In the municipal elections in Assen, four candidates with preferential votes were elected to the municipal council. A striking name is Tirza van Brakel. She came from the SP, but joined the PVV. That is what she has now been chosen for.
The 46-year-old Van Brakel was in fifth place on the PVV’s candidate list. She received 258 votes, and 230 votes is enough in Assen to be elected with preference.
As a newcomer, the PVV won 2 seats in Assen. With her preferential votes, Van Brakel displaces Thiemo van der Weij, who was in second place. Van Brakel is ‘very surprised’ that she received so many votes. “I haven’t campaigned for myself at all. I think I have been rewarded for my efforts in recent years,” she says.
She will also definitely sit on the city council. “I have received the mandate from the voters. Saying no would be voter fraud.” Van Brakel started as a councilor for the SP in Assen in 2022. But after a year and a half she broke with the party, out of dissatisfaction with the national activist course. She continued as Lijst Van Brakel, and eventually stood as a candidate for the PVV.
She is keen to collaborate with PVV leader Teun Kijf, who received 1,115 votes. “I get along very well with Teun. We are different people, so we keep each other in balance very well.”
Another notable councilor who was elected with preferential votes is Roos Bentum of D66. She is 18 years old and was in 5th place at D66. The party retains 3 seats. Bentum received 370 preferential votes. She comes to the council at the expense of Dennis Klingenberg, the number 3. He also sat for D66 in the Asser municipal council in the past period.
Bentum is very happy that she has been chosen. “First of all, it is of course very sad for Dennis. But it is great that I am becoming a councilor. I think many young people voted for me, and I can now give them a voice as a councilor.”
A young person will also strengthen the ranks at Assen Centraal. The party, which has become the largest in Assen with 7 seats, will have Manon Heuving on the council. She was in 10th place but received 249 preference votes. The 21-year-old Assense displaces Wim Beens in 7th place.
According to party leader Jan Talens (62), the faction is experiencing a significant rejuvenation. According to Talens, two other young candidates, Leonie Woudstra (22) and Jerome de Bue (23), had also been deliberately placed high on the candidate list. They were in places 3 and 5.
Co-founder of Assen Centraal Luc Rengers (76), the longest serving councilor of Assen with 26 years, has not received enough preferential votes for the electoral threshold and will disappear from the municipal council.
There is also a shift at GroenLinks/PvdA, which has become the second party in Assen with 7 seats, due to preferential votes. The faction will gain a third woman. Fieke Knipping was good for 330 votes in 8th place. Number 7, Hilde de Hoog-Ferwerda, also received 266 preferential votes. As a result, Geert Jan van Halen is left out at number 6.
In Assen, Geert-Jan ten Brink, the dike manager of the Hunze and Aa’s water board, will work as an informateur. Assen Centraal has asked him to see which parties can best govern the provincial capital together. Ten Brink is from the PvdA family. He was once an alderman in Aa and Hunze.
But he won’t be able to start until the end of March. As water board director, he will go to Burkina Faso next week, in connection with the Blue Deal. Dutch water boards help to set up good water management in developing countries.
