D66 leader Rob Jetten has won the Thorbecke Prize for political eloquence this year. This was announced by jury chairman Remieg Aerts on Monday evening at the award ceremony in the Nieuwspoort Press Center. In addition to Jetten, Ingrid Coenradie (JA21) and SP leader Jimmy Dijk were also nominated.
The Thorbecke Prize is a prestigious prize for Dutch politicians, which the Thorbecke Association has awarded since 1992. In 2024, VVD member Eric van der Burg won; a year earlier, then Prime Minister Mark Rutte received the prize.
If anyone has learned to understand the demands that parliamentary democracy places on politicians today, it is Rob Jetten, according to the Thorbecke Association. “He has transformed both himself and his party into a different story with apparent success.”
Robot Jetten
In the press release, the association notes that when Jetten started as party chairman in 2018, he was mocked as “Robot Jetten” because of his “mechanical, somewhat monotonous staccato diction”. According to the association, he was seen as “inauthentic, pedantic, elitist”, as someone who did not have communicative qualities.
This year, however, the Netherlands saw a completely different Jetten. According to the association, the D66 leader has emerged as “the representative of a story of social solidarity.” “Rob Jetten has managed to restyle himself into an attractive, recruiting and confidence-inspiring politician. And not only that, he has given the Netherlands and politics renewed impetus and a good mood.”
Before the ceremony, Ingrid Thijssen, outgoing chairman of VNO-NCW, gave the Thorbecke lecture on the role of language in business. According to her, negative language about companies creates “fertile ground for unwise policy.” Thijssen: “Language affects the way we look at reality. Why would you stand up for the polluter, the exploiter, the grabber? How do you sell that to your voters?”
According to Thijssen, the Netherlands itself has caused the investment climate in the Netherlands to deteriorate with this unwise policy. However, she also acknowledged that jargon from business can get in the way of “connection with the rest of society”.
Also read
Rob Jetten had to significantly expand the social-liberal identity of D66 to appeal to right-wing voters
NEW: Give this item as a gift
As an NRC subscriber you can subscribe every month 10 items give as a gift to someone without an NRC subscription. The recipient can read the article directly, without a paywall.