The Netherlands on Monday witnessed history in the making as 38-year-old Rob Jetten was sworn in as the country’s youngest prime minister, news agency AP reported.
Jetten was sworn in by Dutch King Willem-Alexander in a new minority Dutch coalition government. The youngest-ever prime minister already has a task ahead, which is to use his bridge-building skills to pass laws and see a full four-year term in office. Further, he would be required to push through his agenda through the country’s first minority government in decades, Politico reported.
Jetten succeeds Dick Schoof, whose government collapsed last year, prompting snap elections in the country. His party obtained a narrow victory over the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), which is led by Geert Wilders. His appointment comes at a time when several countries are witnessing far-right parties winning elections in countries like Germany and France, and comes as a relief in Brussels as he pledges to steer the European Union’s fifth-largest economy.
All you need to know about Rob Jetten
Apart from being the country’s youngest ever prime minister, Jetten is also the country’s first openly gay Dutch leader, Politico reported.
According to a Euro News report, Jetten was once called “Robot Jetten” for his rigid way of answering questions. The youngest ever prime minister has previously served as a climate minister under the government of former prime minister Mark Rutte, and he struck a chord with the voters this time around, due to his positive messaging.
According to Jetten’s LinkedIn profile, he has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Public Administration from Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
He began his political career in 2008 as a Policy Officer for the D66 Senate parliamentary group. In the same year, he rose through the ranks of the party’s youth wing, the Young Democrats, and began serving, first as Chair of the Arnhem-Nijmegen branch and then as National Chair.
In 2010, Jetten became Parliamentary Group Leader for D66 in Nijmegen, a role which he held for seven years. Between 2011 and 2014, he worked as a management trainee at Randstad. From 2012 to 2016, he worked as a Member of the Advisory Board of the Intercity Student Consultation (ISO). He also worked as a Strategy Advisor between 2013 and 2014. Jetten later joined ProRail, the Dutch railway infrastructure company, where he served as Regional Manager for Construction Management in North-East Netherlands between 2014 and 2017.
Later in 2017, he was elected to the House of Representatives of the Netherlands and became Parliamentary Group Leader for D66 in 2018. Jetten served in that capacity till 2022, while he continued as a Member of Parliament.
In 2022, Jetten was appointed as Minister for Climate and Energy in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. In his two-year tenure, which ended in 2024, Jetten was responsible for advancing the country’s climate transition and national energy strategy.
Since August 2023, he has also served as D66’s Party Leader. Four months later, he returned to his role as Parliamentary Group Leader and Member of the House of Representatives.
Jetten faces challenges ahead
In the current government, he heads a three-party administration, which includes his D66, the centre-right Christian Democrats, and the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy. The three parties together hold only 66 of the 150 seats of the lower house of parliament. This means constant negotiation with opposition lawmakers to pass any legislation in the House.
He won the election in October 2025, and his government was sworn in 117 days after the elections took place. The final results of the elections were decided after a count of postal ballots, following the country’s fourth national election since 2017. Jetten plans to continue spending to increase the Dutch military in times of geopolitical uncertainty.
