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Mirjam Bikker

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Mirjam Bikker
Bikker in 2023
Leader of the Christian Union
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 January 2023
Preceded byGert-Jan Segers
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
31 March 2021
Leader of the Christian Union in the Senate
In office
11 June 2019 – 31 March 2021
Preceded byRoel Kuiper
Succeeded byTineke Huizinga
Senator of the Netherlands
In office
22 December 2016 – 31 March 2021
In office
9 June 2015 – 1 September 2016
Municipal councillor of Utrecht
In office
16 March 2006 – 24 January 2013
Personal details
Born
Mirjam Hannah Bikker

(1982-09-08) 8 September 1982 (age 42)
Gouda, Netherlands
Political partyChristian Union
Children3
ResidenceUtrecht
Alma materUtrecht University (LLM, law)
OccupationPolitician

Mirjam Hannah Bikker (born 8 September 1982) is a Dutch politician who has served as the leader of the Christian Union since January 2023. She is also a member of the House of Representatives since 2021. She was previously elected to the municipal council of Utrecht in 2006 and Senate in 2015.

Biography

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Bikker grew up in Moordrecht and Nunspeet; she attended her secondary education in Elburg. She studied law at Utrecht University and specialised in constitutional and administrative law. As a student she was also chairwoman of Sola Scriptura, a local student society belonging to the Reformed CSFR.

From 2006 to 2013, she was a member of the municipal council of the city of Utrecht, as well as also group chairwoman. In 2007, she received national attention by protesting against a woman in a golden bikini on a big poster in the centre of Utrecht.[1] From 2008 to 2010 and again from 2013 to 2015, she was a policy assistant to the Christian Union group in the House of Representatives. In 2015, she joined the Senate. In 2019, she became group chairwoman, succeeding Roel Kuiper.

House of Representatives

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In 2021, she was elected to the House of Representatives. She was mentioned as a potential minister in the formation phase of the Fourth Rutte cabinet.[2] On 17 January 2023 Bikker became the leader of the Christian Union,[3] becoming the first female leader of the party.[4] She was re-elected to the House in November 2023. Next to her role as parliamentary leader, Bikker served as her party's spokesperson for health, welfare, sport, justice, security, the interior, Dutch royal family, and gas extraction in Groningen.[5]

A motion by Bikker was passed in early 2024 compelling Minister Franc Weerwind to make a spending cap on online gambling more stringent, after the practice was legalized in 2021.[6] Along with Michiel van Nispen (SP), she announced a bill with several measures to tackle online gambling issues, including a ban on advertisements and credit card payments and increased contributions from operators toward addiction prevention. Her party favored prohibiting online gambling, but such a proposal was unlikely to pass the House.[7] Bikker also spoke out against antisemitism during the Israel–Hamas war. At Bikker's initiative, a statement was signed by most political parties speaking out against it, and a session about the topic was held at the prime minister's official residence amongst industry leaders.[8] Along with Frans Timmermans of GroenLinks–PvdA, she carried forward a bill to impose harsher penalties in cases of hate crimes, including acts of violence or insults motivated by discrimination. It was passed by an overwhelming majority of the House in December 2024.[9][10]

When the right-wing Schoof cabinet presented its 2025 budget that included €2 billion in education cuts, Bikker joined the self-named "unholy alliance" with centrist and conservative opposition parties. To gain support in the Senate, the governing coalition agreed in December 2024 to reverse €750 million of the cuts. Bikker did not embrace the revised budget, declaring that they had made "a bad budget less bad".[11][12]

Political positions

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Bikker is in favor of stricter regulations on social media, and she wants to ban online gambling in order to improve mental health among young people. She supports the civilian service that was introduced in 2020.[13]

Personal life

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Mirjam Bikker is married, has three children and lives in Gouda.[14] She is a member of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN).[citation needed]

Electoral history

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Electoral history of Mirjam Bikker
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2010 House of Representatives Christian Union 19 297 5 Lost [15]
2012 House of Representatives Christian Union 31 298 5 Lost [16]
2021 House of Representatives Christian Union 3 8,519 5 Won [17]
2023 House of Representatives Christian Union 1 158,057 3 Won [18]

References

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  1. ^ (in Dutch) "ChristenUnie tegen poster met bikini", NRC Handelsblad, 4 April 2007.
  2. ^ (in Dutch) "Zijn er ‘frisse’ gezichten te vinden voor het nieuwe kabinet?", Trouw, 4 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Wie is Mirjam Bikker, de nieuwe ChristenUnie-leider? 'Slim en betrouwbaar'". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 2023-01-13. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  4. ^ "Mirjam Bikker officieel fractievoorzitter van de ChristenUnie". nos.nl (in Dutch). 2023-01-17. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  5. ^ "Mirjam Bikker". Christian Union (in Dutch). Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Kamer wil dat kabinet voor zomer online gokken aan banden legt" [House wants cabinet to impose restraints on online gambling before summer]. RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 13 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  7. ^ Bolsius, Roel; Jackson, Emma (20 November 2024). "SP en CU komen met initiatiefwetsvoorstel om online gokken aan banden te leggen" [SP and CU will introduce initiative bill to restrict online gambling]. NOS (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  8. ^ Van den Bovenkamp, Niels (2 May 2024). "Is de ChristenUnie te eenzijdig over Israël en de Palestijnen? 'Het onderwerp raakt ons zó diep'" [Is the Christian Union too one-sided about Israel and the Palestinians: 'The subject moves us profoundly']. Nederlands Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Tweede Kamer neemt wetsvoorstel aan om haatmisdrijven harder te straffen" [House of Representatives approves proposal to impose harsher punishment for hate crimes]. NU.nl (in Dutch). 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  10. ^ "Ruime Kamermeerderheid voor zwaarder straffen 'hate-crimes'" [Large House majority in favor of harsher punishment for hate crimes]. NOS (in Dutch). 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  11. ^ Meijer, Remco (11 December 2024). "Coalitie en vier oppositiepartijen eens over afgezwakte bezuinigingen op onderwijsbegroting" [Coalition and four opposition parties in agreement on watered-down cuts in education budget]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  12. ^ Kammer, Claudia; De Haan, Marko (12 December 2024). "Oppositie zegt dat ze 'slechte begroting minder slecht' heeft gemaakt" [Opposition says it has made 'bad budget less bad']. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  13. ^ "ChristenUnie bezint zich op koers: toekomst kinderen centraal" [Christian Union reflects on its direction: Future of children at the center]. NOS (in Dutch). 10 September 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  14. ^ admin (2023-11-02). "Bikker M.H. (CU)". www.tweedekamer.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  15. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2010" [Results 2010 general election] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 16 June 2010. pp. 36–37. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2012" [Results 2012 general election] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 17 September 2012. pp. 90–91. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Proces-verbaal verkiezingsuitslag Tweede Kamer 2021" [Report of the election results House of Representatives 2021] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. pp. 131–132. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Proces-verbaal van de uitslag van de verkiezing van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal 2023 d.d. 4 december 2023" [Report of the results of the election of the House of Representatives on 4 December 2023] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 4 December 2023. pp. 109–110. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
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