Hanneke van der Werf

Municipal Council of The Hague Van der Werf ran as a candidate in the 2014 municipal election in The Hague, appearing seventh on D66's party list. She did not win a seat, as two candidates lower on the list were elected with preferential votes. She received a temporary seat in April 2014, when one of D66's council members went on sick leave.

Her membership became permanent in June 2014, when another councillor left to become an alderwoman. She was voted chair of the presidium three years later. In 2017, the municipal executive approved a bill she had presented that introduced a six-and-a-half-week paid paternity leave for civil servants. Before, fathers could only take a thirteen-week half-paid parental leave.

Van der Werf was re-elected in 2018 as the second candidate on the party list. Her specialization within her party was security and integration. In September 2018, Van der Werf stopped working for the D66 caucus in the House of Representatives to take a job at financial services company Aegon as a spokesperson for mortgages, damage and innovation.

As council member, she wanted The Hague to apply for a pilot to test the legal cultivation and distribution of cannabis, but it was not supported by enough parties. She also called for the municipality to do more to prevent female circumcisions. In 2019, the council passed a proposal by Van der Werf to investigate businesses for criminal activities in specific areas. The approach had already been tried in Amsterdam.

House of Representatives In 2020, it was announced that Van der Werf would run in the 2021 general election. She was the ninth candidate on the party list, six places below her initial third place on the draft version of the list. She was elected, receiving 13,935 preferential votes, and was sworn into the House of Representatives on 31 March. Van der Werf vacated her seat in The Hague council in April. In November 2021, she pled for a central point to aid victims of sexual violence and child abuse. A motion led to an investigation into establishing such a point. An amendment by Van der Werf was later passed to make revenge porn a sex crime, having before been classified as a privacy infringement. In June 2023, she launched a manifesto against aggression and violence together with Joost Sneller (D66). They responded to a perceived hardening of society causing increased hate and aggression, targeting those who serve society in particular. The document called on society, employers, and the government to act, and it was signed by most parties in parliament as well as several professional associations and labor unions.

Van der Werf was appointed national campaign leader of D66 in May 2022 ahead of the 2023 provincial elections. She temporarily left the House of Representatives starting 2 October 2023 due to her parental leave. Van der Werf returned on 29 March 2024 following her re-election in November 2023, and her specialties changed to defense, security, sex crimes, digital affairs, pensions, and benefits. Along with Barbara Kathmann (Labour Party), she advocated for an age rating system for social media platforms to protect children against negative effects. Van der Werf later called for a full ban on social media use by those under the age of 15, enforced through an age verification system.

Committee assignments 2021–2023 term Committee for Digital Affairs Committee for the Interior Committee for Justice and Security Delegation to Europol's Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group

2023–present term Committee for Justice and Security Committee for Digital Affairs Committee for Defence

Personal life While a member of the House of Representatives, Van der Werf moved from The Hague to Voorburg.

Electoral history

+ YearBodyPartyVotesResult.Party seatsIndividual 2021 House of Representatives Democrats 66 9 13,935 24 2023 House of Representatives Democrats 66 8 9,840 9 2025 House of Representatives Democrats 66 9 43,259 26