Sybrand van Haersma Buma (, ; born 30 July 1965) is a Dutch politician serving as Mayor of Leeuwarden since 2019. Until 2019, he 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 2002 who also served as the

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. ...

of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands. Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...

(CDA) from 2010 and as the leader of his party from 2012.

Biography

Early life

Sybrand van Haersma Buma descends from an old patrician family from

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

. He is the son of Bernard van Haersma Buma (1932–2020) who was Mayor of Workum (1962–1970) and of

Sneek Sneek (; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city southwest of Leeuwarden and the seat of the former municipality of Sneek in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. As of 2011 it is the seat of the municipality of Súdw ...

(1970–1993). His grandfather was Mayor of

Stavoren Stavoren (; ; previously Staveren) is a city in the province of Friesland, Netherlands, on the coast of the IJsselmeer, about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Hindeloopen, in the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân. Stavoren had a population of 950 in ...

. Both his father and grandfather belonged to the

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union (, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged in September 1980. History 187 ...

(CHU), that merged in 1980 with the

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party (, KVP) was a Roman Catholicism in the Netherlands, Catholic Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as ...

(KVP) and the

Anti-Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party (, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and minister who served as Prime Mi ...

(ARP) to form the

(CDA). Van Haersma Buma studied law at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

(1983–1989) and followed a course at the

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...

(1989–1990). After his study he was employed at the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

and the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

Politics

Van Haersma Buma was the secretary of the

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

and a member of the executive committee of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the province of

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

in the late 1990s. From January to June 2002 he was 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 ...

Voorburg Voorburg () is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with the town Leidschendam and the village Stompwijk, it merged into the municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg in 2002. Sit ...

and since May 2002 he is a member of the

Dutch House of Representatives The House of Representatives ( , literally "Second Chamber of the States General", or simply ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General of the Netherlands, States General, the other one ...

. He became the party's spokesman on judicial affairs and is known for his ''law and order'' approach. From 2007 to 2010 he was the secretary of the

parliamentary group in the House of Representatives. Although the

lost the elections of June 2010, Van Haersma Buma was re-elected. He supported his party chief,

Maxime Verhagen Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen (; born 14 September 1956) is a retired Dutch politician and historian. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2012 under Prime Ministe ...

, during the negotiations between the

and the

conservative liberal Conservative liberalism, also referred to as right-liberalism, is a variant of liberalism combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right wing of the liberal movement. In the case of modern con ...

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

(VVD) of

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, prime minister of the Neth ...

and the

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( , PVV) is a right-wing populist, far-right political party in the Netherlands. Geert Wilders is the founder, party leader, and sole registered member of the party. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Wilders' one-ma ...

(PVV) of

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives. Wilders is best known for his right-wing p ...

which eventually resulted in a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

of the VVD and

with parliamentary support of the PVV. After parliamentary leader Verhagen became

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

in the new

First Rutte cabinet The first Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Verhagen cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, government of the Netherlands from 14 October 2010 until 5 November 2012. The Cabinet of the ...

Van Haersma Buma was elected as his successor. After the fall of the cabinet, Van Haersma Buma criticised the PVV, the party responsible for the break-up of the cabinet. Shortly afterwards he announced his candidacy for the party's leadership. On 18 May 2012 he was elected as ''

lijsttrekker 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 Net ...

'' (top candidate) of the

by a majority of the

members. In the meantime he and the leaders of the

(VVD), the Christian Union (CU), the

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; D66) is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands, which is positioned on the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Li ...

and

GroenLinks (, ; GL) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Neth ...

, the so-called Kunduz coalition (a budgetary agreement) for 2013. After the

2017 Dutch general election General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 15 March 2017 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of Representatives. The incumbent government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte was the first to s ...

, the CDA formed the

Third Rutte cabinet The third Rutte cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022 (since 15 January 2021 demissionary). It was formed by a coalition government of the political parties People's Party for Freedom and Democra ...

alongside the VVD, D66 and CU. However Van Haersma Buma remained in the House of Representatives as parliamentary leader instead of entering the government. Buma was nominated as Mayor of Leeuwarden by the city's municipal council on 16 May 2019. He was succeeded by Pieter Heerma as parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives on 21 May. On 26 August 2019 Buma was appointed Mayor of Leeuwarden.

Notes

References

External links

*
Mr. S. (Sybrand) van Haersma Buma
Parlement & Politiek *
Sybrand van Haersma Buma
Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Haersma Buma, Sybrand van 1965 births Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Christian Democratic Appeal politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants Dutch jurists Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Leaders of the Christian Democratic Appeal Living people Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Dutch MPs 2017–2021 Dutch MPs 2006–2010 Dutch MPs 2010–2012 Dutch MPs 2012–2017 Municipal councillors in South Holland People from Nijefurd Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands University of Groningen alumni Mayors of Leeuwarden Christian Democratic Appeal MPs