Hartog Hank Richard (Harry) Wijnschenk (born 24 January 1964 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

) is a former

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

politician. From 2002 to 2003 he was an MP for the

Pim Fortuyn List The Pim Fortuyn List ( nl, Lijst Pim Fortuyn, LPF) was a political party in the Netherlands named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was considered populist, right-wing popu ...

(LPF), and later for the Wijnschenk Group. He briefly served as leader of the LPF in 2002.

Biography

Wijnschenk has a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish background. He worked as a magazine editor and started his political career as an executive for the local branch of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

(VVD) in his hometown of

Almere Almere () is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km to the east of Amsterdam (as the crow flies) across the IJmeer. Bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde, the municipality of Almere comprise ...

. Later he joined the LPF and served as a politician in parliament after taking over fellow LPF MP André Peperkoorn's seat who resigned before he was sworn in. In August 2002, Wijnschenk was elected leader of the LPF, replacing

Mat Herben Mathieu "Mat" Herben (born 15 July 1952) is a Dutch journalist, civil servant and retired politician of the dissolved Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) party and served as leader of the LPF 2003 to 2006. In May 2002, the party of the slain populist Pim Fo ...

who had resigned due to infighting within the party. During his leadership, he attempted tot get rid of the arguing party members

Cor Eberhard Cornelis Reindert (Cor) Eberhard (born 1947 in Amsterdam) is a former Dutch politician. From 28 May 2002 he was a member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands for the Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF) and from 2002 for ''Groep De Jong'' with ...

and

Winny de Jong __NOTOC__ Winny de Jong (born 9 October 1958 in Hazerswoude-Rijndijk) is a former Dutch politician. From 28 May 2002 till 30 January 2003 she was a member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands; at first for the Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF ...

from the LPF group. The two left but kept their seats by continuing as a group ''Groep De Jong.'' In September 2002, Wijnschenk proposed to appoint Minister of Economic Affairs

Herman Heinsbroek Hermanus Philippus Johannes Bernardus Heinsbroek (born 12 January 1951) is a Dutch business entrepreneur, media commentator, author and was Minister of Economic Affairs in the First Balkenende cabinet. He also served as a member of the Member of ...

as party leader and deputy prime minister. In October 2002, Herben returned as LPF leader. The following month Wijnschenk announced that he would continue as an independent member of parliament for the short remaining period under the name of ''Groep Wijnschenk''. He later founded a new political party with Heinsbroek called the ''List New Politics.'' In the end the party decided not to take part in the

2003 Dutch general election General elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 January 2003. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1396 Background The election was held following the resignation of the first Balkenende cabine ...

and disbanded.

References

*
Parlement.com biography
1964 births Living people Dutch Jews Independent politicians in the Netherlands Jewish Dutch politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) People from Almere Politicians from Amsterdam Pim Fortuyn List politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians {{Netherlands-politician-stub