Fortuyn party appoints new leader

Jao Varela, Pim Fortuyn's number two: 'too young' to become leader

All the votes are in after the election in the Netherlands and the move to the right in the country is clear.

The centre right Christian Democrats gained 14 new seats in the Parliament giving them just under a third of the total, and the upstart party founded by Pim Fortuyn is the second biggest with 26 seats.

Its political future is in the hands of its new leader Mat Herben, who used to be a spokesman for the Dutch ministry of defence. And the task ahead for Mr Herben, is no less than to try to negotiate his way into government.

Pim Fortuyn List (PFL) is the second biggest party, after the disastrous showing by Wim Kok's Labour party and its like minded allies.

Our PM colleague Dan Damon reports from outside the Dutch parliament.

Syp Vinnia, the political editor of the Dutch news magazine Elsevier, told us that alongside the success of Pim Fortuyn's party, the story of the election is an unexpected revival among Holland's conservative Christian Democrats.

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