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Geert Wilders Dresses in Jan Struijs’s Style
🇳🇱 Netherlands /Elections & Politics

Geert Wilders Dresses in Jan Struijs’s Style

From NRC Handelsblad · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Geert Wilders appeared at an asylum-seeker protest in Nuenen wearing a casual outfit unlike his usual dark-blue suits and ties.
  • Political philosopher Carola Schoor’s new book argues that voters unconsciously assess politicians through their language, appearance and manner.
  • Wilders previously transformed his political style after leaving the VVD, while the PVV has recently fallen in opinion polls.

Geert Wilders turned up at an asylum-seeker protest in Nuenen looking less like Geert Wilders and more like Jan Struijs of the 50Plus party. He wore a slightly tight jacket, a white shirt without a tie and a wrinkled cotton pair of trousers that could have come from Struijs’s wardrobe.

The contrast was striking because Wilders has long maintained a highly recognizable look: dark-blue suits and a tie, including during election campaigns on the street. This time, however, even members of his own party seemed unsure what they were seeing. At the protest, one speaker recalled a question from Sjaan to Struijs: “My neighbor says I am a hypochondriac. What is that?”

The change in appearance comes as the PVV has been declining in opinion polls. Wilders has experienced such setbacks before. In 2019, after Thierry Baudet’s Forum for Democracy became the largest party in the provincial elections, Wilders publicly accepted the result and said his time would come again. It eventually did.

Stupid

— Carola SchoorShe criticized D66’s decision to have Sigrid Kaag wear sneakers during the 2021 election campaign.

Carola Schoor examines political language, clothing and behavior in her new book, Handboek Politieke Stijl. She identifies six political archetypes, including the angry citizen, activist, problem-solver, administrator, collaborator and oracle. Struijs represents “the people,” while former CDA leader Wopke Hoekstra represents “the elite.”

Schoor argues that politicians should not change their style simply to become more popular. She called it “stupid” for D66 to put Sigrid Kaag in sneakers during the 2021 election campaign, and questioned Frans Timmermans’s repeated references to “his” Roda JC. If a politician does change style, Schoor says, it should happen once, at a logical moment and as radically as possible. Wilders’s transformation from VVD politician to PVV leader offers her clearest example. As a VVD member, he used phrases such as “rising disability-benefit volumes” and “too much inactivity” in the Netherlands. As a PVV politician, his language became simple, direct and hard.

My neighbor says I am a hypochondriac. What is that?

— SjaanThe question was recalled during a discussion involving Jan Struijs and illustrated the article’s focus on political style and appearance.
About this summary

Originally published by NRC Handelsblad in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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