Henk de Vree

J.H. "Henk" de Vree (born 29 January 1954) is a Dutch politician, who served as a temporary member of the House of Representatives between December 2020 and March 2021. There, he represented the right-wing populist Party for Freedom (PVV).

In this Dutch name, the surname is De Vree, not Vree.
Henk de Vree
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
8 December 2020 – 29 March 2021[1]
Preceded byVicky Maeijer
Succeeded byVicky Maeijer
Member of the States of South Holland
Assumed office
17 March 2011
Member of the Hardinxveld-Giessendam municipal council
In office
16 March 2006[2] – 27 January 2011[3]
Succeeded byHenk van Tilborg
Personal details
Born
J.H. de Vree

(1954-01-29) 29 January 1954
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Political partyParty for Freedom
Other political
affiliations
Children1
Alma materHogeschool voor Economische Studies
OccupationIT entrepreneur

He held a seat in the Hardinxveld-Giessendam municipal council between 2006 and 2011 as a member of a local party. Subsequently, he was elected to the States of South Holland, where he became the PVV's caucus leader.

Education and career

Born in Rotterdam, De Vree grew up in the neighborhood Overschie.[4][5] He graduated from high school with an atheneum diploma.[6] He went on to study law at Erasmus University Rotterdam in 1972, but dropped out after two years and started working at dredging company Boskalis in administration and automation.[6][7] Starting in 1988, he studied business and computing at the Rotterdam Hogeschool voor Economische Studies at heao level for four years, and he also had a job at Multi Data Technics as system designer and department head during that time.[6][7][8]

He has been working as an IT entrepreneur since 1990.[6][9] In the 2000s, he chaired a Papendrecht sports club and served as a board member of the local chapter Tussen Lek en Merwede of the social services association Humanitas next to his job.[10]

Politics

He joined the right-wing populist party Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) on 6 May 2002, the day Pim Fortuyn was assassinated, and became a board member of its South Holland chapter.[5][10][11] He left the board later that year and joined the splinter party Democratisch Platform Nederland.[8] De Vree also served as spokesperson for Actiecomité OZB Nee (Action committee property tax no), that was founded in 2004 after his municipality, Hardinxveld-Giessendam, had announced it would raise its property tax by 85%. As a result of the backlash, the municipal council lowered the increase to 55%.[12]

He was elected to the Hardinxveld-Giessendam municipal council in March 2006 as a member of the new local party Transparante Partij voor Algemeen Belang (T@B; Transparent party for general interest).[10] As councilor, De Vree wanted to cut government subsidies. He was re-elected in 2010, when his party received a plurality of council seats. He left the council in January 2011 to become a PVV politician, as the T@B did not want him to represent two parties in order to remain neutral.[11]

States of South Holland and House of Representatives

He was elected to the States of South Holland in the March 2011 provincial election, being placed third on the PVV's party list.[13] In the States Provincial, De Vree chaired the traffic and environment committee.[14] He became PVV caucus leader in July 2014 when Vicky Maeijer left, and he was his party's lijsttrekker in South Holland during the 2015 election.[15][10] During his second term, he criticized spending of taxpayer money by politicians, refusing to stay in a hotel during a get-together for States Provincial members and calling a €1,000 silver pin for King's Commissioner Jaap Smit too expensive.[16][17]

He ran for member of parliament (MP) in the 2017 general election, appearing 24th on the PVV's party list. His party won 20 seats, and De Vree received 257 preferential votes – not sufficient for him to be elected.[18] Shortly before the election, the slogans "Wilders racist", "PVV fascist", and "Henk de Vree, leave the PVV" were spray-painted on his home. The far-left group De Kwade Kwasten (The angry brushes) claimed responsibility.[19] As PVV caucus leader in South Holland, he was responsible for selecting his party's candidates for the 2018 municipal elections in the province.[20] The PVV participated in five municipalities compared to one during the previous elections.[21] In the States of South Holland, he opposed plans to renovate the provincial parliament building for around €50 million and wanted to lower the road tax.[22][23]

Again the PVV's lijsttrekker, De Vree was re-elected in the 2019 provincial elections, when the party lost half of its eight seats.[24] During the campaign, he spoke out against measures to combat climate change.[25] De Vree was appointed as temporary member of the House of Representatives in December 2020, when MP Vicky Maeijer went on maternity leave. He remained a member of the States Provincial.[26] De Vree was not on any House committees.[27] His temporary membership of the House ended after 29 March 2021, when Vicky Maeijer returned from her leave.[1] De Vree was the PVV's 22nd candidate in the 2021 general election, which had been held two weeks earlier, but he was not elected due to the party winning seventeen seats. De Vree received 247 preferential votes.[28] De Vree received a fourth term in the States of South Holland in March 2023, as he once more topped the party list. The PVV's seat count remained at four.[29]

Personal life

De Vree has a wife and a son, and he lived in the South Holland municipality Hardinxveld-Giessendam when he was an MP.[5][4]

