Mei Li Vos (; born 31 March 1970) is a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

politician, former trade unionist and editorialist. A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), she was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1 March 2007 to 17 June 2010 and again from 20 September 2012 until 23 March 2017. She has been a member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

since 11 June 2019, serving as parliamentary leader of the PvdA group until 2023, and First Vice-President of the Senate since then.

Early life

Mei Li Vos was born on 31 March 1970 in

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

,Dr. M.L. (Mei Li) Vos
(in Dutch), ''Politiek & Parlement''. Retrieved 8 April 2017. the only sister among six siblings. Her mother was

Chinese Indonesian Chinese Indonesians (), or simply ''Orang Tionghoa'' or ''Tionghoa'', are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese Indonesians are the fourth largest community of Overseas Chinese in th ...

, having grown up in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

. During her youth her family lived in a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

commune in

Veldhoven Veldhoven () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and town on the Gender (stream), Gender in the southern Netherlands, just southwest of Eindhoven, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. Topography Map of ...

. Between 1982 and 1988 she attended the VWO at the Christian Lyceum in

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

Academic career

Between 1988 and 1989 she studied General Social Science at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, a ...

. Vos studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

. Between 1994 and 2002 she worked as teacher and researcher at the political science department of the University of Amsterdam. In 1994-1995 she also worked part-time as manager of the Maarten Altena Ensemble. From 1995 and 2000 she worked on her thesis, which concerned the relationship between the Netherlands and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. She specifically researched what the effect was of Indonesia refusing

development cooperation Development aid (or development cooperation) is a type of aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid by ...

of the Netherlands on cooperation in

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

and the

legal profession Legal profession is a profession in which legal professionals study, develop and apply law. Usually, there is a requirement for someone choosing a career in law to first pass a bar examination after obtaining a law degree or some other form of l ...

. Her thesis was titled "International cooperation between politics and practice: how Dutch Indonesian cooperation changed remarkably little after a diplomatic rupture". Since 2000 she also worked part-time as a researcher at the think tank Infodrome, where she wrote a study on the

information revolution The Information Age is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during the Industrial Revolution, to an economy centered on information technology. ...

and its effect on society. Based on her work here she published two books on the information society. In 2001 she was promoted there at the Political Science department. Between 2002 and 2004 she worked at United Knowledge, where she advised the government on the information society. Based on her work advising the Ministry of Economic Affairs she published a book on

empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

. Between 2004 and 2005 she worked at the

Ministry of General Affairs The Ministry of General Affairs (; AZ) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for government policy, planning, information, and the Dutch royal house. The Ministry was created in 1937 and dissolved in 1945, but in 1947 it was reinstated by Prime Min ...

and the government PR service. As such she coordinated the

norm Norm, the Norm or NORM may refer to: In academic disciplines * Normativity, phenomenon of designating things as good or bad * Norm (geology), an estimate of the idealised mineral content of a rock * Norm (philosophy), a standard in normative e ...

s and values cabinet project.CV on meilivos.pvda.nl
/ref>

Alternative for Trade Union

In 2005 she was one of the founders of the Alternative for Trade Union (Alternatief voor Vakbond, AVV), a trade union specifically oriented at young people, part-time employed,

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

s, with

temporary work Temporary work or temporary employment (also called gigs) refers to an employment situation where the working arrangement is limited to a certain period of time-based on the needs of the employing organization. Temporary employees are sometimes ...

and people on a flexible contract. The union was founded as an alternative for the FNV, which was, according to AVV-founders too concerned with the interest of elderly workers. In 2005 she became the union's chair. Additionally she got a column with the

Vrij Nederland ''Vrij Nederland'' (Free Netherlands) is a Dutch magazine, established during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II as an underground newspaper. It has since grown into a magazine. The originally weekly turned monthly magazin ...

and the ''

de Volkskrant ''De Volkskrant'' (; ), stylized as de Volkskrant, is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium- ...

''. She also worked for the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

as a researcher on the relationship between

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

and the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal oppor ...

. In 2006 she published a book "the workers' paradise" on the future of the welfare state, employment and labour.

Political career

In the

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential e ...

Vos was placed on place 38 of the list of the PvdA. Both the conservative liberal

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, is a party of the centre-right that tries to promote private enterprise and ...

and the progressive liberal D66 had asked Vos to consider running for them. Because of the PvdA did not perform particularly well in the elections, Vos was not elected immediately. When several MPs became minister in the

Fourth Balkenende cabinet The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The Cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet was formed by ...

Vos did get a seat. Vos was spokesperson on

-, temporarily employed and

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

affairs. She sat on the commissions on finance, European Affairs, Economic Affairs, Social Affairs and the Environment.Mei Li Vos
(in Dutch),

. Vos also was member of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of the public radio broadcaster FunX. As an MP she wanted to give free lancers and the temporarily employed a voice in parliament and share the risks of a dynamic

labour market Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labou ...

more equally between free lancers, part-time employed and temporarily employed and people with a fixed contract. Vos considers herself to be a social liberal, while the PvdA is a social-democratic party. Her term in the House ended on 23 March 2017. She was

lead candidate In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the candidate placed first on a party list. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government, and the party chair or party leader. Usage by country Neth ...

of the PvdA in the 2019 Senate election. She has been a member of the

since 11 June 2019, serving as parliamentary leader. As of 2024, she was training to become a primary school teacher alongside, as an intern at a school in

Amsterdam-West Amsterdam-West () is a Boroughs of Amsterdam, borough (Dutch: ''stadsdeel'') of Amsterdam, Netherlands, to the west of the centre of the city. This borough was formed in 2010 through the merging of four former boroughs Amsterdam Oud-West, Oud West, ...

Personal life

Vos attends the English Reformed Church, Amsterdam, affiliated to the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

and the

Protestant Church in the Netherlands The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Netherlands, consisting of historical Calvinism, Calvinist and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. It w ...

. In an interview, she called religion a human invention, but she said that she needed faith for contemplation and that she hoped that a higher power exists.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vos, Mei Li 1970 births 21st-century Dutch women politicians Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam Dutch magazine editors Dutch people of Chinese descent Dutch politicians of Chinese descent Dutch people of Indonesian descent Dutch public relations people Dutch trade unionists Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Living people Dutch MPs 2012–2017 People from Eindhoven Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands University of Amsterdam alumni Dutch women magazine editors Dutch MPs 2006–2010