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The 2020 Christian Democratic Appeal leadership election was called to elect the new leader and lead candidate (lijsttrekker) of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) in the run-up to the 2021 Dutch general election.
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The 2020 Christian Democratic Appeal leadership election was called to elect the new leader and lead candidate (lijsttrekker) of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) in the run-up to the 2021 Dutch general election.
The position of party leader of the CDA had been vacant since the appointment of incumbent party leader Sybrand van Haersma Buma as mayor of Leeuwarden in May 2019. The CDA has no formal procedure in place for selecting a replacement. Initially, the party had intended to promote its leader in the House of Representatives, Pieter Heerma, to the position of party leader, but Heerma declined this offer. [1]
Speculation that either Hugo de Jonge or Wopke Hoekstra would be selected instead, prompted Mona Keijzer to demand the CDA to hold an internal referendum over who the new party leader should be. [2] Keijzer had already participated in earlier leadership elections, which she lost to Sybrand Buma. [2]
Some party prominents, including Hugo de Jonge, feared a leadership election could divide the party and advised the executive board to appoint a new leader instead. [3] [4] Nonetheless, the board decided to hold an election to choose the new party leader.
Five party members announced their candidacy for the party leadership: Hugo de Jonge, Mona Keijzer, Pieter Omtzigt, Martijn van Helvert, and André Reumkens. The candidacy of Reumkens was declined by the board. [5] The first round of the election was held between 6 and 11 July 2020. A second round was held between 11 and 14 July 2020.
The following CDA members announced their candidacy: [6]
| Candidate | Born | Political office(s) | Education | Religion | Announced | Endorsements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Hugo de Jonge | 26 September 1977 (age 42) Bruinisse, Zeeland | Deputy Prime Minister (2017–2022), Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport (2017–2022), Alderman of Rotterdam (2010–2017) | Bachelor of Education | Protestant | 18 June 2020 | Sybrand Buma, Ferdinand Grapperhaus, Ruth Peetoom [7] [8] |
 Pieter Omtzigt | 8 January 1974 (age 46) The Hague, South Holland | Member of the House of Representatives (2003–2010; 2010–present) | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics | Roman Catholic | 25 June 2020 | Mona Keijzer [9] |
| Candidate | Born | Political office(s) | Education | Religion | Announced | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mona Keijzer | 9 October 1968 (age 51) Edam, North Holland | State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (2017–2021), Member of the House of Representatives (2012–2017), Alderwoman of Purmerend (2007–2012), Deputy mayor and alderwoman of Waterland (1998–2005) | Master of Laws, Master of Public Administration | Roman Catholic | 23 June 2020 | 11 July 2020 |
| Candidate | Born | Political office(s) | Education | Religion | Announced | Withdrawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Martijn van Helvert | 7 April 1978 (age 42) Sittard, Limburg | Member of the House of Representatives (2014–2021), Member of the States of Limburg (2011–2015) | Doctorandus in History | Roman Catholic | 24 June 2020 | 30 June 2020 [10] |
| Candidate status | |
|---|---|
| Nominated | |
| Nominated; eliminated after the first round | |
| Nominated; withdrawn from the election | |
| Events | |
| Nominations announced | |
| Voting opens | |
| Result announced (first round) | |
| Voting closes (second round) | |
| Result announced | |
 | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
| Date(s) administered | Poll source | Sample | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9–10 May 2019 | EenVandaag [12] | 1,000 CDA voters | — | 29% | 9% | — | 40% | 3% | 18% | |
| 300 CDA members | — | 20% | 5% | — | 59% | 4% | 12% | |||
| 28 Oct – 7 Nov 2019 | EenVandaag [13] | 2,283 CDA voters | — | 21% | 16% | — | 39% | — | 3% | 21% |
| March 2020 | EenVandaag [14] | 1,188 CDA voters | — | 22% | 14% | — | 43% | — | 21% | |
| 27 April 2020 | EenVandaag [15] | 1,188 CDA voters | — | 35% | 9% | — | 50% | — | 6% | |
| 27–30 Jun 2020 | EenVandaag [16] | 2,250 CDA voters | 0% | 47% | 15% | 34% | — | — | 4% | |
| * = not a candidate | ||||||||||
| Candidate | First round | Second round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hugo de Jonge | 48.7% | 50.7% | ||
| Pieter Omtzigt | 39.7% | 49.3% | ||
| Mona Keijzer | 11.6% | |||
| Source: NOS | ||||
Following his victory, Hugo de Jonge announced that he and Omtzigt would run as lead candidates for the 2021 Dutch general election together, calling Omtzigt his "running mate". [17] Four months later, however, De Jonge found that the position of party leader was difficult to combine with his role as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, given the attention required of him during the COVID-19 pandemic. [18] On 12 November 2020, he resigned from his position as party leader. The day after, the party's executive board announced that it had chosen Wopke Hoekstra as the new party leader, despite the fact that Hoekstra did not participate in the leadership election. [19]
Pieter Omtzigt claimed that party chair Rutger Ploum had promised him that he would be allowed to take De Jonge's place in the event of the latter's resignation, and expressed his dissatisfaction with Hoekstra's appointment. [20] Omtzigt temporarily resigned from campaigning in February 2021, a month before the general election, because he was overworked. [21] On 12 June 2021, Omtzigt left split from CDA and continued as an independent Member of Parliament.[ citation needed ] He alleged he was being harassed by CDA prominents for his investigations into the Dutch childcare benefits scandal and his critical stance in the leadership election. [22]
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a Christian-democratic and socially conservative political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union; it has participated in all but three cabinets since it became a unitary party.
Sybrand van Haersma Buma is a Dutch politician serving as Mayor of Leeuwarden since 2019. Until 2019, he was a member of the House of Representatives from 2002 who also served as the parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) from 2010 and as the leader of his party from 2012.
Pieter Herman Omtzigt is a Dutch politician who has served as a member of the House of Representatives since 2003 apart from a short interruption between June and October 2010. He was member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), but left in 2021 and continued as independent. In August 2023, he founded a new party called New Social Contract, its name taken from his 2021 manifesto. Three months later, his party won 20 out of 150 seats in the 2023 Dutch general election.
Maria Cornelia Gezina "Mona" Keijzer is a Dutch politician and former civil servant. She served as State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy alongside Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius from 26 October 2017 until 25 September 2021. As a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), she served in the House of Representatives between 2012 and 2017, and again for six months from 31 March 2021 until 27 September 2021. She focused on matters of nursing, home care and culture. Before becoming a full-time politician she worked as an environmental jurist for the municipalities of Waterland and Almere, as well as for the province of Gelderland.
Pieter Enneüs Heerma is a Dutch politician. As a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) he has been a member of the House of Representatives since 20 September 2012.
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