In association with
RTV Utrecht
NOS News•
Member of Parliament Marijke van Beukering (D66) is leaving the House after three years to become the new mayor of Nieuwegein. She has been nominated to succeed Frans Backhuijs, who took on the role of mayor for twelve years.
The 51-year-old Van Beukering has been a member of the House of Representatives for D66 since 2020. From 2010 to 2017 she was an alderman in IJsselstein, a neighboring municipality of Nieuwegein, where she was previously a municipal councilor. According to RTV Utrecht it is the first time that Nieuwegein has a female mayor.
A confidential committee made a choice from sixteen candidates. The committee calls Van Beukering an “energetic woman with flair and ambition who is a good listener”. “Someone with a cool head and a warm heart,” said Tom Verhoeve, chairman of the committee.
Main qualities
The residents of the municipality were also allowed think along about the qualities their future mayor should possess. Nearly 1600 residents completed a survey for this purpose. 37 percent of those surveyed thought reliability was the most important quality a mayor should possess. Involvement was also mentioned a lot, writes RTV Utrecht.
Backhuijs announced in September 2022 to retire as mayor. He had indicated that he would not be available for a third term. He stops on May 11, and is waving off after exactly twelve years.
‘I won’t stop here’
Van Beukering calls Nieuwegein an “incredibly beautiful city with a lot of diversity”. “I like coming here. Versatile with all the catering and shops. It has a lot of potential to grow. I can see that I won’t sit still here. That suits me very much.”
Van Beukering is expected to be sworn in as the new mayor at the end of May or the beginning of June.
