Farmers' protest party set to shake up Dutch political landscape

FILE PHOTO: Dutch farmers holding banners and flags protest against government policies to limit nitrogen emissions in The Hague, Netherlands March 11, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A farmers' protest party looks set to shake up the political landscape in the Netherlands on Wednesday, with polls indicating it will be the big winner in provincial elections that determine the make-up of the Senate.

The BBB or BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Civilian Movement) party is expected to ride a wave of protests against the government's environmental policies and is poised to win more Senate seats than Prime Minister Mark Rutte's conservative VVD party, a poll by research company I&O showed last week.