Linda Voortman (born 27 June 1979 in Enschede) is a Dutch

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and former

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

. Representing

GreenLeft GroenLinks (, ) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of th ...

, she was a Dutch member of parliament between 2010 and 2018 with interruptions. Since 7 June 2018, she has been an alderwoman of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

Education

While studying

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

and history of modern literature at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...

, Voortman participated in students' unions of her school.

Political and unionist career

From 2002 to 2008 she was a member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of the city of Groningen. From 2008 to 2010 she was a member of the board of

Allied Union The Allied Union ( nl, Bondgenoten, Bond) was a general union representing workers in the Netherlands. History The union was founded in 1998, with the merger of the Food Workers' Union, the Industrial Workers' Union, the Services Union, and the ...

, an affiliate union of the Federation Dutch Labour Movement (FNV). For

, Voortman was an MP from 17 June 2010 to 19 September 2012. She focused on matters of

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

and

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether i ...

. Voortman serves continuously as an MP since 30 October 2012. She was added to the party faction again after seat leader

Jolande Sap Johanna Catharina Maria "Jolande" Sap (born 22 May 1963) is a former Dutch politician and former educator and civil servant. A member of GroenLinks (GL), she replaced Wijnand Duyvendak as a member of the House of Representatives on 3 September ...

left the House on 23 October 2012. In June 2014 Voortman was suspended by party group leader Bram van Ojik for one month after it was thought that she disclosed confidential information about the appointment procedure for the new National Ombudsman to party colleagues. Later that year the prosecutor stated that Voortman had the full right to discuss the appointment procedure with party colleagues and that marking her as a suspect in a criminal prosecution was unwarranted. In 2018 Voortman left the House to become an alderwoman in

, being replaced by Paul Smeulders. In 2019 her workplace diversity policies attracted national scrutiny, especially the mandatory diversity courses for all civil servants.

References

*
Parlement.com biography

External links

*
House of Representatives biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voortman, Linda 1979 births Living people 21st-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians Aldermen of Utrecht Dutch republicans Dutch trade unionists GroenLinks politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Municipal councillors of Groningen (city) People from Enschede University of Groningen alumni