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| Controversial Right Wing populist Thierry Baudet |
Controversial eurosceptic Thierry Baudet's Forum for Democracy party came from nowhere to be the second biggest in parliament's upper house after Rutte's, an exit poll by leading broadcaster NOS said.
The
coalition led by Rutte's centre-right VVD party is set to collapse from
38 to 31 seats in the 75-seat senate, which passes legislation approved
by the lower house.
The
blow for Rutte -- who painstakingly formed his ruling coalition to
freeze out the far-right after general elections in 2017 -- will be
closely watched abroad ahead of European Parliament elections in May.
Self-proclaimed
intellectual Baudet -- who faced criticism after failing to stop
campaigning after Monday's shooting on a tram in Utrecht in which three
people died -- slammed Rutte's record on immigration.
We
are being destroyed by the people who are supposed to be protecting
us," the telegenic 36-year-old told a crowd that chanted his name on
Wednesday night.
"Successive
Rutte governments have left our borders wide open, letting in hundreds
of thousands of people with cultures completely different to ours."
Referring
to the fact that the Turkish-born Utrecht suspect had only been
released from jail two weeks ago, he added: "We have seen it in Utrecht
on Monday, rapists and thieves go free. It's shameful."
Baudet
has previously called for a "Nexit", or exit from the EU by the
Netherlands, but has recently backtracked on as the chaos over Britain's
departure from the bloc escalates.
The
flamboyant former academic is known for controversial statements such
as "women in general excel less in jobs and have less ambition".
Baudet led his party to win 10 seats.
The
anti-Islam Freedom Party led by far-right politician Geert Wilders is
set to win six seats, down from nine, but could be influential if it
teams up with Baudet.
Long
a standard bearer for the far right in the Netherlands and more widely
across Europe, the bleach-blonde Wilders appeared to have lost seats to
the newer figure of Baudet.
Rutte
could now be left to rely on opposition parties to pass legislation,
including the leftist ecological party GroenLinks (Green Left) party led
by Jesse Klaver, which had a good night and is set to double its seats
from four to eight.
Senate
members will officially be decided in May by the 570 representatives
elected to the country's 12 provinces in Wednesday's election.
The
head of the Dutch socialist party had called the vote a "Rutte
referendum", although Rutte has insisted he would not step down if his
coalition lost its majority.
However
after nearly a decade in power, Rutte has been widely tipped to take up
a top EU post in Brussels when the current set-up led by European
Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker steps down later this year.
Read more: New Dutch populists surge in 'Rutte referendum'
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