2022 Socialist Labour Party (Hennehouwe) leadership election

The 2022 Socialist Labour Party leadership election will be held from 30 October to 20 November 2022. The election was triggered by the resignation of incumbent leader Rupert van Bleiswijk after he failed to secure the SAE nomination for President of the Euclean Community.

Following van Bleiswijk's formal resignation on 26 September, the SAP's federal executive met to formalise the rules and procedures of the election. Nominations opened on 5 October, and closed seven days later on 12 October. The first round of voting will take place on 30 October, with an electoral college of party leadership, representatives and elected office holders using a modified instant-runoff voting system. The top two candidates will progress to the second round, which will consist of a ballot of party members. The winner will be declared at an extraordinary party conference on 20 November.

Background

Rupert van Bleiswijk was elected as leader of the SAP in 2015. He led them to a first place finish at the 2017 federal election, and again in 2021. In the months leading up to the 2021 election, it was widely speculated that van Bleiswijk was considering a run for the presidency of the Euclean Community (EC), which raised questions about his long-term ambitions as party leader and as premier.

On 24 June 2022, van Bleiswijk formally declared his intention to seek the Socialist Alternative for Euclea (SAE) nomination for EC President, launching his primary campaign on the same day. In the first and only round of the primary, van Bleiswijk finished in third place out of the three candidates, garnering just 18 votes in the electoral college system. Van Bleiswijk was criticised domestically by a number of political figures, including some in his own party, for prioritising his own Euclean election campaign over his role as premier, which resulted in mounted pressure on him to consider his position following his primary defeat.

On 25 September, van Bleiswijk told a private gathering of SAP members of the Senate of his intention to resign as leader of the party and as premier, which he announced publicly the following day. He will remain in place in both positions until the new party leader is elected.

Procedure

The SAP's constitution lays the basic framework for conducting the process to elect a new leader. Prospective candidates must be at least 24 years of age, be a party member for at least five years, and be a currently-serving elected representative of either the Senate, a regional legislature or a municipal council. Candidates must also meet any additional entry requirements as specified by the party's federal executive in advance of a leadership election.

The party's federal executive met to determine the rules of the electoral process and published details on 2 October. The nomination period opened on 5 October and lasted for one week, closing on 12 October. In addition to the basic requirements as contained in the party constitution, candidates were required to receive support from at least 20 other elected officials, of which 10 were members of either the federal or regional legislatures, and 10 were from outside the candidate's home region (neither category was mutually exclusive).

The leadership election will take place over two rounds of voting. The first round will take place on 30 October, involving all candidates who qualified under the nominations process. Voting in the first round is limited to an electoral college of SAP members of the Senate and regional legislatures, as well as members of the federal executive and delegates of the executives of the SAP's regional branches. The first round will use a modified instant-runoff system, with candidates requiring at least 40% of preferences to automatically qualify for the final round. Voting will be conducted exclusively at the ten regional headquarters of the SAP, and voters will be required to preference all candidates on the ballot.

The two remaining candidates at the end of the first round will progress to the second round, in which party members will elect the leader under a one-person-one-vote premise using a combination of postal and online voting. The deadline for postal votes is 16 November, whilst online voting will take place until 23:59 EET on 19 November. The results will be announced at an extraordinary party conference on 20 November, with the winner being sworn in as leader of the SAP immediately afterwards.

Campaign

Debates

Socialist Labour Party leadership election debates, 2022
Date	Location	Organiser(s)	Broadcaster(s)	P Present A Absent invitee O Out					Notes
Date	Location	Organiser(s)	Broadcaster(s)	Bekaert	Broeksma	Joosten	Russo	Schutte	Notes
17 October	s'Holle, s'Holle	N24, Groep Standaard	N24	P	P	P	P	P
19 October	Middelhoek, Grotevlakte	HNO	De Eerste	P	P	P	P	P
24 October	Stavenisse, Lower Stegeren	Mediacentre	ATV, Courant+	P	P	P	P	P

Public reaction

Date(s) administered	Polling form	Sample size	Bekaert	Broeksma	Joosten	Russo	Schutte	Don't Know	None
19 October HNO Debate
19-20 October	Holstat	959	4%	7%	6%	22%	25%	12%	24%

Candidates

Declared

Candidate(s)	Date of birth	Notable positions	Region	Announced
Brent Bekaert	(1973-01-19)19 January 1973 (age 49)	Flamish Vice Minister of Climate Change and the Natural Environment (2018-2022) Other offices Member of the Flamish Assembly (since 2018) Vice President of Future SAP (1998-2000)	Flamia	5 October
Carolijn Broeksma	(1969-08-05)5 August 1969 (age 53)	Minister of Finance (since 2021) Other offices Minister of Education (2017-2021) Member of the Second Chamber for Grotevlakte (since 2014) Member of the Euclean Parliament (2009-2014)	Grotevlakte	5 October
Ad Joosten	(1958-11-11)11 November 1958 (age 63)	Minister of Transport and Infrastructure (since 2021) Other offices Minister of State for Taxation and Public Finances (2017-2021) Minister of Economic Affairs (2007-2010) Minister of Defence (2002-2007) Minister of State for Welfare and Disabilities (1998-2002) Member of the Second Chamber for Lower Stegeren (since 1994)	Lower Stegeren	10 October
Paula Russo	(1974-04-29)29 April 1974 (age 48)	Member of the Second Chamber for Zilverzee (since 2021) Other offices Chair of the Labour Affairs Committee in the Zilverzee City Assembly (2018-2021) Zilverzee Vice Minister of Welfare (2014-2018) Member of the Zilverzee City Assembly (2006-2021)	Zilverzee	7 October
Mirjam Schutte	(1968-09-16)16 September 1968 (age 54)	Minister of Health and Social Affairs (since 2017) Other offices Member of the Second Chamber for Lower Stegeren (since 2014) Deputy Director-General of the Federal Health Board (2009-2014)	Lower Stegeren	6 October