Laurens Dassen
Laurens Dassen | |
|---|---|
| Born | Laurens Antonius Josephus Maria Dassen October 19, 1985 Eindhoven, Netherlands |
| Occupation(s) | Politician, former banking professional |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Known for | Co-founder and leader of Volt Netherlands; Member of the House of Representatives |
Laurens Antonius Josephus Maria Dassen (born 19 October 1985) is a Dutch politician and former banking professional. Raised in Knegsel, he pursued business administration studies at Radboud University and spent six years working at ABN AMRO. As a co-founder of Volt Netherlands in 2018, Dassen became the party's lead candidate and was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2021 general election.
Early life and career
Dassen was born in 1985 in Eindhoven and grew up in the nearby village of Knegsel, located in North Brabant. His family has ties to management positions at Philips and the education sector. He completed his secondary schooling at Sondervick College in 2003. After short periods at Eindhoven’s Fontys University of Applied Sciences and Maastricht University, he earned his business administration degree from Radboud University in 2011.
While studying, Dassen gained international exposure through an internship in India and took part in the 2009 Harvard Model United Nations. He was also involved with the student organization N.S.V. Carolus Magnus.
In 2012, Dassen began working at ABN AMRO, initially focusing on risk management and anti-money laundering, including a five-month placement in Dubai. Subsequently, he engaged in digital innovation projects within the bank. He departed from ABN AMRO in September 2018 but briefly returned on a part-time basis in 2020.
Politics
Dassen’s political engagement was motivated by the rise of nationalism, populism, the effects of Brexit, and the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Finding no alignment with traditional parties, he volunteered for Volt Europa starting February 2018 and contributed to founding Volt Netherlands on 23 June 2018, where he held the position of treasurer.[1] He resigned from ABN AMRO that September to dedicate himself fully to politics and took on the role of Volt’s secretary.[1] On 15 December 2018, Dassen replaced Reinier van Lanschot as party chair after Van Lanschot became Volt’s lead candidate for the 2019 European Parliament election.[2][1] Positioned third on Volt’s list, Dassen’s party obtained 1.93% of votes but did not win any seats in the European Parliament.[3]
House of Representatives
On 6 June 2020, Dassen was selected as Volt’s lead candidate ahead of the 2021 Dutch general election. The campaign prioritized Europe-wide, cross-border approaches to challenges such as climate change, migration, security, and social inequality. Rejecting conventional political classifications along the left–right political spectrum, Dassen described such labels as "old politics." Volt secured three parliamentary seats, with Dassen sworn into the House of Representatives on 31 March. He declared that as a new party, Volt would not participate in forming a governing coalition. In 2022 budget discussions, a joint motion by Volt and coalition partner D66 succeeded in allocating €100 million for free school meals in disadvantaged areas.
Dassen advocated for anti-corruption reforms aimed at rebuilding trust in Dutch politics. In September 2021, he advanced a motion establishing a two-year lobbying prohibition for former cabinet members, responding to recommendations from GRECO and following Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen’s resignation to become an energy lobbyist. In May 2022, together with independent MP Pieter Omtzigt, he proposed strengthening integrity regulations by introducing an enforceable code of conduct and creating a lobby register that would document meetings. Although parliament approved this register, Minister Hanke Bruins Slot declined its implementation. Some elements influenced Bruins Slot’s legislation instituting a two-year lobbying ban for ex-cabinet members; however, sanctions proposed by Dassen and Omtzigt were omitted. Additionally, Dassen partnered with Gert-Jan Segers (CU) to propose expanding the House from 150 to 200 seats to improve parliamentary oversight and enhance public confidence. In August 2023, alongside Segers’s successor Mirjam Bikker, he presented a political reform document suggesting an increase to 250 seats, earlier parliamentary involvement in cabinet-initiated legislation, and more frequent debates on long-term topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), citing MPs’ growing responsibilities partly due to social media influence.
During his tenure as leader, Volt suspended MP Nilüfer Gündoğan amid allegations of inappropriate conduct. Following her permanent expulsion in February 2022 after an internal investigation, Gündoğan filed defamation charges against Dassen, Volt, and others involved. A court ruled that her expulsion was unjust; Dassen apologized but conditioned resolving the matter on her withdrawing the complaint. The parliamentary group reinstated her dismissal in March 2022 with Dassen citing an irreparably damaged relationship. This controversy caused his approval rating among Volt supporters to decline from 96% to 74%. An appellate court ultimately upheld the legality of her expulsion in 2023.
After the collapse of the fourth Rutte cabinet prompted early elections scheduled for November 2023, Dassen declared his intention to lead Volt once more. The party board nominated him unanimously, with membership confirming his candidacy by a 98% vote. At their conference, he advocated for bold policies addressing climate change and overhauling taxation. His platform included replacing all government benefits with a limited basic income progressing toward universal basic income and supporting government cancellation of problematic debts. In this election, Volt won two seats with Dassen securing re-election.
Committee assignments
- Defense Committee
- Digital Affairs Committee
- Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Committee
- Education, Culture and Science Committee
- European Affairs Committee
- Finance Committee
- Foreign Affairs Committee
- Health, Welfare and Sport Committee
- Infrastructure and Water Management Committee
- Interior Committee
- Social Affairs and Employment Committee
- France Contact Group
- Germany Contact Group
- Procedure Committee
- Public Expenditure Committee
Personal background
Following his studies in Nijmegen, Dassen resided in Rotterdam before relocating to Amsterdam, where he was employed as a web and application developer at ABN AMRO. In September 2021, during his tenure as a parliamentarian, he moved to The Hague. He met his partner Britte while at university; their first son was born in 2023, with a second child arriving the subsequent year.
Election record
| Year | Institution | Party | Position | Votes | Outcome | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party seats | Individual votes | |||||||
| 2021 | House of Representatives | Volt Netherlands | 1 | 135,272 | 3 | Elected | ||
| 2023 | House of Representatives | Volt Netherlands | 1 | 97,999 | 2 | Elected | ||