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Ineke van Gent
Ineke van Gent
	Van Gent in 2010
Mayor of Schiermonnikoog
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 26 September 2017
Preceded by	Dick Stellingwerf
Member of the House of Representatives
	In office; 19 May 1998 – 19 September 2012
Personal details
Born	Wilhelmina van Gent; 21 June 1957 (age 67); Arnhem, Netherlands
Political party	GroenLinks
Other political; affiliations	Pacifist Socialist Party (until 1991)
Residence	Schiermonnikoog
Alma mater	Social Academy (BA, Social work)
Occupation	Politician, trade unionist, civil servant
Website	(in Dutch) GroenLinks website

Wilhelmina "Ineke" van Gent (born 21 June 1957) is a Dutch politician serving as Mayor of Schiermonnikoog since 2017. A member of GroenLinks, she was a member of the House of Representatives from 1998 to 2012.^[1] She focused on matters of employment, social work, day care, emancipation, public transport and Kingdom relations.

Biography

Van Gent attended both mavo and havo in Arnhem and attended the Social Academy. During and after her studies Van Gent worked as a check out clerk, cleaning lady and baby sitter and was active in the youth wing of the Pacifist Socialist Party, the PSJG. Between 1982 and 1985 she worked for the Groningen Housing agency as social advisor. Between 1985 and 1994 she was a member of the Groningen municipal council, first for the Pacifist Socialist Party (PSP) and from 1991 for GroenLinks into which the PSP had merged. From 1990 she was party group chairwoman. During this period was member of the party council of the PSP and GroenLinks. In 1993 she was a candidate for lijsttrekker for the national list, but she failed to enter the second round of voting. Van Gent worked as the North Netherlands-coordinator of the FNV labour union between 1994 and 1998, when she was elected to the House of Representatives.

Van Gent focuses on two major themes: solidarity, including housing, social policy, employment, regional and economic policy, and durability, including agriculture, nature and animal rights. Van Gent has voted against the GreenLeft parliamentary party on several important issues: she voted against the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange and Máxima Zorreguieta, because she is a republican and she spoke out against GreenLeft's support for the invasion of Afghanistan. Van Gent initiated several legislative programs, concerning legal protection for whistle blowers, housing subsidies for students and constitutional protection of animal welfare. She has criticized lavish parties for departing politicians by saying "you can knock a zero off the price tag for most of them."^[2] She was opposed to a reduction in benefits to Turkish and Moroccan parents.^[3] She has criticized poor railway performance; she said "They are ‘ready for winter’, except when it snows."^[4]

References

^ "Unknown Wilders delivers keynote speech at 9/11 demo". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. 12 September 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2010. Mild reactions in the Netherlands -- Green Left MP Ineke van Gent wrote on Twitter: "Feeble texts by Geert's standards. He wants to govern now and not provoke. That's it! The chance of mad right [in government, ed.] has increased:-("
^ "Press Review". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. 31 May 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2010. GreenLeft demands end to lavish farewell parties -- "Farewell parties for departing politicians needn't be quite so lavish," says GreenLeft MP Ineke van Gent, adding, "you can knock a zero off the price tag for most of them".
^ Klaas den Tek (12 November 2009). "Turkish and Moroccan parents to receive less benefits". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Retrieved 26 December 2010. Double standards -- Green Left is one of just a few parties who are opposed to the reduction of child benefits. The party says there have been "only" a hundred cases of fraud. Green Left MP Ineke van Gent says it's noteworthy that the measure only includes Turkey and Morocco, and accuses the cabinet of using double standards.
^ "Dutch railways 'ready for winter', except when it snows". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. 24 December 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2010. In a special winter timetable, the NS runs a reduced number of services. A whole advertising campaign claiming the NS was 'ready for winter', has now been put on ice. In parliament, Dutch MPs are fed up with the railways' failure to keep services running. Green Left MP Ineke van Gent made fun of the campaign slogan "They are 'ready for winter', except when it snows."