Femke Merel van Kooten
Femke Merel van Kooten-Arissen in 2017
Member of the
municipal council of Woerden
Assumed office
30 March 2022
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
4 February 2019 – 31 March 2021
In office
23 March 2017 – 15 October 2018
Member of the
Provincial Council of Utrecht
In office
26 March 2015 – 4 February 2019
Personal details
Born
Femke Merel Arissen

(1983-11-09) 9 November 1983 (age 40)
Huizen, Netherlands
Political partySplinter (since 2020)
Other political
affiliations		Party for the Animals (2003–2019)
Party for the Future (2020)
Residence(s)Woerden, Netherlands
Alma materUtrecht University
(Bachelor of Laws)

Femke Merel van Kooten-Arissen (pronounced [ˈfɛmkə ˈmeːrəl vɑn ˈkoːtən ˈaːrɪsən]; born 9 November 1983) is a Dutch politician and former member of the House of Representatives.

Political career

Party for the Animals

Van Kooten served as a member of the Provincial Council of Utrecht for the Party for the Animals (PvdD) from 26 March 2015 until 4 February 2019.[1]

She was first elected in the 2017 general election.[2] From 15 October 2018 to 4 February 2019, she was on maternity leave from Parliament.

Independent MP and Party for the Future

On 16 July 2019, she left the PvdD and became an independent MP. In December 2019, she joined 50PLUS but remained an independent member of parliament.[3] She left 50PLUS in May 2020 along with its leader Henk Krol, forming the Party for the Future (PvdT).

After about three months, in early August 2020, she left the PvdT in opposition to its merger with the Otten Group (GO), a party formed by former members of the far-right Forum for Democracy (FvD). The merger had been arranged by Krol without her knowledge. Once again, she became an independent member of parliament, and remained so for the rest of the parliamentary term.[4] The Party for the Future was eventually completely dissolved before the end of 2020.

Leader of Splinter

Ahead of the 2021 general election, van Kooten founded her own party named Splinter,[5] and was the party's lead candidate. However, Splinter received only 30,000 votes,[6] less than half of the 70,000 vote threshold required for a seat. As a result, she did not return to the House of Representatives.[7]

As Splinter's lead candidate, Van Kooten was elected to the municipal council of Woerden in the 2022 municipal election, taking office on 30 March of that year.[8][1] She attempted to return to the House of Representatives in the 2023 general election, but her party received 13,000 votes and won no seats.[9]

Electoral history

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (December 2023)
Electoral history of Femke Merel van Kooten
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2015 Provincial Council of Utrecht Party for the Animals 2 [10]
2017 House of Representatives Party for the Animals 5 6,131 5 Won [11]
2021 House of Representatives Splinter 1 27,301 0 Lost [7]
2022 Municipal council of Woerden Splinter 1 882 1 Won [8]
2023 House of Representatives Splinter 1 9,461 0 Lost [9]

References

  1. ^ a b "F.M. (Femke Merel) van Kooten-Arissen LLB". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  2. ^ Maarten van Ast (16 July 2019). "Partij voor de Dieren royeert Van Kooten vanwege 'zetelroof'" [Party for the Animals expels Van Kooten for 'seat robbery']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch).
  3. ^ "Voormalig PvdD-Kamerlid Van Kooten-Arissen sinds december lid van 50Plus" [Former PvdD Member of Parliament Van Kooten-Arissen has been a member of 50Plus since December]. NU (in Dutch). 5 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  4. ^ Peter Winterman (5 August 2020). "Femke Merel van Kooten vertrekt bij nieuwe partij Henk Krol: 'Ik laat me niet langer muilkorven'" [Femke Merel van Kooten leaves new party Henk Krol: 'I will no longer be muzzled']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch).
  5. ^ Peter Winterman (21 December 2020). "Femke Merel van Kooten begint eigen partij: Splinter" [Member of Parliament Femke Merel van Kooten starts her own party: Splinter]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch).
  6. ^ "Tweede Kamer 17 Maart 2021" [House of Representatives 17 March 2021]. Kiesraad (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Proces-verbaal verkiezingsuitslag Tweede Kamer 2021" [Report of the election results House of Representatives 2021] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. pp. 271–272. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Gemeenteraad 16 maart 2022". Kiesraad (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Proces-verbaal van de uitslag van de verkiezing van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal 2023 d.d. 4 december 2023" [Report of the results of the election of the House of Representatives on 4 December 2023] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 4 December 2023. pp. 263–264. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Provinciale Staten 18 maart 2015". Kiesraad (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2017 (getekend exemplaar)" [Results House of Representatives 2017 (signed example)] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 21 March 2017. pp. 127–128. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
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