Only 13 candidates under 30 have a chance of a parliamentary seat this election

Young adults have few peers to vote for in the upcoming parliamentary election. If the over 3 million voters under 35 want to vote for a fellow young adult, they have 259 options under 35 and only 150 under 30 to pick from across 16 parties. And only 10 to 13 of these candidates have an actual chance to win a seat in parliament on October 29, Nikki Trip of Stem Jong, an organization that advocates for more young people in politics, told NRC.

Stem Jong, working with EenVandaag, determined the actual chances of younger politicians ending up in the Tweede Kamer by looking at the candidates’ ages, their position on the electoral lists, and the average of the latest polls by EenVandaag, Ipsos I&O, and Maurice de Hond. 27 parties are participating in the October 29 election with a total of 1,116 candidates. Stem Jong analyzed 813 candidates from the 15 parties currently in parliament and BIJ1, because the party held a seat in the past.

GroenLinks-PvdA, JA21, SP, DENK, and FvD have a fairly equal distribution of candidates under and over 35 on their lists. The VVD has two under-30s and 18 under-35s on its list. BIJ1 and Volt have the most young adults on their lists, but BIJ1 won’t win any seats, and Volt will only win 3, according to the latest polls. Volt could still get a young candidate in parliament, with a 34-year-old candidate in second place on its list.

The average age of eligible candidates is 41.8 years. The current Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, currently has six members who are 30 years old or younger.

“It shouldn’t be the case that issues that are important to young people are determined by people who can’t identify with them,” Trip told NRC, mentioning education, student finance, and housing. “Of course, older people can stand up for young people,” he said. But representing someone without sharing the same experiences isn’t the same. “If you yourself can’t find a house, or have thousands of euros in student debt, you are more genuinely motivated to fight for those issues.”

Stem Jong, therefore, urged people to vote for young candidates lower down on the electoral lists. With enough votes, they could end up in the Tweede Kamer with preferential votes.