Laurence Stassen

Laurence Stassen
Parliamentary leader of the Party for Freedom in the European Parliament
In office
19 September 2012 – 24 March 2014
Preceded by Barry Madlener
Succeeded by Lucas Hartong
Member of the European Parliament
In office
14 July 2009 – 1 July 2014
Constituency Netherlands
Personal details
Born Laurence Jeanne Arnoldine Joseph Stassen
(1971-02-08) 8 February 1971
Sittard, Netherlands
Nationality Dutch
Political party Independent
Other political
affiliations		 Party for Freedom (2009–2014)
An Independence from Europe (2014–)
For the Netherlands (2014–)
Residence Echt, Netherlands
Occupation Vice-chair of the PVV EU group 2009-2014
Chair of PVV limburg 2011- June 2012
Freelance journalist
Website L.J.A.J. (Laurence) Stassen at www.parlement.com

Laurence Jeanne Arnoldine Joseph Stassen (born 8 February 1971 in Sittard) is an independent Dutch politician and a former freelance television presenter of the regional broadcasting TV Limburg. There she presented the program sponsored Limburg Leeft (translated: Limburg Lives) about residency and life in Limburg.[1]

In the 2009 European Parliament elections, Stassen was ranked as fourth on the Party for Freedom (PVV) list. The PVV won four seats, but the lower-ranked party leader Geert Wilders was elected by preference votes. Wilders, however, had already declared that he would remain in the House of Representatives of the Netherlands and not take up his seat in the European Parliament, thus Stassen became a Member of the European Parliament on 14 July 2009.

On 10 December 2010, it was announced that Stassen would run for PVV party leader in the province of Limburg in the 2011 provincial elections. She was so elected and retained her membership of the European Parliament.[2][3][4] On 21 March 2014, she left the PVV after allegedly discriminatory remarks by Geert Wilders about Moroccans.[5] She stayed on until the European Parliament elections in May 2014, but immediately left the States-Provincial in Limburg, returning her seat to the Party for Freedom.[6]

Stassen then stood in the 2014 European elections for the constituency of South East England in the UK as the number one candidate for the Eurosceptic party An Independence from Europe.[7][8] She was not elected.

In December 2014, Stassen announced that she had joined the party For the Netherlands, which had been founded by two fellow former PVV members earlier that year.[9]

Laurence Stassen is married with two children. She lives in Echt.

References

  1. ↑ Limburg Leeft TV Limburg leeft!, 28 mei 2009
  2. ↑ Laurence Stassen lijsttrekker PVV Limburg de Volkskrant, 10 december 2010
  3. ↑ PVV wil in Limburg meebesturen De Telegraaf, 10 december 2010
  4. ↑ PVV gaat ervoor in Limburg SpitsNieuws, 10 december 2010
  5. ↑ Ook Europarlementariër Stassen verlaat PVV, Nu.nl, March 21, 2014
  6. ↑ "Laurence Stassen verlaat de PVV" (in Dutch). NOS. 22 March 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  7. ↑ http://www.laurencestassen.eu/
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-04-24. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  9. ↑ "Stassen terug in politiek". PowNed (in Dutch). 29 December 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
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