Nicki Janna Francisca Pouw-Verweij (born 21 May 1991) is a Dutch physician and politician. She has served as member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

since March 2021. Pouw-Verweij studied medicine at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

and was working on a PhD in

rheumatology Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...

at the

VU University Medical Center VU University Medical Center Amsterdam ( nl, VU Medisch Centrum or VUmc) is the university hospital affiliated with the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It is rated one of the best academic medical centers in the country in terms of patient care and ...

, which she achieved on 16 January 2023. As a member of

Forum for Democracy Forum for Democracy ( nl, Forum voor Democratie, FvD) is a right-wing populist Eurosceptic political party in the Netherlands that was founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2016. The party first participated in elections i ...

(FvD), Pouw-Verweij was elected to the Provincial Council of Utrecht in March 2019, and to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in June 2019. She took maternity leave from the Senate from July to November 2019, and was replaced by

Otto Hermans Otto Hermans (born 29 March 1950) is a Dutch politician and a member of the Senate (Netherlands), Senate for JA21. Hermans studied dentistry at the Catholic University of Nijmegen and worked as a dentist for over thirty years. He was initially a ...

during this period.Drs. N.J.F. (Nicki) Pouw-Verweij
Parlement.com Pouw-Verweij left Forum for Democracy on 26 November 2020 because of controversial statements uttered by the party's leader

Thierry Baudet Thierry Henri Philippe Baudet (; born 28 January 1983) is a Dutch far-right politician, author and self-declared conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and leader of Forum for Democracy (FvD), and has been a member of the House of Representativ ...

. On 29 November, she formed the Van Pareren group (renamed the Nanninga group on 15 February 2021) along with four other former FvD Senators. The group became affiliated with the

JA21 JA21 (, backronym for Juiste Antwoord 2021, or 'Right Answer 2021') is a political party in the Netherlands, currently active in the Senate as the Nanninga Group (). It was founded in December 2020 by Joost Eerdmans and Annabel Nanninga after le ...

party on 24 December 2020. In the 2021 general election, Pouw-Verweij was elected to the House of Representatives, receiving 16,302 preference votes. She took office on 31 March 2021, giving up her seat in the Senate, and resigning from the Provincial Council of Utrecht on 14 April. Her seat was temporarily held by Maarten Goudzwaard as she took maternity leave. On 13 July 2023, Pouw-Verweij announced that she would not be a candidate for JA21 in the 2023 general election. On 1 September 2023, it was announced that she would be a candidate for the

Farmer–Citizen Movement The Farmer–Citizen Movement (, BBB) is an agrarian political party in the Netherlands. It is headquartered in Deventer, Overijssel. The current party leader is Caroline van der Plas, who founded it in 2019. Unlike most of its agrarian counter ...

(BBB), joining its parliamentary group effective immediately.

References

External links

Nicki Pouw-Verweij
House of Representatives
N.J.F. Pouw-Verweij (JA21)
Senate {{DEFAULTSORT:Pouw-Verweij, Nicki 1991 births Living people 21st-century Dutch physicians 21st-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians 21st-century women physicians Farmer–Citizen Movement politicians Dutch rheumatologists Forum for Democracy (Netherlands) politicians Independent politicians in the Netherlands JA21 politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Provincial Council of Utrecht Members of the Senate (Netherlands) People from IJsselstein Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni Women rheumatologists