Members of parliament are satisfied with the results, but believe the workload is too high

• Hugo van der Parre

  Research Editor

The vast majority of provincial council politicians are satisfied with what they have achieved in the last period – two thirds are therefore candidates for re-election – but at the same time many members of Parliament believe that the workload is too high. On average, a deputy spends more than twenty hours a week on behalf of the province. This can be deduced from a survey by the NOS and regional broadcasters among the parliamentarians in office.

Elections for the Provincial Council will be held again on Wednesday 15 March 2023. The province may be a somewhat anonymous administrative stratum, but it is perhaps more important than ever. After all, provinces play an important role in solving problems such as the housing shortage and the nitrogen crisis. The people’s representatives have an important voice in what happens in these areas.

You become a member of Parliament because you want to contribute to society, almost three-quarters indicate. And most of them think that this is quite successful: 86% have been reasonably very satisfied with the results achieved and find the opportunity to achieve something very satisfying. But the fact that it takes twenty or more hours a week is the rule rather than the exception. Nearly 60% cite work pressure as by far the most negative aspect of their job. It also appears to be the most important factor in not seeking re-election.

A Member of Parliament receives a gross monthly allowance of 1311 euros for his work, so a regular side job is almost inevitable for non-retired people. But combined with a full-time job, this leads to a very long workweek.

One MP from Drenthe puts it this way: “In my view, the enormous workload that parliamentary work entails can no longer be regarded as an ‘ancillary function’ beyond, for example, full-time work and family. Leisure. for the workload. As a result, the province lacks a good representation of the provincial population.”

A colleague in Zeeland: “State work deserves better remuneration, given the large amount of time involved and the fact that you have to work less in your normal job to be available.” A PvdA politician points out that people with young children cannot actually do the job, which means that Parliament is not a good democratic reflection of society.

A quarter of respondents also indicate that they have recently been confronted with threats or intimidation, often via social media or email. At least twenty MPs were also physically threatened, on the street or at their homes. Some have therefore sometimes kept their point of view to themselves in the United States.

Several politicians cite the farmers’ actions as an example of intimidation. A D66 member: “During the protests I was sometimes very close to the skin, squeezed between angry peasants. Nobody did anything to me, but it was very intimidating.” A GroenLinks politician reports that his car was scratched during the farmers’ protests and he was physically threatened.

Even representatives of the Party for the Animals experience this: “Dead chickens on my property, a horse’s eye gouged out, studs for my car tires. It was all at home.” A colleague: “My license plate appeared on a Facebook group of ‘vegan trackers’ with threats that they had my details and would look for me.”

And then their political work is not always sufficiently appreciated. Three-quarters agree with the statement that the province is an underrated administrative level. The claim that provincial elections are too dominated by national issues is supported by 80 percent of MPs.

Despite the experienced workload, seven out of ten respondents are of the opinion that the province could very well take on more important cross-border municipal tasks. And more than 40 percent think that the work of the water bodies can best be done by the province.