The new face of Dutch democracy is VVD member Thom van Campen. On Tuesday he was elected as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, after tense votes. Van Campen is loved among colleagues and is known for his good humor, tasteful contribution to debates and striking impressions of other politicians.
The vote was, contrary to the expectations of many MPs, very tense. MPs vote anonymously and therefore do not have to adhere to party discipline. In the first of three rounds, Van Campen received the fewest votes: 39. Opposing candidate Tom van der Lee (GroenLinks-PvdA) received 43 votes, Martin Bosma 66.
Bosma and Van der Lee both came to embrace the new Speaker of the House after the results were announced
In the next round, a number of votes shifted from Van der Lee to Van Campen and the GroenLinks-PvdA member was eliminated. Insiders say otherwise NRC that D66 members who had first voted for Van der Lee were shocked by Bosma’s good first result. Among D66 members there was the idea that Van Campen had a better chance of beating the PVV member. This is how it happened: Van Campen defeated Bosma with 79 votes to 69. Bosma and Van der Lee both came to embrace the new Speaker of the House after the results were announced.
At 35 years old, Van Campen is the youngest Speaker of the House in Dutch parliamentary history. He has been in the House of Representatives since 2021. That is exceptionally short for a chairman: they are usually veterans. Van Campen himself also acknowledged this, but he said that he has shown that he “stands for choices that could not always count on applause or approval.” As an agricultural spokesperson for the VVD, for example, he was very critical of the policy of coalition partner BBB.
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‘Stomachache’
It is known that Van Campen had difficulty with the coalition with PVV and BBB during the Schoof cabinet. In return for NRC he said he had “a stomach ache for a while” from that collaboration. Wilders had made statements “that turn my stomach,” he said. And Caroline van der Plas (BBB) had spoken negatively about “LGBTI and raising children”. Van Campen is homosexual.
As chairman, Martin Bosma did not participate in the PVV faction meetings. Van Campen will continue that tradition. In this way he wants to “guarantee the independence of the chairman”. Van Campen said he might only make an exception for “exceptional cases”, for example when it comes to medical-ethical issues.
Bosma was widely appreciated as chairman of debates: MPs found him funny and keen on the proceedings. Apart from that Chamber work, he showed little. Bosma did not give interviews and was not available for background discussions. In addition, he made controversial statements in the past about, among other things, the history of slavery, which meant that as Speaker of the House he was not welcome at the celebration of Keti Koti in 2024.
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Van Campen will not be left out in his ceremonial role as Speaker of the House. Furthermore, as chairman he wants to go out into the country. According to the VVD member, it is up to the chairman to explain what democracy means and why it is important. “To uphold and defend that democratic institution.”
Paving
In the two years that Bosma was Speaker of the House, he received increasing criticism: he allegedly showed more and more party color. He allowed his party leader Geert Wilders to deliver long and rude tirades unhindered. And during the House of Representatives elections last October, he refused to address two PVV MPs after it emerged that they had posted defamatory AI images of GroenLinks-PvdA leader Frans Timmermans online. Timmermans then received death threats.
Under Bosma’s chairmanship, relations in the House have hardened over the past two years. His reluctance to intervene is seen as one of the causes.
We have to ask ourselves: do we actually want to say everything we are allowed to say?
Van Campen says he does want to standardize. For him, this does not necessarily mean that he will impose sanctions, it can also be done by pausing the debate. “We have to ask ourselves: do we actually want to say everything we are allowed to say?” he said during the parliamentary debate before the votes.
When Van Campen was presented with the gavel and gave a speech, he already exchanged a promise that Bosma, Van der Lee and himself had made to the House: “All three of us have promised to have short and effective meetings, so I won’t keep it long today.” Van Campen then reminded his colleagues that the country is counting on them – and closed the meeting.
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