User:Nederlandse Leeuw/MK

Marieke Koekkoek (26 February 1989 ) is a Dutch lawyer-apprentice and politician for Volt Netherlands. During the 2021 Dutch general election, she was one of three candidates (along with Kauthar Bouchallikht and Lisa Westerveld of GroenLinks) elected through preferential votes.

Biography
Koekkoek read law at Utrecht University, and went on to study and work in Barcelona, Leuven and China, after which she returned to Utrecht in 2017, settling in Leidsche Rijn. In 2021 she stated that she decided to read law 'from the conviction that everyone should always be able to be themselves safely'. Prior to her election in 2021, she worked at a lawyers' office in Amsterdam.

In 2018, Koekkoek joined Volt because she found that certain issues such as climate change and the housing of migrants should 'not be viewed through nationalist glasses', but addressed at the European level.She named Jacinda Ardern and Angela Merkel as her political inspirations. She said she was worried about the rise of racism and discrimination in the Netherlands and Europe, and emphasised the importance of protecting fundamental rights and social inclusion during the 2021 campaign. She therefore argued in favour of enabling asylum-seekers to learn the language of their new country and take on paid work already while awaiting the results of their asylum application. As Koekkoek was elected with preferential votes, Volt candidate no. #3 Ernst Boutkan narrowly missed getting his seat in Parliament; they both had mixed feelings about this, but called each other capable candidates and wished each other good luck in the future.

Personal life
As of 2021, Koekkoek lives with her husband and two children in the city of Utrecht.