With polls suggesting the race is too close to call and the next government certain to be a multi-party coalition, here are the main candidates vying to lead the EU's fifth-largest economy.

Dilan Yesilgoz (centre-right VVD) 

Turkish-born Dilan Yesilgoz arrived in the Netherlands as an eight-year-old carrying only what her mother could cram in her bag on a boat to Greece.

Now the former child refugee is hoping her hard stance on limiting asylum-seeker numbers will cap her meteoric political rise to become the first-ever woman Dutch prime minister.

Once dubbed "a pit bull in high heels" by De Volkskrant daily, the 46-year-old recently showed her appetite for the fight by stepping into the ring for a sparring session with kickboxer Rico Verhoeven.

Politically left by nature -- her father was a leading trade unionist -- she flirted with several left-wing parties before finally joining the centre-right VVD, frustrated by a "patronising" attitude she found elsewhere.

She charted a stunning rise through the party, first at the Amsterdam council, then a government minister with portfolios including energy, climate, and economic affairs.

Appointed justice minister in January 2022, the party selected Yesilgoz as their PM candidate when Rutte surprisingly stepped down this summer.

She quickly sparked controversy, announcing a willingness to govern with Geert Wilders and his far-right PVV party.

Media-savvy and a regular fixture on political talk shows, she has a strong following on social media, where she posts regular updates about her dogs.

"In the few years she has been in the public eye, we know more about her private life than about Rutte in all the years he has been prime minister," noted De Volkskrant.

Pieter Omtzigt (NSC) 

Supporters of Pieter Omtzigt see him as a Messiah-type figure, an honest broker rising above the rabble to clean up scandal-blighted Dutch politics.

The multi-lingual 49-year-old is a relative late-comer to the election race, founding the New Social Contract party only in August and publishing a manifesto weeks before election day.

He shot to prominence as a whistle-blower, bringing down a Rutte government over a scandal in which thousands of parents were wrongly accused of fraudulently claiming child allowance -- sometimes after racial profiling.

He is riding the wave of Dutch voters' desire for more integrity in politics, telling AFP in an interview: "The way we've been doing politics has led to lots of crises, but not to any solutions."

Omtzigt has repeatedly stressed he does not want to be prime minister -- "we don't want power, we want influence" -- but if his NSC party wins the election, he may have little choice.

Frans Timmermans (PvDA/Groenlinks)

Bearded and avuncular, the 62-year former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans is hoping his experience, safe pair of hands, and climate credentials will catapult him to the PM office.

The bicycling father of four -- whose mastery of several languages impresses even in the multi-lingual Netherlands -- has forged a coalition between the Greens and Labour, a combined force to be reckoned with.

Since 2019, his powerful voice has been the cheerleader for the European "Green Deal", with former foreign minister Timmermans needing all his diplomatic skills to push through the agenda against right-wing opponents.

But his Brussels experience might even count against him at home, with many Dutch chafing against EU interference, especially in agricultural policy.

The BBB farmers' party rose quickly in the polls by opposing exactly the policies pushed by Timmermans in Brussels.

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