The centrist liberals under Rob Jetten have taken a shock lead in the Dutch election, according to the main exit poll, two years after his party languished in fifth place in the last vote.
Jetten staged a remarkable campaign in recent weeks, and the Ipsos I&O exit poll suggests his D66 liberals have won 27 seats, two more than anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders who won the last election.
Although the final result is too close to call, Wilders conceded victory and Jetten told supporters "millions of Dutch people have turned a page; they've said goodbye to a politics of negativity".
Three other parties are close behind, including the conservative liberals, the left-wing Green-Labour party and the Christian Democrats.
Wilders led the polls throughout the election campaign, but after he pulled the plug on his own coalition in June in a row over asylum and migration, all the mainstream leaders made clear they did not wish to work with him again.
