Chris Jansen

Chris A. Jansen (born 27 October 1966) is a Dutch politician, who served as a member of the House of Representatives between November 2019 and March 2021 on behalf of the right-wing populist Party for Freedom (PVV).

Jansen was born on 27 October 1966 in Bussum to an Indonesian-born mother.

He has one older brother.

After his education, he worked for about 20 years in the telecommunications and IT industries.

During the last of these years, Jansen was a sales manager.

Jansen has told that he decided to become involved in politics in 2009 as a result of the trial of Geert Wilders, which Jansen regarded as a trial against the freedom of speech.

Jansen's political career started in 2010, when he was elected to the Almere municipal council.

He first ran for political office during the 2010 municipal elections in the city Almere, where he was on place seven on the PVV's party list.

The Party for Freedom participated in the elections in two municipalities in the Netherlands, marking the first time the party took part in any municipal election.

Jansen received 179 preferential votes and became a member of the council in March, as his party won a plurality of 9 out of 39 seats.

However, his party did not become part of the coalition that makes up the executive board.

Simultaneously, he served a member of the States of Flevoland starting the next year, rising to the position of party leader of the province in 2013.

He remained loyal to Geert Wilders, founder of the PVV, after he held a speech in which he asked a crowd whether they would want more or fewer Moroccans, being the only member of the party in Almere to not distance himself from the speech.

Jansen also served as chair of the Almere audit office for three years.

During the next municipal election in 2014, Jansen was re-elected as the second person on the PVV's party list, while the party remained the largest party with again nine seats.

During election night, party leader Geert Wilders gave a speech during which he controversially asked the crowd whether they would want more or fewer Moroccans, resulting in a "fewer, fewer, fewer" chant.

All PVV councilmen in Almere except for Jansen distanced themselves from Wilders' statements a few days later, causing Jansen to declare in an interview on Radio 1 Journaal that he was the only PVV councilman left in Almere and that the other eight would have to continue under a different party name.

He was subsequently expelled from the municipal PVV caucus because of those statements and because the caucus leader said Jansen was following his own course.

Two days later, the caucus made up with Jansen, and he became a member again.

Later that year, in August, he became the chairman of the municipal audit office.

At the start of 2016, he called Mayor Franc Weerwind a "wally" (flapdrol) on Twitter after he had decided to not prohibit a meeting that included two controversial Islamic preachers.

Subsequently, a local party called for Jansen's removal as chair of the audit office.

Another reason for this was that Jansen had incorrectly suggested the year before that a former alderman was pressured by civil servants not to cooperate in an audit office investigation.

Jansen had already acknowledged he had been wrong and had apologized to the municipal council.

He was not dismissed as not enough support for the move existed.

During the 2017 Dutch general election, Jansen was placed 23rd on the PVV's party list.

His party received twenty seats – not enough for Jansen to become an MP.

Usually a term as chair lasts two years, but Jansen remained in the position until 2017, as an investigation was still ongoing.

Jansen ran again for councilor during the 2018 municipal election and was re-elected for a third term as the fourth person on the party list.

However, his party slid down to become the third biggest party in Almere, receiving 6 out of an increased 45 seats.

Because of his position as party leader in Flevoland, Jansen was also involved in finding candidates for his party for other municipalities in his province.

During the formation of the executive board of the North Holland city Den Helder, Jansen was proposed as finance alderman.

However, a local party dropped out of the formation at the last moment, and a coalition without the PVV was made.

However, when Sietse Fritsma vacated his seat in 2019, Jansen was appointed as his successor.

He subsequently resigned from his positions as municipal councillor and member of the states-provincial.

His term in the House ended after he lost re-election in the 2021 general election, and he returned to the municipal and provincial councils afterwards.

Following 2023 provincial elections, the PVV joined the governing coalition and Jansen became a member of the Provincial Executive of Flevoland.

He vacated his seat in the Almere municipal council during his third term in January 2019 after being appointed member to the House of Representatives.

After his term in the House had ended, Jansen successfully ran for municipal councilor again in the 2022 municipal elections as the PVV's fourth candidate.

He was sworn in on 30 March.