Dutch party leaders clash in TV debate as election nears

Frans Timmermans, Geert Wilders and Pieter Omtzigt among those competing for votes in six-way race

• Dutch elections 2023: everything you need to know

Dutch party leaders have clashed in a tetchy televised debate, as the Netherlands election campaign entered its final days.

The country’s six main party leaders confronted each other in Rotterdam on Monday night, as a new poll suggested Frans Timmermans’ GreenLeft/Labour was neck and neck – on 27 seats of a total 150 – with the party that has led the past four governments, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) under Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius.