Martijn Johanna Franciscus van Helvert (born 7 April 1978) is a Dutch politician serving as a 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 2014. A member of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

(CDA), van Helvert previously was a member of the States of Limburg between 2011 and 2015.

Early life and education

Van Helvert studied social geography in his first year at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. He then proceeded to study history of ancient times and antique cultures at the same university between 1997 and 2003. Van Helvert was a high school teacher of history and antique culture in Sittard from 2002 to 2007.

Political career

Van Helvert started his political career by being active in the

Christian Democratic Youth Appeal The Christian Democratic Youth Appeal (Dutch: Christen-Democratische Jongeren Appèl), officially abbreviated as CDJA, is the youth organisation of the political party Christian Democratic Appeal in the Netherlands. It came about via the merging o ...

. He served as secretary of the youth section of the CDA in both Brabant and Limburg, respectively from 1996–2002 and 2002–2006. Van Helvert was member of the municipal council of

Susteren Susteren (; li, Zöstere ) is a city in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Echt-Susteren, about 7 km northwest of Sittard. It was a separate municipality until 2003, when it was merged with Echt. Susteren rec ...

from March 1998 to 2003. In the latter year the municipality of Susteren was merged into

Echt-Susteren Echt-Susteren (; li, Ech-Zöstere ) is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. Echt-Susteren was created in 2003 by merging the former municipalities of Echt and Susteren. Echt-Susteren is situated in a Euregional area. In the west the mu ...

. Van Helvert continued serving in the municipal council of the new municipality until February 2009. Van Helvert was a personal aide to Noël Lebens, member of the Provincial Executive of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

, for three years from July 2007 until November 2010. He worked as a policy worker for the municipality of

Heerlen Heerlen (; li, Heële ) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the fourth municipality in the province of Limburg. ...

since that date and stayed on until November 2014. He was a member of the States of Limburg between 10 March 2011 and 26 March 2015. In the Parliamentary elections of 2012 Van Helvert occupied number 13 of the CDA party list and the party managed to obtain thirteen seats. However,

Pieter Omtzigt Pieter Herman Omtzigt (born 8 January 1974) is an independent Dutch politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2003 apart from a short interruption from 17 June to 26 October 2010. In his political work, Omtzigt focus ...

managed to obtain more preferential votes than Van Helvert and the former was thus elected. On 12 November 2014 he became a member of the

House of Representatives of the Netherlands The House of Representatives (, pronounced ; commonly referred to as the ', literally "Second Chamber of the States General") is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General, the other one being the Senate. ...

for the

(CDA) when he replaced Eddy van Hijum. In addition to his committee assignments, he has been serving as co-chair of the

Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) is an international, cross-party alliance of parliamentarians from democratic countries focused on relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC), and specifically, the Chinese Communist Party ...

(IPAC) since 2020. On 24 June 2020 Van Helvert announced his candidacy for the party list leader position. On 30 June he withdrew his candidacy.

References

External links

*
Parlement.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helvert, Martijn van 1978 births Living people People from Sittard Utrecht University alumni Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Municipal councillors in Limburg (Netherlands) Members of the Provincial Council of Limburg Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) 21st-century Dutch politicians