SP mayor Emile Roemer from Heerlen to Alkmaar

Emile Roemer will become acting mayor of the municipality of Alkmaar from 1 October. The municipal group chairmen and commissioner of the King in North Holland Arthur van Dijk announced this on Tuesday. The 58-year-old former party leader of the SP announced last week that he would retire after two and a half years as acting mayor of Heerlen.

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Roemer will replace the current mayor Piet Bruinooge (CDA), who will stop at his own request. Bruinooge (65) announced in mid-August after 14 years of his retirement and then wrote in a letter that being mayor was “getting worse,” in part because of his health. His resignation resulted in a period of more than three months without a mayor, which meant that the municipality had to look for an acting mayor.

Roemer made history in March 2018 as the first SP mayor ever. The party has always opposed the appointment of mayors, because decisions about it would be taken in “back rooms”. Roemer was previously alderman in Boxmeer (2002-2006), member of the House of Representatives (2006-2017) and party leader of the SP in the 2012 and 2017 elections. Roemer is expected to remain acting mayor in Alkmaar until 2021. The municipality of Alkmaar aims to are looking forward to appointing and installing a new mayor before the 2021 summer recess.

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