Keijzer was born in a Catholic family in Edam, and she has an older brother and a younger sister.[2] Her father had several jobs, including as fisher and construction worker.[3] She attended the Werenfridus secondary school in Hoorn at VWO level, and she studied juridical public administration and public law at the University of Amsterdam.[2]
Politics
Christian Democratic Appeal
Keijzer started her political career as a member of the municipal council of Waterland from 1996 to 2002 and was later an alderwoman from 1998 to 2006. Subsequently, she worked as a lawyer and mediator in 2005 and 2006. Afterwards she was an alderwoman of neighbouring municipality of Purmerend from 2007 to 2012.
In a joint statement in October 2020, Keijzer and her French counterpart Cédric O called for a European Union authority to regulate large technology companies and argued that such an authority should be able to prevent digital platforms from blocking access to their services "unless they have an objective justification."[6]
On 25 September 2021 Keijzer was dismissed from her cabinet position after publicly criticising the cabinet's position on COVID-19 measures.[7] While forced resignations are not unheard of, being removed from a cabinet position has little precedent. The last time a cabinet member was fired was in 1975, although in that instance Jan Glastra van Loon was allowed to resign. Before Keijzer's discharge, no other cabinet member had actually been fired since World War II.[8] Media outlets reported that Keijzer refused to resign.[9] Keijzer also resigned from the House of Representatives two days later.[10]
Farmer–Citizen Movement MP
On 1 September 2023, Keijzer joined Farmer–Citizen Movement and it was announced that she would be the party's candidate in position two, for the November 2023 election, and also the BBB candidate for the position of Prime Minister.[11] She assisted her party in subsequent cabinet formation talks.[12] In the House, Keijzer served as the BBB's spokesperson for the interior, digital affairs, migration, social affairs, and media.[13] She raised the possibility of declaring certain parts of Ukraine safe during Russia's invasion of the country such that refugees could return. She also suggested refugees would have to contribute more financially towards their sheltering to discourage an influx.[14]
Defending strict asylum rules in May 2024, Keijzer called antisemitism "almost part of Islamic culture" in reference to the origin of many asylum seekers. Criminal complaints were subsequently filed against her for group defamation, but the Public Prosecution Service decided in July not to bring charges.[15] It stated that her statements were illegal and constituted group insult, but it argued that they had been made by a politician as part of political discourse on migration. Filers of the criminal complaints tried to compel the agency to prosecute her through a legal procedure, while Keijzer started a similar procedure to compel the agency to withdraw its opinion on the illegality of her statements. Keijzer's lawyer called the reasoning of the Public Prosecution Service stigmatizing.[16]
She was tasked with overseeing the construction of 100,000 homes per year in response to a housing shortage, the same target set for her predecessor. The coalition agreement included €1 billion in yearly funding for that purpose for the next five years.[18][19] In December 2024, Keijzer organized a housing summit at which an agreement was struck with organizations representing lower governments, housing corporations, investors, developers, and the construction industry. It included expedited construction of 75,000 housing units in several locations. The signatories committed to cooperating more closely, while the government would reduce regulations. The agreement reaffirmed the requirement of Keijzer's predecessor that two thirds of new construction should be affordable, despite opposition from the private sector. However, the restriction would be enforced regionally instead of for every project.[20][21]
Personal life
Keijzer is married to a urologist and has five sons.[4] She lives in Ilpendam and belongs to the Catholic Church. Her father-in-law is a former alderman of Waterland for the CDA.
^"Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2010" [Results 2010 general election] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 16 June 2010. pp. 15–16. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
^"Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2012" [Results 2012 general election] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 17 September 2012. pp. 64–65. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
^"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. 22–60, 162. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
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