PVV prominent and former mininister Fleur Agema not on far-right party's candidate list

Former Minister Fleur Agema (PVV, Public Health) will not be returning to the lower house of the Dutch parliament for the PVV after the elections. She announced on X that she will not be running for re-election. She has been one of the far-right party’s most recognizable faces since 2006.

Agema called being a parliamentarian “the most wonderful thing there is, and I will miss it terribly.” She wrote that she would have liked to continue for many more years, “but unfortunately, the circumstances are not right.” She did not specify the circumstances.

She wished the PVV and party leader Geert Wilders “an overwhelming election victory” at the end of October.

In the previous parliamentary elections, Agema was second on the PVV’s list of candidates. Afterward, she became both a Minister and a Deputy Prime Minister in the Schoof I Cabinet.

Since joining the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, for the PVV in 2006, Agema has primarily focused on healthcare. As a member of parliament, she was also very outspoken against Islam. As a Minister, her main focus was on artificial intelligence in healthcare and advocating for halving the healthcare deductible.

Wilders announced earlier on Thursday that the top four candidates on his list, aside from himself, consist of newcomers to national politics. Second is Member of the European Parliament, Sebastiaan Stöteler. Third and fourth are Shanna Schilder from Volendam and Annelotte Lammers from Genemuiden, respectively. It is not yet known whether other party prominents, such as Martin Bosma, Marjolein Faber, Gidi Markuszower, or Dion Graus, will return to the list, nor where they would be placed.