NSC board nominate the Minister of Social Affairs for party leadership in the elections

The NSC board has nominated Eddy van Hijum as party leader for the Parliamentary elections on October 29. The current Minister of Social Affairs has been picked over Diederik Boomsma, who had also made himself a candidate. In the end, it is up to the members of the party to decide who will lead the party.

"Eddy was at the foundation of our party and can further develop the NSC ideology and further expand our party," NSC chairman Kilian Wawoe said about the decision.

Van Hijum is considered a confidant of founder Pieter Omtzigt, who stepped down as party leader this spring for health reasons. He helped write the previous election manifesto and was a part of the negotiations during the Cabinet formation.

Other candidates can make themselves available for selection, but first, they must collect enough signatures from the members of the party. Only the people who have responded to the public vacancy that the party released last week are eligible to do so. Thus far, Boomsma has been the only one to do this. The party’s current leader, Nicolien Van Vroonhoven, has stated that she is not making herself available for selection.

Van Hijum said that, if selected, he would start the job "with full conviction.” Although the party is doing very badly in the polls, he still believes that NSC can make a difference. "Our party consists of very strong people with different backgrounds and good ideas, in The Hague and in other regions."