References
  1. "Tijdelijke benoeming J.H. De Vree tot lid van de Tweede Kamer" [Temporary appointment J.H. de Vree as member of the House of Representatives]. Kiesraad (Press release) (in Dutch). 8 December 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  2. "J.H. (Henk) de Vree". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Parlementair Documentatie Centrum. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  3. "De T@B is er voor iedereen in Hardinxveld" [The T@B represents everyone in Hardinxveld]. AD/Rivierenland (in Dutch). 28 January 2011. p. 2.
  4. "Henk de Vree". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  5. Portret Henk de Vree (PVV) [Portrait Henk de Vree (PVV)] (in Dutch). Omroep West. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2020 – via YouTube.
  6. "Henk de Vree - Curriculum Vitae". Partij voor de Vrijheid Zuid-Holland (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  7. Abels, Romana (13 March 2013). "PVV is een blijver in de provincie" [PVV will remain in the province]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  8. Stad en Streek, deze week! Afl. 2 Henk de Vree [Stad en Streek, this week! Episode 2 Henk de Vree] (in Dutch). stadenstreek. 22 December 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2020 – via YouTube.
  9. "Henk de Vree (PVV) beëdigd als tijdelijk Kamerlid" [Henk de Vree (PVV) sworn in as temporary member of parliament]. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (Press release) (in Dutch). 8 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  10. Sebes, Roxanne (10 March 2015). "Poster durf ik niet op te hangen" [I wouldn't dare to hang a poster]. AD/De Dordtenaar (in Dutch).
  11. "Raadslid moet opstappen door ambities bij PVV" [Councilor has to resign because of ambitions at PVV]. AD/Rivierenland (in Dutch). 3 January 2011. p. 1.
  12. Smit, Wout (20 November 2004). "Burgers voeren actie tegen ozb-verhoging" [Citizens campaign against property tax raise]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). p. 45.
  13. "Ruim veertig politici uit regio op lijst statenverkiezingen" [Over forty politicians from region on party list provincial elections]. AD/Rivierenland (in Dutch). 14 February 2011. p. 3.
  14. "Zevenduizend handtekeningen tegen Rijnlandroute" [Seven thousand signatures against Rijnland route]. Omroep West (in Dutch). 11 June 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  15. "Henk de Vree lijsttrekker PVV voor Statenverkiezingen in maart" [Henk de Vree lijsttrekker PVV in provincial elections in March]. Omroep West (in Dutch). 11 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  16. Pruim, Fred. "Kritiek op 'slaapfeestje' provincie" [Criticism of provincial 'sleepover']. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). p. 17.
  17. De Wit, Laurens (26 January 2016). "Commissaris blijft 'te dure' provinciespeld met trots dragen" [Commissioner will keep wearing 'too expensive' provincial pin proudly]. AD (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  18. "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2017 (getekend exemplaar)" [Results House of Representatives election 2017 (signed copy)] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 21 March 2017. pp. 65–66. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  19. Straub, Michiel (16 March 2017). "Wilders heeft het goed gedaan" [Wilders has done a good job]. AD/Rivierenland (in Dutch). pp. 2–3.
  20. Trompert, Sam (6 April 2017). "Wilders aast op raadszetels" [Wilders has an eye on council seats]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). p. 2.
  21. "PVV doet in 30 gemeenten mee met verkiezingen" [PVV participates in the elections in 30 municipalities]. RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 22 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  22. Lingen, Ivar (17 October 2018). "Verbouwing Provinciehuis Zuid-Holland gaat door" [Renovation provincial parliament building will take place]. Omroep West (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  23. Lingen, Ivar (14 November 2018). "Zuid-Holland maakt ruim 280 miljoen euro vrij voor bereikbaarheid" [South Holland frees up 280 million euro for accessibility]. Omroep West (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  24. Van der Kolk, Ruth. "Politieke aardverschuiving geschiedt in Zuid-Holland" [Political landslide occurs in South Holland]. Nederlands Dagblad (in Dutch). p. 4.
  25. "De Lijsttrekker: Henk de Vree van de PVV" [The lijsttrekker: Henk de Vree of the PVV]. Omroep West (in Dutch). 25 February 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  26. Sok, Albert (8 December 2020). "Hardinxvelder Henk de Vree Tweede Kamer in voor de PVV" [Hardinxveld-resident Henk de Vree becomes MP of the PVV]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  27. "Biografie, onderwijs en loopbaan van Henk de Vree" [Biography, education and career of Henk de Vree]. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  28. "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 17 maart 2021" [Results general election 17 March 2021] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 26 March 2021. p. 21. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  29. Van der Krol, Folkert; Sok, Albert; Straub, Michiel (17 March 2023). "Edwin dendert dankzij verkiezingszege BBB opeens Staten binnen: 'Dit had ik niet durven dromen'" [Edwin rushes to the States Provincial as a result of BBB election win: 'I did not dare to dream this']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 March 2023.
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