Gom van Strien

In this Dutch name, the surname is Van Strien, not Strien.
Gom van Strien
Gom van Strien
Member of the Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 June 2011
Personal details
Born
Gommarus Adrianus van Strien

(1951-06-10) 10 June 1951 (age 73)
Geertruidenberg, Netherlands
Political partyParty for Freedom (since 2009)
Other political
affiliations		People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (until 1999)
Alma materKatholieke Universiteit Nijmegen
University of Twente

Gommarus Adrianus "Gom" van Strien (born 10 June 1951) is a Dutch politician, he has been a member of the Senate for the Party for Freedom since 7 June 2011. He has served as deputy parliamentary leader since 25 September 2012. He was named formation scout after the 2023 Dutch general election but resigned within days, after he was linked to a fraud case involving his former employer, Utrecht Holdings.[1]

Early life and career

Van Strien was born in Geertruidenberg on 10 June 1951.[2] He studied physics at the Catholic University Nijmegen between 1970 and 1976. He then studied business administration at the University of Twente between 1976 and 1978.[3] From his graduation until 1986 he worked for Statistics Netherlands, he then worked one year for Rijkswaterstaat and then started working for Utrecht University. At the university he was first secretary and later director of the faculty of veterinary medicine. From 2000 until 2009 he was managing director of Utrecht Holdings, the knowledge transfer office of Utrecht University and UMC Utrecht.[3] From 2009 until 2011 he was director of TrekhaakCentrum.nl.[2]

Political career

From 1984 to 1988 van Strien served as chair of the local organization of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in Alphen aan den Rijn.[4] Fellow party members called his term in office as unremarkable apart for his sudden departure.[5] In 1999 he left the party after being disillusioned with the change in leadership from Frits Bolkestein to Hans Dijkstal.[6][7]

In 2009 sent an application letter to Geert Wilders to become a member of the Senate for the Party for Freedom.[6] After the 2011 Dutch Senate election van Strien became a member of the Senate for the party on 7 June 2011.[3] He has served as deputy parliamentary leader since 25 September 2012.[3] In 2015 he called the Senate a fake parliament.[4] In the senate he mostly deals with financial issues.[4] He was second on the Party for Freedom list for the 2019 Dutch Senate election and was reelected.[8][9]

Formation scout and fraud case

After the 2023 Dutch general election he was named formation scout on a proposal of election winner Geert Wilders on 24 November 2023. Wilders called him someone "with not too great a political profile".[4] Shortly after being named he stated he did not remember his 2015 remark of the Senate as a fake parliament.[4] In the weekend following his nomination Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad published an article implicating van Strien in a fraud case brought forth by his former employer, Utrecht Holdings. Van Strien denied the allegations.[10] On the morning of 27 November 2023, the day of his intended start as formation scout, he stated that he would lay down his tasks as formation scout.[11] Van Strien later stated that it was a mistake that he did not inform Wilders of the allegations when he was considered for formation scout. He had discussed the matter with Party for Freedom Senate leader Marjolein Faber and both decided it was best not to bother Wilders with the matter.[12]

His home in Arcen was raided by the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) in May 2024 as part of an investigation into the criminal complaint by Utrecht Holdings.[13] In a civil case against Van Strien's successor as managing director of Utrecht Holdings, a court of appeals concluded in November 2024 that Van Strien and his successor had obtained a stake in a spin-off company of the university, which held shares of two biomedical companies, by hiding their involvement in a separate entity called Hereswint. This entity, jointly owned by Van Strien's wife, his neighbor, a friend, and the wife of his successor, received €2 million in dividends between 2006 and 2018 due to its stake in the spin-off company. Hereswint was established by his neighbor at Van Strien's direction. In reply to the ruling, Van Strien called it disgraceful that his conduct was judged without him being heard.[14]

Personal life

Van Strien is married and has three children. He is fond of maritime history and genealogy and wrote a book on his own family's history.[6] He was made Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau on 21 February 2009.[3]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Gom van Strien
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2010 House of Representatives Party for Freedom 48[a] 1,002 24 Lost [15]
2015 Senate 2 1,190[b] 9 Won [16]
2017 House of Representatives 50[a] 728 20 Lost [17]
2019 Senate 2 0 5 Won [18]
2021 House of Representatives 50[a] 790 17 Lost [19]
2023 House of Representatives 45[a] 1,230 37 Lost [20]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Van Strien participated as lijstduwer.
  2. ^ Weighted votes

References

  1. ^ "Van Strien (PVV) stopt, Wilders heeft nieuwe verkenner op oog". nos.nl (in Dutch). 27 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Ir. drs. G.A. (Gom) van Strien". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 21 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Ir. drs. G.A. van Strien (PVV)". Senate of the Netherlands. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e Rutten, Rik (24 November 2023). "Kundig, intelligent en oerconservatief: zo omschrijven mensen die Gom van Strien kennen, de voorgedragen nieuwe verkenner". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  5. ^ l'Ami, Dennis (27 November 2023). "Gom van Strien maakte weinig indruk in de politiek in Alphen, al deed hij één opmerkelijk iets". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  6. ^ a b c "Verkenner Gom van Strien (72): trouwe PVV-senator met weinig politiek profiel" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 24 November 2023. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023.
  7. ^ Keultjes, Hanneke (24 November 2023). "Deze man mag van Wilders de formatie verkennen: teleurgestelde ex-VVD'er die stambomen uitpluist". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 30 November 2023.
  8. ^ "Gom van Strien waarschijnlijk langer in Eerste Kamer" (in Dutch). Omroep Venlo. 25 March 2019. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Nieuwe Eerste Kamer geïnstalleerd". eumonitor.eu (in Dutch). 11 June 2019. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021.
  10. ^ "PVV-verkenner Gom van Strien in verband gebracht met fraudezaak" (in Dutch). RTL Nieuws. 26 November 2023. Archived from the original on 26 November 2023.
  11. ^ "PVV'er Gom van Strien legt werk als verkenner neer na fraudebeschuldiging" (in Dutch). RTL Nieuws. 27 November 2023. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Vertrokken verkenner Gom van Strien verzweeg fraudezaak bewust voor Wilders" (in Dutch). RTL Nieuws. 29 November 2023. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Inval bij PVV-senator en voormalig verkenner Gom van Strien wegens omkoping" [Raid at PVV senator and former scout Gom van Strien due to bribery]. NU.nl (in Dutch). 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  14. ^ Dohmen, Joep (18 November 2024). "Gerechtshof: PVV-senator Gom van Strien verhulde zakelijk belang" [Court of appeals: PVV Senator Gom van Strien hid business interest]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  15. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2010" [Results 2010 general election] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 16 June 2010. pp. 32–33. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  16. ^ Kiesraad (28 May 2015). "Uitslag Eerste Kamerverkiezing 2015" (PDF) (in Dutch). pp. 28–30. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  17. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2017 (getekend exemplaar)" [Results House of Representatives 2017 (signed example)] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 21 March 2017. pp. 66–67. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  18. ^ Kiesraad (31 May 2019). "Proces-verbaal van de verkiezingsuitslag van de Eerste Kamer" (PDF) (in Dutch). pp. 17–19. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  19. ^ "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. 20–21. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  20. ^ "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. 35–36. Retrieved 21 December 2023.