From ‘Robot Jetten’ to prime minister: The rise of the Netherlands’ youngest leader

Rob Jetten, leader of the center-left D66 party, speaks on stage during exit poll results an election venue during a general election in Leiden [AP Photo]

Rob Jetten has become the youngest and first openly gay prime minister of the Netherlands.

Before Jetten, 38, took the oath of office this week to lead a minority three-party ruling coalition, Christian Democrat Ruud Lubbers held the record as the youngest premier when he took office in 1982 at age 43. Lubbers went on to become one of the country’s longest-serving leaders.

A veteran of Dutch national politics, Jetten’s rise to the top of the political ladder comes nearly a decade after he first won a seat in parliament in 2017 for the centrist, pro-European D66 party he now leads.

Back then, he earned himself the nickname “Robot” Jetten after repeating apparently pre-rehearsed and bland responses to journalists’ questions.

Now, Jetten has adopted a relaxed demeanor that has gained popularity with the general public, partly thanks to reaching the final round of a prime-time television quiz called “The Smartest Person.”

He posts regularly on social media, including photos of himself and his partner Nicolás Keenan, an Argentine field hockey star who won a bronze medal with his country’s team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Netherlands was the first nation to legalize same-sex marriage, in 2001.

After winning a snap national election in late October, Jetten posted a photo of the pair hugging with a message combining Dutch and Spanish saying: “Dear Nico, thanks for your unconditional support, I couldn’t do it without you.”

He won’t be able to accomplish anything as Dutch leader without support from opposition parties in parliament’s 150-seat House of Representatives. The three-party coalition he leads holds only 66 seats in the lower house and doesn’t have a majority in the upper house, either.

First elected to parliament in 2017, he became a spokesman for his party on climate issues, earning another nickname: climate pusher. As a Cabinet minister under longtime prime minister and now NATO chief Mark Rutte, Jetten championed a comprehensive package of climate legislation encompassing 120 measures costing a total of 28 billion euros that aimed at slashing Dutch carbon emissions by 60% in 2030 compared with 1990 levels.

Jetten grew up in the southeastern town of Uden. He studied business administration at university and went on to work at the government-owned railway infrastructure company ProRail. As a youngster, Jetten was a talented athlete and even ran as a pace setter to assist future Olympic long distance champion Sifan Hassan. MIKE CORDER, THE HAGUE, MDT/AP