the Dutch government, Labour was pushed into third place, behind D66 and Geert Wilders' populist Freedom Party.