Political sucker 2025

Vote for the political sucker of 2025! Every year there are politicians who fail, spin, or trash their principles so blatantly that you wonder: how then! This is why DWARS is awarding this year's award for Political Sucker of the Year out. The last time DWARS gave out this award was in 2018 to Klaas Dijkhoff. These nominees have shown over the past year how not to do it.

Vincent Karremans (VVD)

For his performance around Nexperia gate: first acting tough, then withdrawing the wrench.
Karremans presented a decisive action by seizing control of this company, but withdrew his citation at the first serious resistance. In practice, this symbol politics without backbone only resulted in the Netherlands' relationship with China being severely damaged.

Femke Wiersma (BBB)

For structurally ignoring the nature and biodiversity crisis, creating other problems (such as the manure crisis), and even alienating her own supporters. Agricultural organisation LTO, the Dutch Agrarisch Jongeren Kontakt (NAJK), and all the provinces, municipalities and water boards even made their own nitrogen plans outside her.
If you as a BBB'er even get the farmers' organisations against you, something is fundamentally wrong. Wiersma managed to undermine policy, trust and support at the same time. This is a clever example of political self-destruction.

Niko Koffeman (ex-PvdD)

For his split from the Party for the Animals because, according to him, it was too concerned with ‘people's issues’. 
Apparently, human rights, international solidarity and the genocide in Gaza are not among Koffeman's priorities. Nor does he take good care of the people around him, as he also did this split off a week before the elections, precisely to screw his old party. Ecologism without standing up for people turns out to be mostly gardening after all.

Agnes Joseph (ex-NSC / BBB?)

For her failure on pension file and failed opportunism. She bit into the pension file completely, got nothing done, and then tried to secure a seat via a switch to the BBB, which she did not get. No substance, no loyalty, no seat. Result: zero.

Vote for your favourite in the form below and decide who will run away with the title! You can vote until Friday 23 January!