Lilian E.J. Janse-van der Weele (born in 1973) is a Dutch local politician of the

Reformed Political Party The Reformed Political Party ( , SGP) is a conservative Reformed ChristianThese sources describe the SGP as a Calvinist (Reformed Christian) political party: * * * * political party in the Netherlands. The SGP is the oldest political party in the ...

(SGP).

Early life and politics

Born in

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...

, she graduated with a meao diploma. Her father, Cees van der Weele, was a member of the Vlissingen Municipal Council, representing a local alliance of the SGP. Janse has described how she followed her father's work and helped him type out his hand-written debate contributions. Janse participated in the 2014 municipal election in Vlissingen, becoming the first female candidate of the SGP. The Reformed Political Party did not allow women to run for office until an order by the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

in 2012. She was elected and became a member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

on 27 March 2014. She has served as her party's

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

in Vlissingen. Alongside, she worked successively as a newspaper delivery person and an automobile loader for cargo ships. Following a work accident, she transitioned to an administrative role at a debt assistance agency. In 2024, the Vlissingen chapter of the SGP nominated Janse to be included on the

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

in the next general election, scheduled for 29 October 2025. The local chapter also proposed to remove an article from the SGP's foundational principles document that states that

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

and political participation are in conflict with a woman's calling. Janse expressed support for the initiative. At the SGP's party conference in May 2025, the initiative to allow women to stand as members of parliament failed in a vote of party members.

Personal life

Janse is married to Ko Janse, a paint sprayer, and they have three children.

References

External links

Lillian Janse's Twitter page (Dutch)
Municipality of Vlissingen (Dutch) 1973 births Living people 21st-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians Dutch Calvinist and Reformed Christians Municipal councillors in Zeeland People from Vlissingen Reformed Political Party politicians {{Netherlands-politician-stub