Conservative party again rejects motion on women in leadership

The conservative Protestant party SGP has again voted down a proposal to formally recognize women’s eligibility for political and administrative roles, maintaining a decades-long stance that continues to limit women's participation despite previous legal rulings and internal activism.

On Saturday, party delegates overwhelmingly rejected a motion to enshrine in the party’s core statutes that women are welcome to hold political or leadership positions. The vote ended 299 to 53 against the proposal. Only party delegates were allowed to vote, not the broader membership.

The proposal was submitted by Lilian Janse and her local chapter in Vlissingen. Janse became the first woman to hold office for the SGP in 2014 when she joined the city council. Despite that milestone, the party's founding regulations still state that women who enter politics are acting "in conflict with their calling."

Stem op een Vrouw (Vote for a Woman) director Devika Partiman responded to the vote by urging women within the party not to give up. “There is no magical formula, but things really will change eventually,” she said. Partiman said she was not surprised the proposal was rejected, but she did not expect the margin to be so wide. She pointed out that only designated male delegates — often strict followers of party rules — were allowed to cast ballots. “That is the biggest problem,” she said.

According to Partiman, many regular SGP members support changing the party statutes, making the outcome “regrettable.” She added, “It would be a good idea if the men who do agree with the changes would speak out publicly, so there are visible role models.” However, she acknowledged the difficulty, noting that speaking against the leadership might hurt their own prospects in the party.

The proposal aimed to revise the party’s foundational rules to allow women to determine for themselves whether entering politics was in line with their beliefs — “with due regard for the place given to her by God,” according to the text. The party board, however, advised members in early May to vote against the change, stating it did “not consider it wise to reopen debate” on the issue.

Instead, the board reaffirmed its commitment to what it described as the party’s primary mission: “to promote the blessings of Biblical values and norms in the public domain.”

The SGP — which currently holds three seats in the Tweede Kamer — has long faced criticism and legal challenges over its stance on women. In 2010, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that the party could no longer exclude women from standing for election. In 2013, under pressure from both the court and the European Court of Human Rights, the SGP allowed women to run as candidates. However, the party did not change its founding declaration, which still frames political engagement by women as contrary to their religious purpose.

The failure of this most recent attempt to update the statutes comes as Janse, a council member for over a decade, has expressed her desire to run for a national seat in the Tweede Kamer. The party's current rules still prevent her from doing so, even as she remains the only woman to have ever served in a political role for the SGP.