Femke Wiersma
Femke Wiersma | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Wiersma in 2023 | |
| Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature | |
| Assumed office 2 July 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Dick Schoof |
| Preceded by | Piet Adema |
| Member of the Provincial Executive of Friesland | |
| Assumed office 19 July 2023 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Femke Marije Wiersma 29 December 1984 Dokkum, Netherlands |
| Political party | BBB (2019–present) |
| Spouse |
Gijsbert Bakhuisen
(m. 2016; div. 2019) |
| Children | 4 |
| Occupation |
|
Femke Marije Wiersma (born 29 December 1984) is a Dutch agricultural lobbyist and politician. On behalf of the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB), she has been a member of the Provincial Executive of Friesland since July 2023.
Early life and career[edit]
Wiersma was born in 1984 in Dokkum, located in Friesland, and she was trained in the Royal Dutch Navy.[1] She completed training in social work in 2007, and she worked as a civil servant.[1][2]
When farmers were increasing their livestock population in anticipation of a phosphate rights system, Wiersma started a campaign on social media platform Facebook in 2015 to protest this incentive. The abolition of a European milk quota that year had led to the Netherlands exceeding its phosphate limit. Wiersma subsequently became a lobbyist for Netwerk GRONDig, which had recently been founded to represent extensive dairy farmers.[1] Starting 2016, she consecutively served as a policy advisor for the Vereniging Behoud Boer & Milieu (circular agriculture) and the Dutch Dairy Farmers' Union.[1][2]
Politics[edit]
When the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) was founded in 2019, Wiersma became a board member.[1] She participated in the 2021 general election as the BBB's second candidate, behind party leader Caroline van der Plas. Wiersma received 25,588 preference votes, and she was not elected, as the BBB secured one seat in the House of Representatives.[2][3] Wiersma subsequently served as a staffer of the BBB's parliamentary group in the House.[2]
She helped establish the BBB's Friesland chapter starting in 2021, and she was on the ballot in the province in 2023 provincial elections, when the BBB won fourteen council seats.[1] In July 2023, the BBB presented its coalition agreement with the Christian Democratic Appeal, Christian Union, and the Frisian National Party. Wiersma joined the provincial executive and was responsible for agriculture, the Frisian Rural Area Program, and heritage.[4][5] She halted the province's nature and nitrogen policy in June 2024, weeks after a coalition agreement had been reached nationally by right-wing parties.[1]
That same month, she was announced as the new Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature in the Schoof cabinet.[6]
Personal life[edit]
In 2010, she was a participant of the Dutch version of Farmer Wants a Wife, where she met dairy farmer Gijsbert Bakhuisen from Abcoude. They were married from 2016 until 2019.[7][8] After their divorce, she became a single mother of four children.[9][10]
Electoral history[edit]
 |
| Year | Body | Party | Pos. | Votes | Result | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party seats | Individual | |||||||
| 2021 | House of Representatives | Farmer–Citizen Movement | 2 | 25,588 | 1 | Lost | [3] | |
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g Sie, Puck (26 June 2024). "Vechter voor het gevestigde veehoudersbelang" [Fighter for the interests of the livestock establishment]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Femke Wiersma van Friesland naar Den Haag om voor BBB landbouw te doen" [Femke Wiersma form Friesland to The Hague to work on agriculture for BBB]. NOS (in Dutch). 13 June 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
- ^ a b "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. 155–156. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
- ^ "Kandidaat Femke Wiersma (BBB) over hoe het nu verder moet". www.omropfryslan.nl (in Dutch). 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "Fryslân heeft het jongste college van Gedeputeerde Staten van Nederland: dit zijn ze". www.omropfryslan.nl (in Dutch). 2023-07-13. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ MultiMedia, D. C. A. "Femke Wiersma verrast als nieuwe landbouwminister - Nieuws Politiek". Boerenbusiness (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "DPG Media Privacy Gate". myprivacy.dpgmedia.nl. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "DPG Media Privacy Gate". myprivacy.dpgmedia.nl. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "'Farmer Wants a Wife' contestant to become Dutch agriculture minister". POLITICO. 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "Farmer Seeks Woman couple Gijsbert and his Frisian Femke split up".