A meeting of the VVD in Alphen aan den Rijn started at the end of October with a striking announcement. Councilor Jesse Kuijpers read a statement in which he made it clear that he did not agree with the ‘tone’ within the group. Kuijpers and fellow councilor Raymond Vlieland therefore decided, out of necessity, to continue together in another VVD faction, the statement said. The VVD faction chairman, Jeroen Matthijssen, heard their complaint with surprise: “It came like a bolt from the blue.”
The break is not an isolated incident, because things have been going on in the Alphen municipal council for some time. The Liberal Party left the coalition in April. At the same time, VVD member Anouk Noordermeer resigned as alderman. She would have felt ‘unsafe’. Later, Noordermeer filed a report for sexual assault against a CDA councilor and Mayor Peter Rehwinkel filed a report against Noordermeer because she allegedly leaked private information as a councilor.
Last summer, then group leader Vanessa Scholtens was also expelled from the group. She took her seat with her and continued under the name ‘Lijst Scholtens’. In the meantime, Anouk Noordermeer returned as a councilor.
As a result, there are now two factions of the Liberal Party in the council, both of which claim to represent the real party sound of the VVD.
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Get on
However striking, Alphen aan den Rijn is not an incident. This was noted by the Aldermen’s Association Alderman survey 2024. The fact that new municipal elections are coming and politicians want to emphasize their differences to profile themselves plays a role.
Former deputy director of the Aldermen’s Association, van Gool, said earlier NRC: “In the first year after municipal elections, virtually no councilors resign […] significantly more leave in the third year. That is almost a law.”
Between 2018 and the end of 2021, one or more councilors in almost half of the municipal councils started their own faction
This is also evident from figures from the site The College Tablewhich keeps track of how many of the approximately 1,400 councilors in the Netherlands resign each year. A similar pattern can be seen in previous administrative periods.
Local splits are also becoming more common: NRC reported in 2021 that between 2018 and the end of 2021, in almost half of the municipal councils – 45.6 percent – one or more council members started their own faction.
Hilversum
Two VVD factions in one council is currently still an issue somewhere, namely in Hilversum. „ „So not about the content. Not whether you are for or against paid parking, for example.
The king’s commissioner in South Holland, Wouter Kolff, chimed in – as did the local broadcaster Studio Alphen – all his dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in Alphen aan den Rijn. Monitoring the functioning of local government is part of the commissioner’s duties. “He offers, where appropriate, help to restore peace,” Kolff’s spokesperson explains in a written response.
The spokesperson calls it ‘always worrying’ when ‘tensions threaten to overshadow the content’
Furthermore, the spokesperson calls it “always worrying” when “tensions threaten to overshadow the content.” Moreover, persistent flaws within an administration can undermine confidence in politics, the spokesperson said. Group leader Frans Langerak of the local party Nieuw Elan, the largest in the Alphen council, agrees with this. “Arguments or divisions have little to do with the people we do it for. And it does something to trust.”
Course
But, John Bijl emphasizes: a change of pasture is sometimes good for cows. “A faction that completely falls apart, or where elbow room has to take place, that is not nice either, of course.” By continuing in two factions, “perhaps the best solution has been chosen,” he suggests.
However, the VVD party members in Alphen have opted for a different route: during the general members meeting, the top list was determined for the municipal elections in March. It turns out: none of the current VVD council members will get a place. “It is of course a shame that you are already hearing that you will not be on the candidate list,” responds councilor Jesse Kuijpers. “But the members have clearly opted for a breath of fresh air.”
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