Following the fall of the Dutch government last June, less than a year after it was installed, the new parliamentary elections will be held on October 29th. More than ever, these upcoming elections will determine the direction the Netherlands will head in, and the future this direction holds. But the public trust in government, research shows, has never been lower. Voters feel abandoned, unrepresented, don’t see actual solutions and feel that politicians are sacrificing all of their principles, only thinking about themselves or about political power. Amidst the frenzy of campaigning parties we all wonder: does voting still have any meaningful effect? What can we expect from our representatives? What should a healthy parliamentary democracy look like?

More than enough reason for the Nexus Institute to, after several years, organize a Nexus Masterclass again, during which none other than Rory Stewart offered a glimpse into the opaque world of politics. As a former diplomat, parliamentarian and minister of the government, Stewart knows the political circuit like no other. He brilliantly chronicled his experiences and the lessons they taught him in the international bestseller Politics on the Edge (2023) and in his popular podcast The Rest is Politics with Alastair Campbell. On 24 September he climbed the Nexus stage to engage with an enthusiastic audience, providing it with some much-needed insight.