Lilian Marijnissen is no longer the party leader of the SP. On Tuesday she said goodbye to the House of Representatives amid loud applause from colleagues and former MPs. Remarkably, she has not yet spoken to her father, former party leader Jan Marijnissen, about her departure. “No, not yet, because it is a busy life and he lives in Oss and I am often in The Hague. We haven’t called about it either, but now that I have time again, that conversation will undoubtedly happen.”
The departure as party leader suddenly happened quickly. Only last weekend did it become clear that 38-year-old Marijnissen would resign from her role as face of the party. “Initially we had agreed within the party that there would be an investigation. A broad investigation to see why we lost the elections and also why we are not able to attract enough new voters. There are a number of people who preferred not to wait for the outcome of that investigation and felt that a change was now necessary. I complied with that,” she explains.
Lost seven elections in a row
The departure is not unexpected, she says. “If you lose elections as party leader, it is never a real surprise. So no, it’s not really a surprise.” The SP has now lost seven elections in a row. Her father, Jan Marijnissen, was the last to achieve an election victory for the Socialists: in 2006 when the party entered the House of Representatives with 25 seats.
Under successor Emile Roemer, the party dropped towards 15 seats. In the previous elections the SP won nine seats, but after the last elections the party only has five seats left.
Research is desperately needed
Marijnissen thinks it is good that the party will investigate why so many elections in a row are no longer won. “I think that is necessary, but it is really up to others to give substance to this.” She also blames herself, because as party leader ‘you are the face to the outside world’.
She does not know who the new faction leader is. She believes that despite everything, she ‘leaves a fantastic party behind’. “But also a party that is looking for ways for people who do not feel heard to have a place with us.”
Vote in The Hague
She leaves the Chamber with mixed feelings, she says, because ‘the work is never finished’. “It’s not actually a job, but a living. I consider it the greatest honor that I have been a representative of the people, which is a much nicer word and has more meaning to me than a politician. That people have said to me: you are my voice in The Hague. I like nothing better than that.”
For the time being, that voice no longer comes from The Hague. She doesn’t know yet what she will do next. “Things have happened quite quickly in recent days. I think I’ll take a few days to recover first.”
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