The VVD does not appear to want to take any risks with the list of candidates for the House of Representatives elections on November 22: the top ten contains only experienced politicians, the first newcomer is at sixteen (Hester Veltman from Gelderland). Of the first ten, seven are women.
After party leader Dilan Yesilgöz comes Sophie Hermans, now group leader, and deputy group leader Bente Becker. Room has also been made at the top for four people who are still in the outgoing Rutte IV cabinet: Eric van der Burg (Asylum) is in fourth place, Christianne van der Wal (Nitrogen) in fifth place, Aukje de Vries (Benefits) at eight and Mariëlle Paul (Education) at ten. At sixth and seventh are MPs Ruben Brekelmans, who is responsible for asylum and migration on behalf of the faction, and Eelco Heinen, who speaks on finances and leads the VVD campaign.
Seven women in the first ten, plan for regional distribution of candidates not entirely successful
It is the first time since 2010 that the VVD is entering that campaign without Mark Rutte. Just before the summer he announced his departure from politics.
Under the leadership of his successor Yesilgöz, now outgoing Minister of Justice, the party can no longer count on the so-called ‘prime minister’s bonus’: as party leader, Rutte liked to impress voters for as long as possible with his authority as Prime Minister.
For Yesilgöz, who is not nearly as well known among voters as Rutte, the VVD will have to come up with a completely different strategy. She has a more right-wing image than Rutte, but, like him, she is known in the cabinet as someone who can make deals and bring people together.
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PVV not excluded
Since she became party leader, Yesilgöz carefully distanced herself from Rutte by no longer excluding the PVV as a coalition partner. But, given the list, she does not seem to be aiming to immediately renew the party.
VVD members who applied for a place on the list were told that this time the party would pay extra attention to regional distribution: there should be someone from every province in the top twenty. That did not work out for Zeeland: sitting MP Jacqueline van den Hil from Goes is at 25. And certainly not for Drenthe: the first candidate from that province is Jeroen Hartsuiker, councilor in the municipality of Borger-Odoorn. Van den Hil says that she finds her place “very beautiful” and will “make the best of it”. “Zeeland is also a small province, isn’t it.”
The party had abandoned the principle that candidate MPs were only put on the list if they could get a higher place than last time (‘up or out‘).
This meant that some sitting MPs were told on Wednesday evening that they were still on the list, but had been given a lower place than in 2021.
According to the selection committee, what played a role in this was the crowd of candidates from the Randstad: MPs from South and North Holland were told that they had stiff competition in their province and had therefore ended up lower on the list.
The highest newcomer from Amsterdam is Claire Martens, leader of the VVD in the city council. She comes in at twenty and therefore seems to have an eligible position. In polls the VVD has between 22 and 27 seats.
Criticism
In recent years, there has been sometimes sharp and always anonymous criticism of faction leader Sophie Hermans in the House of Representatives faction of the VVD: she is said to lead too hesitantly and too cautiously. It is far from certain whether Hermans, Rutte’s former advisor, would want to become party chairman again if Yesilgöz were to return to the cabinet. There are VVD members from The Hague who expect that they would now also want to become a minister or state secretary.