FORMER spy boss Dick Schoof became the new Dutch prime minister today, more than seven months after the far-right Party for Freedom won the most seat in parliamentary elections.

Opposition from other parties prevented Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders from taking the top job, even though, during the months of negotiations, he had compromised on several of his most extreme views, including withdrawing a plan to ban mosques, Islamic schools and the Koran.

Nonetheless, the coalition agreement foresees strict restrictions on asylum-seekers, an end to family reunification for refugees and a cut in the number of international students studying in the Netherlands.

The new government quickly faced criticism of its anti-immigration policies. Protesters gathered in front of the royal palace where the ceremony took place, with one woman carrying a sign asking: “Are we democratically getting rid of our democracy?”

Joining Mr Wilders’s party in the coalition are outgoing prime minister Mark Rutte’s conservative People’s Party for Freedom & Democracy, the populist Farmer Citizen Movement and the centrist New Social Contract party.

However, Mr Schoof is not aligned with any party. Before leading the intelligence agency, he was counterterrorism chief and headed the immigration service.