Stephan Ruben Tobias van Baarle (born 25 August 1991) is a Dutch politician, serving as a member of the House of Representatives since 2021. A member of the minority interest party

DENK Denk may refer to: People *Jeremy Denk (born 1970), American classical pianist * Michael K. Denk, Canadian professor of chemistry * Paula Denk (1908–1978), German actress *Ralph Denk (born 1973), German cyclist and cycling manager *Ulrike Denk ( ...

, he also served on the

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

municipal council from 2018 to 2022.

Early life and education

He was born in 1991 in

to a Dutch mother and a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

father. Van Baarle was raised by his mother in the Rotterdam neighborhood

Vreewijk Vreewijk is a neighborhood of Rotterdam, Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Be ...

and attended the high school Vreewijk Lyceum. He studied

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at Erasmus University Rotterdam and became a junior teacher at his university. He was also active for the Labour Party in 2014.

Politics

In 2015, when DENK was established, Van Baarle started working as a policy officer for its House caucus and as director of its

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

Statera. He was one of the first members of DENK, which was founded by two MPs who had left the Labour Party the year before. Van Baarle ran for member of parliament in the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

, being placed fifth on DENK's

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

. Besides, he chaired the

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committee. He was not elected, as his party received three seats and his 408

preference votes In psychology, economics and philosophy, preference is a technical term usually used in relation to choosing between alternatives. For example, someone prefers A over B if they would rather choose A than B. Preferences are central to decision the ...

were not enough to meet the threshold. Van Baarle was DENK's in Rotterdam in the 2018 municipal elections. His party won four seats in the municipal council, while

Tunahan Kuzu Tunahan Kuzu (born 5 June 1981) is a Turkey, Turkish-born Netherlands, Dutch politician. He is a former member of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA). He has been an House of Representatives (Netherlands), MP since 20 September 201 ...

received almost twice as many votes as Van Baarle. He also remained on as a policy officer. In the council, where he served as caucus leader, Van Baarle successfully proposed a ban on disturbances by the street use of laughing gas together with

Livable Rotterdam Livable Rotterdam ( nl, Leefbaar Rotterdam) is a local political party in the municipality of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, which was founded by Ronald Sørensen in 2001. Livable Rotterdam won the council elections of March 2002 due to the chari ...

. He was nominated for Best Politician of Rotterdam by a cooperation of a number of Rotterdam press organizations in both 2018 and 2019. Van Baarle supported DENK's parliamentary leader

Farid Azarkan Farid Azarkan (born 16 October 1971) is a Moroccan-born Dutch politician serving as Leader of DENK since 26 September 2020. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 23 March 2017 and parliamentary leader since 21 March 2020. Azar ...

when he was being expelled from the party by its board in May 2020, and he called on the board to resign. He was DENK's third candidate in the 2021 general election and also served as the party's

campaign manager {{Political campaigning A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote ( ...

. He was installed as member of the House of Representatives on 31 March after he was elected with 2,449 preference votes. Van Baarle did not leave the municipal council, but he did step down as caucus leader the following month. He was one of the party's in Rotterdam in the March 2022 municipal elections, leading to the end of this council membership after 29 March. In the House, Van Baarle worked on combatting discrimination in the selection of interns. A

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of his was passed to utilize mystery inspectors to test companies' adherence to the law.

House committees

Van Baarle is on the following parliamentary committees in the House of Representatives: * Committee for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality * Committee for Education, Culture and Science * Committee for Infrastructure and Water Management * Committee for the Interior * Committee for Social Affairs and Employment

Personal life

Van Baarle is a resident of Rotterdam and is an

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

. He is a supporter of football club

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

and a fan of the German band Rammstein, and he plays the guitar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baarle, Stephan van 1991 births 21st-century Dutch politicians Dutch campaign managers DENK politicians Dutch people of Turkish descent Dutch agnostics Turkish agnostics Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Living people Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Municipal councillors of Rotterdam Political staffers