The party of populist anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders is now the most popular party in Holland after he was found guilty of discrimination against Moroccans last week.

Wilders, 53, was acquitted of hate-speech in a trial which got enormous coverage in the Dutch press ahead of key elections next year.

Elections are due in March and a poll by the Maurice de Hond Institute says that if they were held today Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) would pick up 36 out of 150 seats in the lower house of parliament, making it the biggest party.

Amid a string of populist victories in Europe and the November election of Donald Trump as the next US president, the outcome of the Dutch vote will be keenly watched.

With his blond bouffant hairstyle and politically incorrect statements, Wilders (pictured) is easily the most well known politician in Holland. And despite now having a criminal record for discrimination against Moroccans, the trial has only improve his and his party's popularity

The PVV currently has 12 seats in the lower house, which is elected on a system of proportional representation.

The same poll found Wilders' party would overtake Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Liberals, who would have 23 seats (down from the 40 they currently hold) and his coalition partners, the Labour Party (PvdA), would fall from 35 to 10 seats.

But even though his party would be the biggest in the Dutch parliament, it remains to be seen whether they could find enough coalition partners to take power.

Wilders and his party have got a bounce in the polls despite the judges saying, in their verdict: 'The inflammatory character of the way in which (his) statements were made have incited others to discriminate people of Moroccan origin.'

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Wilders said the judges who presided over his trial (pictured, left to right) Elianne van Rens, Henry Stone House and Sijbrand Wreath were 'on the wrong side of history'

Wilders, who was not present at the trial, commented on the character of the judges who delivered his verdict

Wilders, is appealing his conviction, which he said was 'a big loss for freedom of speech.'

Observers say his trial has boosted his popularity among Dutch voters, worried about the influx of immigrants and driven by eurosceptic sentiments.

The comments were made at a 2014 rally where he asked supporters if they wanted 'fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands'

The three-week trial of Wilders had focused in particular on a statement made at a 2014 local government election rally in The Hague, when he asked supporters whether they wanted 'fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands'.

When the crowd shouted back 'Fewer! Fewer!' a smiling Wilders answered: 'We're going to organise that.'

Prosecutors told the trial they had taken Wilders to court because 'racist remarks need to be stopped' after police received 6,400 complaints about his comments.

'Wilders singled out an entire group of citizens without making any distinction,' the judges ruled.

'This group has less rights to reside in the Netherlands. Therewith, this statement can be regarded as affecting the dignity of this group as a whole. It is insulting for the entire group.'

Throughout their case, prosecutors quoted numerous examples of Dutch-Moroccans who said they felt like 'third-rate citizens' and that even 'children are afraid' because of the politician's statements.

Wilders boycotted most of the high-profile trial, and refused to appear in court for the verdict.

If elected as the lowlands country's new prime minister, Wilders has vowed to confiscate Korans, close mosques and Islamic schools, shut Dutch borders and ban migrants from Islamic countries among a raft of other anti-Islamic moves.

His views have seen him receive death threats including from terror groups such as the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda. He is guarded at all times and called the 'best protected man in The Netherlands'.