Electoral history
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| Year | Body | Party | Pos. | Votes | Result | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party seats | Individual | |||||||
| 2023 | House of Representatives | New Social Contract | 5 | 7,577 | 20 | Won | [8] | |
Sandra Palmen | |
|---|---|
| State Secretary for Benefits and Redress | |
| Assumed office 12 December 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Dick Schoof |
| Minister | Eelco Heinen |
| Preceded by | Nora Achahbar |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 6 December 2023 –12 December 2024 | |
| Succeeded by | Ria de Korte |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sandra Schlangen 17 February 1972 Cuijk,Netherlands |
| Political party | New Social Contract |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Leiden University |
| Occupation |
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Sandra Palmen-Schlangen (born 17 February 1972) is a Dutch jurist, civil servant, and politician of New Social Contract (NSC). She was elected to the House of Representatives in the November 2023 general election. In December 2024, she left parliament to join the Schoof cabinet as State Secretary for Benefits and Redress, succeeding Nora Achahbar.
Palmen was born on 17 February 1972 in Cuijk, and she studied tax economics at the School of Higher Commercial Education in Arnhem between 1991 and 1995. [1] [2] She started her 26-year career at the Ministry of Finance in 1997 as a processing official for the Tax and Customs Administration. [1] [3] At the same time, she studied tax law at Leiden University from 1999 to 2001. [1] [2] She later held positions as team leader, policy advisor, and specialist coordinator. [1]
In March 2017, when she was a jurist at the Tax and Customs Administration, Palmen wrote an internal memo about childcare benefits recipients who had been wrongly accused of fraud starting in 2015. She called the organization's conduct "reprehensible", and she recommended victims to be compensated. The document, later dubbed the Palmen Memo, was ignored within the Tax and Customs Administration, but it received attention in 2020 after the media started uncovering the abuse. The childcare benefits scandal resulted in the resignation of the third Rutte cabinet in January 2021. [4] [5] [6] [7] The memo was released in October 2020 ahead of the Parliamentary Interrogation on Childcare Benefits, during which Palmen testified. [7]
Next to her position at the Ministry of Finance, she became a judge ad hoc at the Administrative High Court in 2021 and a marriage officiant in 2023. [1] [4] [2]
Palmen joined New Social Contract (NSC) when it was founded ahead of the November 2023 general election by Pieter Omtzigt, who had helped uncover the childcare benefits scandal. She was elected to the House of Representatives as the party's fifth candidate. [8] [7] She cited the childcare benefits scandal as her motivation to enter politics, and she has advocated for a "government that serves the public interest and acts in service of society". [7] Palmen's portfolio in the House consisted of the interior, democracy, legal protection, and poverty. [9] [10]
NSC supports the establishment of a constitutional court, and she has criticized the Netherlands's ban on judicial constitutional review. The governing coalition, including NSC, agreed to pursue the creation of such a court. [11] The House passed a motion by Palmen and Michiel van Nispen (SP) urging the government to adopt recommendations by Jos Silvis to seek legal advice from a range of law firms. Previously, the government had relied almost exclusively on the firm Pels Rijcken . [12] Palmen proposed several adjustments to the social safety net with Mohammed Mohandis (GL/PvdA) to simplify the system and to make it more forgiving to those in poverty. [11]
On 12 December 2024, she succeeded Nora Achahbar as State Secretary for Benefits and Redress in the Schoof cabinet following her resignation. Her portfolio includes the aftermath of the Dutch childcare benefits scandal and reforms to the benefits system. The cabinet aimed to finish the recovery operation for the scandal's victims by 2027 despite a slow pace of procedures. [13] Palmen opined that the operation had been erected too quickly, before the entirety of the scandal had become visible and before victims had given their input. [14] An emergency committee requested by her predecessor concluded in January 2025 that the operation would take between 15 and 20 more years in its current approach and that government agencies were unsuitable to determine compensation because of their lack of generosity. They recommended that the recovery operation be handled mostly through the private Foundation (Equal) Worthy Recovery, established by Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands. [15] [16]
As of 2024, Palmen lived in Leersum. [2] She is married and has two children. [1]
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| Year | Body | Party | Pos. | Votes | Result | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party seats | Individual | |||||||
| 2023 | House of Representatives | New Social Contract | 5 | 7,577 | 20 | Won | [8] | |
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.
Steven Peter Robert Albert Van Weyenberg is a Belgian-born Dutch politician of the social-liberal Democrats 66 (D66) party. He served on the House of Representatives and occupied several ministerial posts.
Mohammed "Mo" Mohandis is a Moroccan-Dutch politician of the Dutch Labour Party.
Michiel van Nispen is a Dutch politician, he has been a member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands for the Socialist Party since 2 April 2014, when he replaced Jan de Wit.
Menno Snel is a Dutch politician. A member of the Democrats 66 (D66) party, he served as State Secretary for Finance from 26 October 2017 until his resignation on 18 December 2019.
Johannes Alexander "Hans" Vijlbrief is a Dutch civil servant, economist, and politician, currently serving as a member of parliament for the social-liberal party Democrats 66 (D66). He previously served as State Secretary for the Extractive Industries in the Fourth Rutte cabinet.
The Dutch childcare benefits scandal refers to a political scandal in the Netherlands involving false allegations of welfare fraud by the Tax and Customs Administration against thousands of families claiming childcare benefits.
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The Schoof cabinet is the cabinet of the Netherlands, sworn in on 2 July 2024. Led by independent politician and civil servant Dick Schoof as prime minister of the Netherlands, the cabinet was formed by the Party for Freedom (PVV), the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the New Social Contract (NSC) and the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) after the 2023 Dutch general election.
Nora Achahbar is a Dutch jurist, judge and politician of the New Social Contract (NSC) party. She served as State Secretary for Benefits and Customs in the Schoof cabinet between July and November 2024.
Jurgen Norbert Jeroen Nobel is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). He has served as State Secretary for Participation and Integration in the Schoof cabinet since July 2024.
The 2025 Netherlands budget was presented to the States General on 17 September 2024, a day also known as Prinsjesdag. It was the first budget of the Schoof cabinet and of Minister of Finance Eelco Heinen.
De Jacht op Meral Ö is a Dutch drama film from 2024 about the Dutch childcare benefits scandal, directed by Stijn Bouma in his fiction directorial debute. Bouma previously directed two documentaries about the victims of the scandal, Alleen tegen de Staat from 2021 and Sheila versus de Staat from 2023. The film premiered on the 2nd of September 2024 in De Balie in Amsterdam. The film also played at the Film by the Sea film festival in Vlissingen.
Maria Christina "Ria" de Korte-Verhoef is a Dutch politician serving as a member of the House of Representatives since 2024.
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