Jesse Feras Klaver (born 1 May 1986) is a Dutch politician serving as a member of the House of Representatives since 2010 and Leader of GroenLinks since 2015. Prior to this, he chaired the youth union of the Christian National Trade Union Federation from 2009 to 2010.

Jesse Klaver
Klaver in 2020
Leader of GroenLinks
Assumed office
12 May 2015
Preceded byBram van Ojik
Leader of GroenLinks in the House of Representatives
In office
12 May 2015 – 27 October 2023
Preceded byBram van Ojik
Member of the House of Representatives
Assumed office
17 June 2010
Personal details
Born
Jesse Feras Klaver

(1986-05-01) 1 May 1986 (age 38)
Roosendaal, Netherlands
Political partyGroenLinks
Other political
affiliations
Labour Party[1]
Spouse
Jolein Klaver
(m. 2013)
Children4 [2]
Residence(s)The Hague, Netherlands
Alma materAvans University of Applied Sciences
OccupationPolitician, trade unionist
Websitewww.jesseklaver.nl

Early life

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Jesse Feras Klaver was born on 1 May 1986 in Roosendaal. His father has a Riffian-Moroccan background and his mother has a mixed Dutch and Indonesian background.[3] He grew up in a social housing project without the presence of his father.[4] His grandparents played a large role in his upbringing.[5] Between 1999 and 2004, he attended the VMBO at the Waldorf school Michael College in Prinsenbeek.[6]

Between 2006 and 2009, he was member of the board of DWARS, the youth organization of GroenLinks. First, he was duo-chair for organization matters, later he was secretary and then he was elected chair. As chair, he supported the "freedom-loving course set by Femke Halsema" against the more communitarian elements within the party.[7] In addition to serving in this function, he studied social work at the Avans and the transition program for the master political science at the University of Amsterdam. He quit the transition program before finishing it.[6]

On 17 September 2009, he was elected chair of the youth union of the CNV.[8] As chair he announced he would put less emphasis on the Christian character of the CNV.[9] He supported raising the retirement age to 67.[8] On 1 December 2009, he was appointed to the Social and Economic Council. Being 23 years old, he was the youngest member ever to sit on this council.[10] In addition to chairing the CNV youth union, he co-authored the 2010 GroenLinks election manifesto; he was member of the board of the Christian Social Youth Congress and he was founder of the climate NGO Youth Copenhagen Coalition.[6]

Political career

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In 2010, Klaver was placed seventh on the list of GroenLinks for the 2010 elections.[11] GroenLinks won ten seats. Klaver became spokesperson social affairs, employment, education and sport.[12] His maiden speech concerned higher education.

In 2010, he was nominated as "political talent of the year" by political journalists.[13] For the 2012 elections Klaver headed the campaign team of GroenLinks and he was fourth on the list of candidates of GroenLinks. This was enough to be elected, as GroenLinks got exactly four seats. His TEDtalk in the late-night talk show Pauw & Witteman in January 2013, was chosen as the best of five young politicians.[14]

In 2013, he co-authored the memo "Mooi Nederland" ("Beautiful Netherlands") with Lutz Jacobi (PvdA) and Stientje van Veldhoven (D66) which set out to protect nature, the landscape, flora and fauna. In 2013, he authored a private member's bill which through transparency sought to reduce food wastage. In 2014, he authored the proposal "Kansen voor kinderen voor het vmbo" ("Opportunities for Children in pre-vocational education").

Klaver received international attention for opposing tax evasion in 2013.[15] Klaver co-authored the agreement on the student benefit with the minister of Education Jet Bussemaker and spokespersons of the VVD, D66, PvdA.[16] He attended the inauguration of King Willem Alexander and took the oath "Zo Waarlijk helpe mij God almachtig".

On 12 May 2015, party leader Bram van Ojik announced that Klaver would be taking over party leadership effective immediately.[17] Until then, Klaver had acted as a spokesperson for finance, agriculture, nature, animal welfare, education, culture and science. He is member of parliamentary committees on foreign affairs, defence, European affairs, economic affairs, finance, education, budgetary control, social affairs, health and procedural affairs.

