Dutch centrist leader Rob Jetten says he is “very confident” of being able to put together a government after his party’s strong showing in parliamentary elections that saw Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam Freedom Party lose ground.

With most of the votes counted from Wednesday’s election, which was seen as a test of the far right’s strength in Europe, Jetten’s D66 and Wilders’ PVV were tied on Thursday (local time).

Both are projected to take 26 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament.

That was a sharp drop for Wilders’ party, which lost more than a quarter of its seats in two years, stemming from a poor performance in its first attempt at government and growing competition on the right.

D66 tripled its score.

Geert Wilders’ far right party has lost over a quarter of its seats in two years.

Major mainstream parties have ruled out governing with Wilders this time after he brought down the last coalition, which was led by his own party.

This leaves him no viable path to a majority, unlike D66’s young leader Jetten – who will still need to clinch the support of several other parties.

At 38, Jetten would be the Netherlands’ youngest, and first openly gay, prime minister.

Rob Jetten’s stance on immigration and the housing crisis won over previously right-wing voters. Photo: AAP 

The election delivered a “very strong message form Dutch voters that they want positive political powers in the centre to work together and deliver for all the people in the Netherlands”, he said.

With polished messaging and a surge in advertising spending, Jetten moved beyond his D66 party’s traditional themes of climate change and education, plunging into the divisive topics of immigration and a housing crisis.

In the process he won over some voters who had previously looked to right-wing parties.

Talks to form a government, which usually take months in the Netherlands, will be particularly complex in a fragmented parliament.

“It will be very difficult,” said Kajsa Ollongren, a D66 party member who was defence minister in government with Jetten.

With D66 and PVV tied for first spot, it is still unclear who will get the first chance to form a government.

Party leaders will likely convene on Friday to decide on the next steps. They could either appoint a “scout” to start holding coalition talks or decide to wait for final results, which are likely to come in a few days.

The Dutch election was seen as a test of whether the far right can expand its reach or whether it has peaked in parts of Europe.

The outcome suggests there are some limits to its appeal.

“We’ve shown not only to the Netherlands, but also to the world that it is possible to beat populist and extreme-right movements,” Jetten told the crowd at his party’s election-night celebration.

But with PVV tied for the top spot, it also showed the far right is an enduring part of an increasingly fragmented European political landscape at a time when many other parties have toughened their stance on immigration.

Wilders said he would take the lead in forming a government if the PVV ultimately came out with more votes.

“As long as it’s not 100 per cent clear, D66 can’t take the lead. We will do everything we can to prevent that,” he said in a post on X.

Counting of ballots continues. But with 98.8 per cent of votes accounted for, it is not expected to change the fact that the two biggest parties are tied for the top spot.