Hugo Berkhout

Hugo A. Berkhout (born 1974) is a Dutch currency specialist and politician. He has been a member of the Senate since October 2020. There, he represented the conservative and right-wing populist party Forum for Democracy until he stepped out of the party the following month amidst an internal crisis. He later joined the splinter party JA21.

Hugo Berkhout
Member of the Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 October 2020
Preceded by	Annabel Nanninga and Paul Cliteur
Succeeded by	Robert Baljeu
Duoraadslid in the Amsterdam municipal council
In office 27 June 2018[1] – 1 April 2019[2]
Personal details
Born	H.A. Berkhout 1974 (age 46–47)
Political party	JA21
Other political affiliations	Forum for Democracy (until November 2020)
Children	1

Non-political career

Berkhout studied at an Amsterdam university and subsequently worked for Delta Lloyd Bank as a fixed income manager and FX trader.[3][4] Beside his job, he served as treasurer of the Dutch chapter of the industry body ACI Financial Markets Association and as head of the treasury committee of the self-regulatory organization Dutch Securities Institute, both in the years 2011–19.[4][5]

Between February 2017 and March 2019, he was ALM/liquidity/FX trade director at Amsterdam Trade Bank, a subsidiary of Alfa-Bank. Thereafter, he moved to the Cypriot municipality Strovolos to lead the treasury and financial institutions department of financial technology company iSignthis at their operations center.[5] In November 2020, he took a job as partner investments and treasury services at Kylla Corporate Transactions in Amsterdam.[6][3]

Politics

A member of Forum for Democracy, Berkhout was on an advisory council to select candidates for the 2017 general election and also was on the party list himself (place 21).[7][8] During the 2018 Amsterdam municipal election, he appeared on place eleven on the party list, but he did not receive a seat.[9] Berkhout was appointed duoraadslid in the Amsterdam municipal council by his party in June 2018. He was on the finances and economic affairs committee and continued to serve in that position until April 2019.[1][2]

Berkhout was placed sixteenth on the party list of Forum for Democracy in the 2019 Senate election.[10] His party won twelve seats, and Berkhout was elected because he received eight preferential votes.[11] However, Berkhout declined the seat. All of his votes came from the Forum for Democracy members of the States of North Holland. Broadcasting station NH reported that they probably voted for him to prevent the fifteenth candidate, Robert Baljeu, from being elected, as he had been expelled from the party.[12]

Senator (2020–present)

When Senator Annabel Nanninga went on parental leave in 2020, Berkhout was installed as temporary senator on 26 October.[13] A crisis broke out within Forum for Democracy in late November, when newspaper Het Parool published an article about extremist messages in WhatsApp groups of the party's youth organization and party leader Thierry Baudet subsequently gave up his position as lijsttrekker.[14] On 27 November, fellow Forum for Democracy Senator Bob van Pareren posted a statement on Twitter on behalf of himself and three other senators including Berkhout, in which they announced that they would leave the party. They said they did not want to be part of "a party that does not distance itself from racism, antisemitism, and Nazism and that does not listen to criticism".[15] Berkhout officially left the Forum for Democracy caucus on 29 November and joined Fractie-Van Pareren, that had four other members.[16] He also became the treasurer of his caucus.[6]

Berkhout became a permanent senator – as opposed to a temporary senator – on 5 December 2020, replacing Paul Cliteur, who had resigned due to the crisis at Forum for Democracy.[6] Fractie-Van Pareren announced on 24 December that they would join the new party JA21, that had been founded by two politicians who had left Forum for Democracy.[17]

Parliamentary committees

While a temporary senator:[18]

• Committee for Immigration and Asylum/Justice and Home Affairs Council
• Committee for Infrastructure, Water Management, and Environment
• Committee for Kingdom Relations
• Committee for Education, Culture, and Science

While a permanent senator:[18]

• Committee for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy/Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
• Committee for Finances
• Committee for Social Affairs and Employment

Personal life

He is married and has a daughter.[3]

References

1. "Openbare vergadering op woensdag 27 juni 2018" [Public assembly on Wednesday 27 June 2018] (PDF). Gemeente Amsterdam Raadsinformatie (in Dutch). 11 July 2018. pp. 19 and 22. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
2. "Openbare vergadering op woensdag 3 april 2019" [Public assembly on Wednesday 3 April 2019] (PDF). Gemeente Amsterdam Raadsinformatie (in Dutch). 30 April 2019. p. 10. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
3. Berkhout, Hugo (16 December 2020). "New treasury services operation for Kylla clients". Kylla (Interview). Retrieved 7 January 2021.
4. "Notulen ALV 3 november 2011 te Amsterdam" [Minutes general meeting 3 November 2011 in Amsterdam] (PDF). ACI The Netherlands (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 November 2020.
5. "H.A. (Hugo) Berkhout". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Parlementair Documentatie Centrum. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
6. "H.A. Berkhout (Fractie-Van Pareren)". Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 January 2021.
7. Lievisse Adriaanse, Mark; De Witt Wijnen, Philip (3 November 2017). "Op dit zorgvuldig opgebouwde netwerk steunt Baudet" [Baudet is supported by this carefully constructed network]. nrc.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 November 2020.
8. "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2017 (getekend exemplaar)" [Results 2017 general election (signed example)] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 21 March 2017. p. 152. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
9. "Verkiezingen Gemeenteraad, 21 maart 2018" [Municipal Elections, 21 March 2018] (PDF). Gemeente Amsterdam (in Dutch). March 2018. p. 20. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
10. "Uitslag Eerste Kamerverkiezingen 2019" [Results 2019 Senate election] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 31 May 2019. pp. 64 and 66. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
11. "Eerste Kamer 27 mei 2019" [Senate 27 May 2019]. Databank Verkiezingsuitslagen (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
12. "Forum voor Democratie lijkt weggestuurd Statenlid uit Eerste Kamer te weren" [Forum for Democracy seemingly wants to keep expelled Provincial States member out of the Senate]. NH (in Dutch). 27 May 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
13. "Benoeming J.E.E. Keunen en tijdelijke benoeming H.A. Berkhout tot lid van de Eerste Kamer" [Appointment J.E.E. Keunen and temporary appointment H.A. Berkhout to the Senate]. Kiesraad (Press release) (in Dutch). 27 October 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
14. "Crisisdagen bij Forum voor Democratie, wat er tot nu toe gebeurde" [Days of crisis at Forum for Democracy, what has happened so far]. NOS (in Dutch). 25 November 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
15. Du Pré, Raoul (27 November 2020). "FvD-senatoren en Statenleden keren Baudet massaal de rug toe" [FvD senators and state members turn their back on Baudet in large numbers]. De Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 November 2020.
16. "Vijf senatoren stappen uit FVD-fractie" [Five senators leave FvD caucus]. Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal (Press release) (in Dutch). 30 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
17. Boersema, Wendelmoet (24 December 2020). "Senatoren fractie Van Pareren sluiten zich aan bij JA21" [Senators Fractie-Van Pareren join JA21]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 January 2021.
18. "Lidmaatschappen H.A. Berkhout" [Memberships H.A. Berkhout]. Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 December 2020.