Business Administration alumnus Laurens Dassen (35) won three seats in the House of Representatives with his party Volt Nederland. Now that they managed to get into the House, the real work can begin. We spoke to Dassen at the Binnenhof in The Hague. About his student days, his political ambitions and the success of Volt.

As Laurens Dassen (35) walks across the Binnenhof, a woman accosts him to ask whether she can take his picture. She explains that her son voted for Volt. Dassen is new in The Hague, but he’s already attracting a lot of attention. ‘I’m slowly starting to get used to it,’ he laughs. At the security gates of the House of Representatives, Dassen asks whether he can get us a drink. A party leader offering to brew us a cup of coffee! It matches the image many voters have of him: friendly, down-to-earth and modest.

The party rooms of Volt feel kind of empty. There hasn’t been much time since the March elections for hanging up paintings or thinking about interior decoration. This is not really surprising, since the new party leader and his colleagues were immediately thrown into the eye of a political storm. ‘Anyone who thought things would quiet down after the elections was sorely disappointed,’ he says. The commotion surrounding Pieter Omtzigt, Mark Rutte barely surviving a vote of no confidence, and the public release of the Cabinet’s minutes. It was not just that Volt’s victory was unique, but the level of chaos at the House of Representatives was also highly unusual. Dassen: ‘It’s been a really hectic period in terms of things happening. At the same time, as new members of the House of Representatives, we’ve had to build our political fraction. We hired new people and explored opportunities for collaboration within the committees. We actually wanted to do it all at once, but we really had to set priorities. It’s been an intense, but also an incredibly interesting time.’

Did you already have some time to reflect on the past period?

‘I think the big reflection moment will come this summer, once the House adjourns. We can use recess time to reflect on what we’ve achieved, and what we want to achieve in the years to come. But I had a day off yesterday, as it happens. And yes, it’s true that my days off are still full of phone calls and messages to answer, but I did go to Nijmegen to visit some friends. I still have lots of contact with the people I studied with. I really made some lifelong friends in my student days.’

As a student you were a member of the A.V.I.S. fraternity, but that’s pretty much all we know about your student days in Nijmegen. Was it a decisive time for your development?

‘Absolutely. Your student days are not only a time for having a lot of new experiences yourself, but also for sharing in your friends’ experiences. Some people end up doing an internship in the Netherlands, while others go abroad. Even though these are not experiences that you had personally, you can still learn from them. I worked for United Netherlands, which gave me the opportunity to do some great things. We went to Oxford, Harvard and New York, and every Friday, we got training sessions from former diplomats or debate trainers. It was there that I learned how to have a proper discussion and see the other person’s perspective. One time I represented Russia, which meant I had to look at things from a completely different angle. It really helped me to have an open perspective on the world. I enjoyed this period immensely, and clearly, fraternity life played a role in this too.’

You lived at the A.V.I.S. fraternity house. What was the atmosphere like?

‘It was really nice. There were 13 of us living in one house. The best part was that there was always someone at home with whom to watch a movie or make silly jokes. We also had a big cellar where we organised discussions on current issues every Thursday night.’

‘I didn’t understand why there was no party like Volt’

Knowing how to have a discussion sounds like a useful skill at the House of Representatives. Did you already know in those days that you would end up in politics?

‘No, in my student days I didn’t want to become a politician, which is why I studied Business Administration. At United Netherlands, I did spend a lot of time reflecting on societal issues like climate change and the need for good international collaboration. My interest in becoming politically active only came later, after I had worked for a few years. I started to feel concerned about the rise of extreme right-wing and nationalistic movements in politics. Look at Brexit and the rise of Trump in the US or Le Pen in France. Politicians were increasingly shirking away from social problems and international collaboration and I felt that things were not going in the right direction.’

Being worried is all very well, but actually going into politics is a much bigger step. What triggered you to make this choice?

‘I talked a lot about my concerns with my friends and family, but it wasn’t enough for me. Then I heard about Volt Europa. It looked like a party with new energy that really wanted to do things differently. The party programme sounded so logical to me that I couldn’t understand why there was no such party yet. I believed in the message of Volt Europa, and together with Reinier van Lanschot we decided to open a Dutch branch. In 2018 I decided to quit my job to devote all my time to Volt Nederland.’

By the time you founded Volt Nederland, you’d had a good job at ABN AMRO for six years. Weren’t you afraid to give it all up?

‘The question I mostly asked myself was: If I don’t do this now, will I regret it? My parents said they were not surprised by my decision. My girlfriend also supported me. She said that she had never seen me so driven and enthusiastic about something. But it was a huge step to take, and I did not take it lightly. I’ve had moments of doubt about whether I was the right person, and whether I would do a good job. But I think it’s quite healthy to doubt yourself sometimes. It means you think before making an important decision and you ask yourself the right questions.’

Did you manage to convince yourself that you were the right person?

‘Well, we only just made it to the House of Representatives. We’ll have to work really hard in the years to come to get our ideals on the agenda and get people on our side. I’m not yet convinced of my own abilities because I think we first have to realise our plans. Only then will I be able to say that I’m satisfied.’

Are you the secret behind Volt’s success?

‘I was lucky to be the top candidate and to represent the party in the elections, but our success is due to the hundreds of volunteers who worked incredibly hard for many months to get us this point. I don’t think this is something anyone could have done alone. That’s the great thing about a grassroots party: working with lots and lots of people to create something you all believe in. When Volt won a seat in the 2019 European Parliament elections, it gave an enormous boost to the entire European movement. I hope that our national success can have the same effect.’

‘If there’s something you find really important, dare to go for it’

Volt mostly attracted younger voters, which shows that there’s something in Volt that appeals to young people. What is it?

‘The new energy that Volt wants to bring to politics. I’m incredibly proud of the fact that so many young people are enthusiastic about our party. Already at a young age, you can learn that the power of collaboration is much greater than trying to achieve something on your own. I hope that other parties will also realise that this is a direction many young voters want to take. This is also what Volt wants: effective and energetic European collaboration. I love it that young voters recognise themselves in this message.’

Do you have any advice for Nijmegen students?

‘My advice is to use your study time not only to study but also to explore the world. Find out what you like and find interesting. And if there’s something that you find really important and that you believe in, dare to take a risk and go for it.’