Thom van Campen

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Thom van Campen
Member of the House of Representatives
Assumed office
31 March 2021
Member of the Zwolle municipal council
In office
14 March 2011 – 19 April 2021
Preceded byRené de Heer
Succeeded bySharareh Azimi Nober
Personal details
Born
A.A.H. van Campen

(1990-01-18) 18 January 1990 (age 31)
Doetinchem, Netherlands
Political partyPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Alma mater

A.A.H. "Thom" van Campen (born 18 January 1990) is a Dutch politician. He has been serving as a member of the House of Representatives on behalf of the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since the 2021 general election. Van Campen previously held a seat in the Zwolle municipal council (2011–2021) and served as a political assistant.

Early life, education, and career[]

Van Campen was born in 1990 in Doetinchem, a city located in the Achterhoek, as the son of an education director and an entrepreneur, and he has an older and a younger sister.[1] He attended the Doetinchem secondary school Ulenhofcollege at havo level between 2002 and 2007.[2] Van Campen studied journalism at the Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in Zwolle, graduating in 2012, and subsequently studied international relations (MSc) at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.[3] Back then, he also served as chief editor of the faculty magazine Essay.[1]

He became an intern of MP Malik Azmani (VVD) in 2014 and served as personal assistant of MP Betty de Boer (VVD), whose specializations included railways, between May 2015 and December 2016.[1] Thereafter, Van Campen started working as a strategic adviser at ProRail's public affairs department.[1][4] He left ProRail in October 2017 to take a job as political adviser of Tamara van Ark, State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment.[4] Van Campen kept working for Van Ark when she became Minister for Medical Care in July 2020.[1]

Politics[]

Van Campen became a member of the VVD in 2008 and first appeared on the ballot, aged twenty, in the 2010 municipal elections as the VVD's seventh candidate in Zwolle.[5][6] He was not elected, but the VVD did appoint him to the position duoraadslid.[7] He succeeded VVD councilor René de Heer in March 2011, when he became an alderman, making Van Campen the youngest member of the Zwolle municipal council. He left his internship at the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) in Brussels after one month because of his appointment. Van Campen's specialization in the council was culture policy.[8]

He was re-elected in the 2014 municipal elections, in which he appeared fifth on the VVD's party list.[9] In 2016, a proposal by Van Campen and a D66 councilor passed the municipal council for an experiment that allowed bars in Zwolle to be open the entire night.[10] He became the VVD's caucus leader in August of that year and was re-elected as his party's lijsttrekker – the youngest in the Zwolle VVD's history – in the 2018 municipal elections.[5][11]

House of Representatives (2021–present)[]

Van Campen ran for member of parliament in the 2021 general election, being placed sixteenth on the VVD's party list. He received 2,821 preference votes and was sworn in as House member on 31 March.[12] Van Campen vacated his seat in the Zwolle municipal council the following month.[13] In the House, he is the VVD's spokesperson for agriculture, food quality, the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), human impact on the nitrogen cycle, and health care prevention.[14] Van Campen is on the parliamentary Committees for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality; for Health, Welfare and Sport; and for Infrastructure and Water Management.[3]

Personal life[]

Van Campen lives in Zwolle and is openly gay.[1][3]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Boschman, Jordy (27 February 2021). "VVD'er Van Campen vanuit Zwolle naar de Tweede Kamer, dat verrast eigenlijk niemand" [VVD member Van Campen from Zwolle to the House of Representatives to nobody's surprise]. De Stentor (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Thom van Campen". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Thom van Campen". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Heins, Arnoud (27 October 2017). "Van Campen laat Zwols geluid in Den Haag klinken" [Van Campen will make Zwolle's wishes known in The Hague]. De Stentor (in Dutch). p. 3.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Mollen, Janske (13 May 2017). "Thom van Campen is de jongste 'baas' ooit van de VVD in Zwolle" [Thom van Campen is the Zwolle VVD's youngest "boss" in its history]. De Stentor (in Dutch). p. 7.
  6. ^ Wageman, Sander (1 February 2010). "Thom van Campen leest zich vast in" [Thom van Campen is already reading up]. De Stentor (in Dutch). p. 15.
  7. ^ Van Drielen, Adri (1 April 2010). "Politiek draagt zestien burgerleden voor" [Parties nominate sixteen duoraadsleden]. De Stentor (in Dutch). p. 35.
  8. ^ Wageman, Sander (12 March 2011). "Student (21) treedt toe tot raadsfractie VVD" [Student (21) enters VVD municipal caucus]. De Stentor (in Dutch).
  9. ^ "VVD met veel 'oude bekenden' campagne in" [VVD enters campaign with many recognizable faces]. De Stentor (in Dutch). 22 November 2013.
  10. ^ Boschman, Jordy (7 April 2017). "Initiatiefnemers blijven achter vrije horecatijden Zwolle staan" [Initiators keep supporting unrestricted closing times]. De Stentor (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Thom van Campen (26) nieuwe leider VVD Zwolle" [Thom van Campen (26) new leader Zwolle VVD]. De Stentor (in Dutch). 6 August 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 17 maart 2021" [Results general election 17 March 2021] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 26 March 2021. p. 185. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  13. ^ Boschman, Jordy (23 March 2021). "Johran Willegers nieuw kopstuk VVD Zwolle nu Van Campen naar Tweede Kamer vertrekt" [Johran Willegers new leader Zwolle VVD now that Van Campen leaves for the House of Representatives]. De Stentor (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Thom van Campen". VVD (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 April 2021.
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