Marleen Barth

Magdalena Antoinette Maria 'Marleen' Barth (born 21 March 1964) is a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and trade unionist, and a former journalist.

Quick Facts Labour Party leader in the Senate, Preceded by ...

Marleen Barth
Marleen Barth in 2015
Labour Party leader in the Senate
In office 7 June 2011 – 8 February 2018
Preceded by	Han Noten
Succeeded by	André Postema
Member of the Senate
In office 7 June 2011 – 8 February 2018
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 19 May 1998 – 23 May 2002
Personal details
Born	Magdalena Antoinette Maria Barth (1964-03-21) 21 March 1964 (age 60) Den Helder, Netherlands
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse	Jan Hoekema
Residence(s)	Wassenaar, Netherlands
Alma mater	University of Amsterdam (M.A., political science)
Occupation	Politician, trade union leader, journalist

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Magdalena Antoinette Maria Barth was born on 21 March 1964 in Den Helder in the Netherlands.^[1]

Barth studied political science with a speciality in public administration at the University of Amsterdam.^{[citation needed]}

Barth worked as a parliamentary reporter for Trouw (1990–1997), was a member of the House of Representatives (1998–2002), a member of the Provincial Council of North Holland (2003–2004), and chair of the Education Union of the Christian National Trade Union Federation (2005–2008).^[1] She was chair of the Dutch Association of Mental Health and Addiction Care from 2008 to 2013.^[1]

She was lead candidate for the Labour Party in the 2011 and 2015 Senate elections.^{[citation needed]} From 7 June 2011, she was a member of the Senate as well as Senate group leader of the Labour Party.^[1] She stepped down as member of the Senate on 8 February 2018, after a controversy about her vacation during a Senate debate.^[2]

Marleen Barth is married to former D66 MP Jan Hoekema, (second marriage for both) who has been mayor of Wassenaar from 2007 to 2017.^{[citation needed]}