Sander van Waveren

In this Dutch name, the surname is Van Waveren, not Waveren.

Alexander "Sander" van Waveren (Dutch: [ˈsɑndər vɑɱ ˈʋaːvərə(n)]; born 3 March 1980) is a Dutch civil servant and politician. He served on the Utrecht Municipal Council on behalf of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) from 2010 to 2020, and he became a member of the House of Representatives in December 2024 after he had switched to the party New Social Contract (NSC).

Sander van Waveren
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 December 2024
Preceded by	Rosanne Hertzberger
Member of the Utrecht Municipal Council
In office 9 December 2010 – 17 December 2020
Preceded by	Harm Janssen
Succeeded by	Bert van Steeg
Personal details
Born	Alexander van Waveren (1980-03-03) 3 March 1980 (age 45) Haarlem, Netherlands
Political party	New Social Contract (since 2023) Christian Democratic Appeal (until 2023)
Alma mater	Utrecht University
Occupation	Politician civil servant consultant

Early life and career

Van Waveren was born in 1980 in Haarlem.^[1] His father was a pastor, and Van Waveren attended a gymnasium school in Eindhoven. From 1999 to 2006, he studied social geography and urban planning at Utrecht University, and he did an internship at the European Parliament.^[2]

Van Waveren started his career at a public sector consultancy, where he was specialized in spatial planning and housing, and he worked as an adviser for the Sliedrecht municipal government starting in 2012. He became bureau head of the Dutch Association of Municipal Secretaries [nl] in 2016, and he became municipal secretary of Laren, North Holland in 2020. He simultaneously served as chair of a cooperative managing parking across several municipalities.^[2]

Politics

Van Waveren ran for the Utrecht Municipal Council in the March 2010 election as the fifth candidate of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). He was not elected, as the party won four seats.^[3][4] He assisted the CDA's parliamentary group until 9 December 2010, when he was appointed to the council to succeed a fellow councilor who had resigned.^[2][5] Van Waveren became the party's parliamentary leader in 2013, and he was re-elected in 2014 and in 2018 as lead candidate.^[2][6][7] He left the Utrecht Municipal Council on 17 December 2020, midway through his term.^[2]

He joined NSC when it was founded by former CDA member Pieter Omtzigt ahead of the November 2023 general election.^[2] Van Waveren was the party's 27th candidate, and he was not elected to the House of Representatives, as NSC won 20 seats. He became administrative secretary of its parliamentary group in September 2024.^[2][8] Because of his position on the party list, Van Waveren was sworn into the House on 3 December 2024 following Femke Zeedijk's resignation.^[9][10] He became NSC's spokesperson on the interior, public administration, and the rule of law.^[11]

House committee assignments

• Committee for the Interior
• Parliamentary committee of inquiry into COVID-19^[1]

Personal life

As of 2024, Van Waveren lived in Utrecht.^[1] He has served as chair of sports club UVV Utrecht and as treasurer of a music education foundation.^[2][12]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Sander van Waveren

Year	Body	Party		Pos.	Votes	Result		Ref.
						Party seats	Individual
2010	Utrecht Municipal Council		Christian Democratic Appeal	5	110	4	Lost[a]	[3][4]
2014	Utrecht Municipal Council			1	5,017	3	Won	[6]
2018	Utrecht Municipal Council			1	4,600	2	Won	[7]
2022	Utrecht Municipal Council			24[b]	90	3	Lost	[13]
2023	Senate			18	0[c]	6	Lost	[14]
2023	House of Representatives		New Social Contract	27	180	20	Lost[a]	[8]

Notes

1. Van Waveren was appointed to the body later during the term due to a vacancy.
2. Van Waveren participated as lijstduwer.
3. To account for population differences between provinces, a weighted vote total of 0 was used.