Biography
Dijk was born and raised in Oldenzijl,Groningen with his two older brothers and one older sister. His father worked as a furniture maker,and his mother,who was from France,worked as a French teacher. [2] He attended Het Hogeland College [ nl ] in Warffum and studied sociology at the University of Groningen,while working at a cardboard factory. [2] After his graduation,he worked as a bartender.
In September 2010,Dijk became a member of the municipal council of Groningen as a temporary replacement for the departing Peter Verschuren [ nl ]. In January 2013,he succeeded Eelco Eikenaar [ nl ] as the leader of the SP group in the municipal council. [3] Among other achievenments,he strengthened the position of tenants living in poor conditions. [4]
Next to his council work,Dijk had also been active for the SP as a campaign leader and a member of the party board. [5] In the 2021 Dutch general election,he was listed tenth on the candidate list of the SP. The party only received votes for nine seats,and he was therefore not elected into the House of Representatives. In April 2023,Dijk joined the House of Representatives after Maarten Hijink vacated his seat,becoming the party spokesperson for health. [6] After taking office,he committed to preventing the closure of hospitals,such as those in Zutphen and Heerlen. [7]
Dijk succeeded Lilian Marijnissen as leader of the SP when she stepped down in December 2023 due to disappointing election results. In his first speech as party leader,Dijk said the party's focus would be on class struggle,opining that it is necessary to combat tension and division resulting from the dominance of neoliberal thought in the Netherlands since the 1990s. [8] Besides serving as the SP's parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives,he is the party's spokesperson for healthcare,finances,and Europe. [9] A House majority supported a motion by Dijk to ban private equity firms from investing in the Dutch healthcare sector,similar to motions passed during previous cabinets. Minister Fleur Agema advised against the measure. [10]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
