Lawmaker leaves Tweede Kamer for Amsterdam alderman role after mayoral bid disclosure
Dutch lawmaker Esmah Lahlah is leaving the Tweede Kamer to become an alderwoman in Amsterdam, a move she announced Tuesday following reports she had applied for two mayoral positions while still serving as an MP, NOS reports. She succeeds Hester van Buren, who will not return for a second term after PRO Amsterdam (previously GroenLinks-PvdA) opted not to renominate her.
Esmah Lahlah , the 46-year-old member of the Tweede Kamer, who entered Parliament in 2023 as the No. 2 candidate for what was then GroenLinks-PvdA, said she will step down to take up the alderwoman role in Amsterdam.
Her departure comes after it was disclosed that she had applied for the mayoral posts in both Tilburg and Delft during her time as a national lawmaker. The disclosure that she had sought the Tilburg mayoralty while serving in the Tweede Kamer reportedly surprised party officials, given her high placement on the electoral list.
Her later application for the Delft mayoral position was known to leadership, but it conflicted with expectations set after the election. Following the vote last year, party leader Jesse Klaver emphasized that Lahlah would remain in the parliamentary group for the full term.
Lahlah previously served as an alderwoman in Tilburg before joining the Kamer, initially as a non-partisan officeholder and later as a member of GroenLinks. In The Hague, she was assigned a prominent social affairs portfolio, though she did not make a strong impression as a legislator, according to Dutch media reporting.
In a statement, Lahlah described her time in the Kamer as “special, intense and educational.” She said the role did not bring out the best in her and that her strengths are most evident when she is working “close to people.”
“Amsterdam is a city that shows that freedom, solidarity and diversity are stronger than cynicism and division,” Lahlah said. “Precisely for that reason this step feels so natural for me.”
In July 2024, during a parliamentary debate in the Tweede Kamer, GroenLinks-PvdA MP Esmah Lahlah was at the centre of a controversy after PVV minister Marjolein Faber referred to her as a “PvdA headscarf” in a social media post. Lahlah responded in the chamber by defending her right to wear a headscarf as a personal choice and speaking about its meaning for her identity, a statement that drew strong applause from MPs. She was visibly emotional during the exchange and briefly left the debate before returning later.