Klaver continued to be GroenLinks' party leader during the Dutch general election of 2017. His party gained 10 seats, rising to an all-time high of 14, but in the 2021 election fell to 8. He was re-elected on the shared GroenLinks–PvdA list in November 2023, and he became the party's spokesperson on European affairs.[18]

Thanks to his political engagement he was nominated in 2018 as a European Young Leader (EYL40). Klaver is on the 2019 TIME 100 Next List.[19]

Other activities

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  • Friends of Europe, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2020)[20]

Personal life

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Klaver married his wife Jolein on 3 May 2013.[21] He has four sons.[22]

Electoral history

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Electoral history of Jesse Klaver
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2010 House of Representatives GroenLinks 7 2,466 10 Won [23]
2012 House of Representatives GroenLinks 4 3,351 4 Won [24]
2017 House of Representatives GroenLinks 1 651,483 14 Won [25]
2021 House of Representatives GroenLinks 1 227,982 8 Won [26]
2023 House of Representatives GroenLinks–PvdA 3 149,437 25 Won [27]

References

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  1. ^ "GroenLinks-leider Klaver lid geworden van PvdA". nos.nl (in Dutch). 14 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Jesse Klaver and his wife Jolein have become parents for the fourth time. The couple has had a fourth son, the GroenLinks-PvdA politician reports on Instagram. Klaver did not share the boy's name". NU. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Calvinist en er goed uit zien" (in Dutch), Trouw.
  4. ^ "Jesse Klaver". European Greens. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  5. ^ Jan Tromp, "Het slimme prinsenkind van GroenLinks" (in Dutch), de Volkskrant, 19 February 2013.
  6. ^ a b c "J.F. (Jesse) Klaver" (in Dutch), Parlement & Politiek.
  7. ^ "GroenLinks is de juiste weg ingeslagen" (in Dutch), de Volkskrant.
  8. ^ a b "Jesse Klaver nieuwe voorzitter CNV Jongeren" (in Dutch), De Telegraaf.
  9. ^ "Minder hameren op c van het cnv" (in Dutch), Nederlands Dagblad, 2009.
  10. ^ CNV krijgt tijdelijk nieuw bestuursmodel on CNV.nl
  11. ^ Klaar voor de toekomst: Veelzijdige kandidatenlijst vastgesteld Archived 21 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine, GroenLinks.
  12. ^ Portefeuilleverdeling Tweede Kamerfractie Archived 30 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, GroenLinks.
  13. ^ "Pers kiest politicus van het jaar 2010" (in Dutch), Nederlandse Omroep Stichting.
  14. ^ GroenLinks-Kamerlid Jesse Klaver houdt een TEDTalk, VARA.
  15. ^ "Dutch to crack down on tax loopholes exploited by multinational firms", The Independent, 13 April 2013.
  16. ^ Kabinetsplannen studiefinanciering: studievoorschot Archived 19 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine on Rijksoverheid.nl
  17. ^ "Van Ojik weg als fractieleider GroenLinks, Klaver volgt op" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Portefeuilles Tweede Kamer" [House of Representatives portfolios]. GroenLinks–PvdA (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  19. ^ "Jesse Klaver Is on the 2019 TIME 100 Next List | Time.com".
  20. ^ Friends of Europe appoints 29 new members to its Board of Trustees Friends of Europe, press release of 25 June 2020.
  21. ^ "Jesse Klaver, frontman van GroenLinks". Mediabiografie. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  22. ^ "Jesse Klaver and his wife Jolein have become parents for the fourth time. The couple has had a fourth son, the GroenLinks-PvdA politician reports on Instagram. Klaver did not share the boy's name". NU. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  23. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2010" [Results 2010 general election] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 16 June 2010. pp. 34–25. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  24. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2012" [Results 2012 general election] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 17 September 2012. pp. 86–87. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  25. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2017 (getekend exemplaar)" [Results House of Representatives 2017 (signed example)] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 21 March 2017. pp. 122–123. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  26. ^ "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. 102–103. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  27. ^ "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. 23–31, 199. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
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