Minister Carola Schouten the latest prominent woman to quit national politics

Carola Schouten, the ChristenUnie Deputy Prime Minister and caretaker Minister for Poverty Policy, will leave national politics once a new Cabinet is installed, she announced on Friday. Schouten is the third prominent female politician to announce her impending departure in two days. Her departure also means that all three Deputy Prime Ministers in the recently collapsed Rutte IV Cabinet won't be running in the upcoming election. Wopke Hoekstra (CDA) and Sigrid Kaag (D66) announced their departures earlier this week.

It is time for the new generation to take over, Schouten said in a statement on Friday. “I know the ChristenUnie is in good and trusted hands,” Schouten said. She described her 12 years in politics as intense.

“It was a great privilege for me to work on our ideals on behalf of and with the people of the ChristenUnie. But now I am passing on the baton. I will not be a candidate for the electoral list and will soon leave The Hague. In gratitude for the time behind me and curious about what is to come.”

ChristenUnie leader Mirjam Bikker said the party is saying goodbye to Schouten “with great respect, appreciation, and a deep bow.” She praised her as a “powerful politician, passionate about the people who need it the most and an example for many young women.”

Schouten was the Minister for Poverty Policy, Participation, and Pensions in the Rutte IV Cabinet, which collapsed last week. In this role, she helped push through a major pension system reform that will take effect in the coming years. She also helped arrange energy support for low-income households in the energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In the Rutte III Cabinet, Schouten was the Minister of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality. Her plan to disallow adding protein to animal feed drew the ire of farmers and the agriculture sector. She was subject to intense intimidation and threats, forcing her to cancel appearances amid safety concerns. She also pushed through an accelerated ban on mink farming and the ban on boiling live lobsters and crabs.

Schouten is the third prominent female politician to announce her departure this week. On Thursday, D66 leader Sigrid Kaag announced that she would not lead her party in the upcoming elections. Kaag said she could not subject her family to more years of living under intense threats and harassment, and high security. She added that she hoped her experience with hatred and harassment wouldn’t deter other women from politics.

Later on Thursday, independent parliamentarian Liane de Haan announced that she, too, was leaving politics, blaming the “ugly” atmosphere. Opportunism and populism make up the current state of affairs, and policy content has fallen by the wayside, she said. She added that she also frequently experienced hatred, abuse, and misogyny. “This affects me, but it [affects] my children and my mother, who lives with us, even more," she said.