Ralf Dekker

Roelof Jan "Ralf" Dekker (Dutch: [ˈrɑl(ə)f ˈdɛkər]; born 18 February 1957) is a Dutch banker and politician of the far-right party Forum for Democracy (FvD). Following his career at Rabobank, he has served on the Provincial Council of North Holland since March 2019 and in the House of Representatives since November 2024, having had a prior term from August 2022 to March 2023. He became chair of the Renaissance Institute, FvD's think tank, in 2022.

Ralf Dekker
Dekker in 2024
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 November 2024
Preceded by	Pepijn van Houwelingen
In office 23 August 2022 – 27 March 2023
Preceded by	Simone Kerseboom
Succeeded by	Simone Kerseboom
Member of the Provincial Council of North Holland
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 March 2019
Personal details
Born	Roelof Jan Dekker[1] (1957-02-18) 18 February 1957 (age 68) Utrecht, Netherlands
Political party	Forum for Democracy
Children	5
Alma mater	Leiden University Utrecht University
Occupation	Politician banker

Early life and career

Dekker was born in 1957 in Utrecht.^[2] He studied geology at Leiden University for three years, followed by business administration at Utrecht University.^[1] He worked in consultancy and automation before joining Rabobank in 1992. He was an executive board member between 2013 and 2017, and he left the bank afterwards.^[1][3] Dekker has been on the board of De Groene Rekenkamer [nl] (2011–12) and on the supervisory boards of DLL Group (2017–18) and Philip Morris Netherlands (until 2021).^[1]

He became a member of Forum for Democracy (FvD) in May 2018, nearly two years after its founding, and he was elected to the Provincial Council of North Holland in March 2019.^[1][4] Dekker ran for the House of Representatives in March 2021 as FvD's ninth candidate, and he was not elected as the party won eight seats.^[5] Between 23 August 2022 and 27 March 2023, he replaced Simone Kerseboom as a member of parliament during her maternity leave.^[3][6] He became chair of the Renaissance Institute, FvD's think tank, in 2022, and he was one of the initiators of Renaissance Scholen, a proposed network of schools inspired by the party's ideology.^[1][3]

He lost his bid for re-election to the Provincial Council of North Holland, but he remained a member due to Thierry Baudet declining his seat.^[1][7] He was FvD's fifth candidate in the November 2023 general election and its lead candidate in the June 2024 European Parliament election, but he was elected to neither.^[3][6][8] Dekker was again sworn into the House of Representatives on 19 November 2024, replacing Pepijn van Houwelingen, who stepped down to take care of his pregnant wife. Van Houwelingen's return is planned for March 2025.^[3][6]

Personal life

As of 2024, Dekker lived in Amsterdam.^[2] He has five children, three of whom are from a previous relationship.^[1]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Ralf Dekker

Year	Body	Party		Pos.	Votes	Result		Ref.
						Party seats	Individual
2019	Provincial Council of North Holland		Forum for Democracy	5	1,549	9	Won	[4]
2021	House of Representatives			9	536	8	Lost[a]	[5]
2022	Amsterdam Municipal Council			19	18	1	Lost	[9]
2023	Provincial Council of North Holland			2	4,905	2	Lost[b]	[7]
	Provincial Council of Utrecht			15[c]	762	1	Lost	[10]
2023	House of Representatives			5	4,144	3	Lost[a]	[8]
2024	European Parliament			1	111,052	0	Lost	[11]

Notes

1. Dekker was appointed to the body later during the term due to a vacancy.
2. Dekker was not elected despite his party's result due to other candidates meeting the threshold for preference votes. However, he did become a member of the body as Thierry Baudet declined his seat.
3. Dekker participated as lijstduwer.