Esther Ouwehand | |
|---|---|
 Ouwehand in 2023 | |
| Leader of theParty for the Animals | |
| Assumed office 9 October 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Marianne Thieme |
| Leader of theParty for the Animals in theHouse of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 9 October 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Marianne Thieme |
| Member of theHouse of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 2 February 2023 | |
| In office 18 October 2016 – 12 October 2022 | |
| In office 30 November 2006 – 17 November 2015 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1976-06-10)10 June 1976 (age 49) |
| Political party | Party for the Animals (2002–present) |
| Other political affiliations | GroenLinks (until 2001) |
| Education | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (dropped out) |
| Occupation |
|
| Website | Party for the Animals |
Esther Ouwehand (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈɛstərˈʌuəɦɑnt]; born 10 June 1976) is a Dutch politician and former marketing manager serving as party leader of theParty for the Animals (Dutch:Partij voor de Dieren, PvdD) in theHouse of Representatives since 2019. She has been a member of the House of Representatives since the2006 election with two interruptions.
Esther Ouwehand went tosecondary school inKatwijk, where she finished hervwo (Dutch pre-university education). She studied Policy, communication and organisation at theVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, which she did not finish.[1]
She was raised aProtestant but is currently anagnostic. She isvegan[2] and loves metal music, in particularstoner metal.[3]
Initially, Ouwehand did not consider a career in politics. She was a junior marketing manager for youth magazines atSanoma before going into politics.
She joined the Party for the Animals in October 2002 and became the party's co-ordinator in 2004. She was responsible for the management of the party's headquarters. She also co-authored the 2006 electoral program "220x liever..".
Thegeneral elections of 2006 were considered a great success for the party. The party gained 179,988 votes (1.8%), enough for two seats in the Dutch parliament. The party became the world's first party to gain parliamentary seats with an agenda focused primarily on animal rights.[4]
She was second on the election list, right after party chairwomanMarianne Thieme. Consequently, she became a member of parliament, even though she received a total of 4.370 write-in votes, about a hundred less thanlijstduwerKees van Kooten, who received 4.479 votes.[5] She was sworn in on 30 November 2006.
Contrary to her wishes she was not initially placed on the election list for thegeneral elections of 2010, but the party members voted her on the second place, so she became re-elected.
Ouwehand temporarily resigned from the House on 17 November 2015 for health reasons and was replaced byFrank Wassenberg.[6] She returned to the House on 18 October 2016.[7][8]
On 8 October 2019, Ouwehand succeededMarianne Thieme as parliamentary leader of the PvdD upon Thieme's retirement from the House of Representatives.[9] She was the leader of the party in the2021 House of Representatives elections.[10] On 11 October 2022, she temporarily resigned her duties as MP and group chairman due to overwork,[11] returning to the House of Representatives on 2 February 2023. Following herre-election in November 2023, she served as her party's spokesperson for agriculture next to her role as parliamentary leader.[12]
| Year | Body | Party | Pos. | Votes | Result | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party seats | Individual | |||||||
| 2006 | House of Representatives | Party for the Animals | 2 | 4,370 | 2 | Won | [13] | |
| 2009 | European Parliament | 14 | 2,135 | 0 | Lost | |||
| 2010 | House of Representatives | 2 | 12,713 | 2 | Won | [14] | ||
| 2012 | House of Representatives | 2 | 11,573 | 2 | Won | [15] | ||
| 2014 | LeidenMunicipal Council | 13 | 129 | 1 | Lost | |||
| 2014 | European Parliament | 12 | 3,292 | 1 | Lost | |||
| 2015 | Provincial Council of South Holland | 19 | 2 | Lost | ||||
| 2017 | House of Representatives | 2 | 18,936 | 5 | Won | [16] | ||
| 2018 | Leiden Municipal Council | 10 | 357 | 3 | Lost | |||
| 2019 | Provincial Council of South Holland | 20 | 3,013 | 2 | Lost | |||
| 2019 | European Parliament | 20 | 11,215 | 1 | Lost | |||
| 2021 | House of Representatives | 1 | 282,525 | 6 | Won | [17] | ||
| 2023 | House of Representatives | 1 | 160,460 | 3 | Won | [18] | ||
| 2024 | European Parliament | 41[a] | 8,257 | 1 | Lost | [19] | ||
| 2025 | House of Representatives | 1 | 134,446 | 3 | Won | [20] | ||
House of Representatives 12 November 2025 – present | ||
| Democrats 66 26 seats |  | |
| Party for Freedom 26 seats | ||
| People's Party for Freedom and Dem. 22 seats | ||
| GroenLinks–Labour Party 20 seats | ||
| Christian Democratic Appeal 18 seats | ||
| JA21 9 seats | ||
| Forum for Democracy 7 seats | ||
| Farmer–Citizen Movement 4 seats | ||
| Denk 3 seats | ||
| Reformed Political Party 3 seats | ||
| Party for the Animals 3 seats | ||
| Christian Union 3 seats | ||
| Socialist Party 3 seats | ||
| 50Plus 2 seats | ||
| Volt 1 seat | ||
Bold indicates theparliamentary leader (first mentioned) and theSpeaker; (Brackets) indicate a temporarily absent member; Italics indicate a temporary member; ‹Guillemets› indicate a member who has left the House of Representatives See also:Members of the Senate of the Netherlands, 2023–2027 | ||