Habtamu de Hoop

In this Dutch name, the surname is De Hoop, not Hoop.

Habtamu Emke de Hoop (born 1998) is an Ethiopian-born Dutch television presenter and politician. He served as a member of the municipal council of Súdwest-Fryslân from 2018 to 2021, also hosting the educational children's show Het Klokhuis from 2018 to 2019. De Hoop was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2021 general election as a member of the Labour Party (PvdA).

Habtamu de Hoop
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office 31 March 2021
Municipal councillor of Súdwest-Fryslân
In office 2 January 2018 – 29 April 2021
Succeeded by	Pieter Jan Scholtanus
Personal details
Born	1998 (age 25–26) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Political party	Labour Party
Residence(s)	Wommels, Friesland
Alma mater	Windesheim University of Applied Sciences NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences

Early life and education

He was born in 1998 in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and was abandoned at a bar when he was a few months old. De Hoop was brought to an orphanage, where he received his first name.^[1][2] He was probably born in March or April 1998, but his exact date of birth is unknown.^[3] De Hoop celebrates his birthday on 16 April.^[2] He was adopted by a Dutch couple when he was about eight months old, and he grew up in the Frisian village Wommels.^[1] The couple later adopted another Ethiopian boy.^[2]

During his childhood, De Hoop played football as a striker at a number of clubs including SC Cambuur and ONS Sneek, and he played Frisian handball.^[1][4] He attended the high school RSG Magister Alvinus in Sneek at havo level, graduating in 2016.^[1][5] He has told that he joined the school's debating society in fourth class to get out of having to hand in a school assignment.^[6] In 2016, he participated in the national debating and speech contest Op weg naar het Lagerhuis, where he ended up among the three speech finalists. De Hoop argued during the final for caring more about refugees.^[7]

He studied journalism at the Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in Zwolle but did not finish his study because of his job in the municipal council and as a presenter of Het Klokhuis.^[2][8][9] In 2019 – after he had left Het Klokhuis – he started studying public administration at the NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences's Thorbecke Academie in Leeuwarden but again did not complete the program.^[10][11]

Career

De Hoop participated in the November 2017 municipal election in his municipality, Súdwest-Fryslân, being placed sixth on the party list of the Labour Party.^[12] He won a seat and was sworn in as councilor in January 2018 at age nineteen.^[13] His specializations included spatial planning and housing.^[14] De Hoop was also hired as a host of the educational children's show Het Klokhuis, which is broadcast on weekdays by Omroep NTR, in December 2017. Filming began in February of the following year and the first episode presented by De Hoop was televised in October.^[9][15]

In addition, he was Matthijs van Nieuwkerk's sidekick in an episode of De Wereld Draait Door and he was a jury member of the 2018 edition of Op weg naar het Lagerhuis.^[2][16] De Hoop left Het Klokhuis in the summer of 2019.^[10] He was also involved in the youth think tank Coalitie-Y after a call by Prime Minister Mark Rutte in May 2020 for more input from younger people on government policy surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.^[17] He was again part of the jury of Op weg naar het Lagerhuis in 2022, and he wrote the text for It grut Frysk diktee, a West Frisian dictation broadcast by Omrop Fryslân, that same year. The theme of De Hoop's text was sport.^[18][19]

House of Representatives

He ran for member of parliament in the 2021 general election as the Labour Party's ninth candidate.^[20] He was elected to the House and received 10,092 preference votes.^[21] He became the youngest member of the new House, which was installed on 31 March, and the third youngest MP in Dutch parliamentary history up to that point.^[22] De Hoop vacated his municipal council seat in April.^[23] His focus in the House became education, media, infrastructure, and water management, and he was on the Committees for Education, Culture and Science; for Finance; for Infrastructure and Water Management; and for Kingdom Relations, as well as on the Interparliamentary Committee on the Dutch Language Union.^[24][25] De Hoop's maiden speech about his past and equality of opportunity received positive reactions.^[26]

He submitted a bill in October 2021 to amend Article 23 of the constitution, which ensures freedom of education, such that schools cannot reject students, such that equality of opportunity is promoted, and such that schools must adhere to the values of democracy and the rule of law. De Hoop had taken over the proposal from party leader Lodewijk Asscher, which is supposed to bring an end to religious schools rejecting people based on their beliefs and to hostile environments for LGBT students.^[27] The Council of State advised against major parts of the amendment, stating that it was unclear how it would increase acceptance and that it could limit educational freedom.^[28] Besides – together with Laura Bromet (GL) and Alexander Hammelburg (D66) – De Hoop continued an effort to amend article 1 of the constitution to add disability and sexual orientation as grounds on which discrimination is prohibited. Both houses of parliament had already voted in favor of the amendment, but a constitutional amendment required a second affirmative vote following elections. The Senate eventually passed it for a second time in January 2023.^[29]

De Hoop also advocated the construction of the Lelylijn, a proposed railway between Lelystad and Groningen to better connect the northern provinces to the rest of the country, but a motion by De Hoop amid ongoing coalition agreement negotiations did not receive a majority in the House.^[30] In 2022, he pled for public transportation to become a basic right. When bus lines throughout the country were threatened with discontinuation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, De Hoop argued that they have an important function in rural areas and that some people are dependent on them.^[31] In early 2023, he presented a plan with GroenLinks to make public transport more affordable. They proposed an experiment to provide free public transport to lower-income individuals as well as a reversal of recent price hikes in tickets. The €400 million required for the latter would be funded through an increase in the wealth and corporate taxes.^[32]

He secured a second term in the November 2023 general election, and his specialties changed to public transport, traffic, and housing.^[33] The following year, De Hoop and Olger van Dijk (NSC) proposed a bill that would allow provinces to establish their own public transport companies. They are required to tender to corporations, and some provinces were encountering difficulties in receiving sufficient bids. De Hoop said that financial incentives were hurting the quality and reach of public transport.^[34]

Personal life

While a member of parliament, De Hoop moved from the Frisian village of Easterein to The Hague, and he returned to Wommels later in his term, where he lives with his girlfriend.^[5][25][35] He is a supporter of football club SC Heerenveen and additionally plays the sport as a member of the Easterein club VV SDS.^[4]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Habtamu de Hoop

Year	Body	Party		Pos.	Votes	Result		Ref.
						Party seats	Individual
2021	House of Representatives		Labour Party	9	10,092	9	Won	^[36]
2023	House of Representatives		GroenLinks–PvdA	12	20,077	25	Won	^[37]

References

1. Altena, Stef (7 June 2016). "Habtamu speecht voor verandering" [Habtamu argues for change]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 February 2021.
2. Oenema, Rixt (26 December 2018). "Habtamu de Hoop: van vondeling in Addis Abeba tot presentator van Het Klokhuis en tafelheer bij DWDD" [Habtamu de Hoop: from abandoned child in Addis Ababa to presenter of Het Klokhuis and sidekick at DWDD]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 February 2021.
3. "Presentator Habtuma [sic] de Hoop terug naar geboorteland Ethiopië" [Presenter Habtamu de Hoop back to country of birth Ethiopia]. Omrop Fryslân (in Dutch). 3 February 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
4. Buikema, Riepko (3 June 2022). "Habtamu de Hoop, Kamerlid op Nieuw Noord" [Habtamu de Hoop, House member in Nieuw Noord]. FeanFan (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 August 2022.
5. De Hoop, Habtamu. "De loopbaan van Habtamu de Hoop" [The career of Habtamu de Hoop]. FNV (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Eva Prins. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
6. De Hoop, Habtamu (26 November 2021). "Habtamu de Hoop: 'Hard werken, dan red je het wel. Mensen die dat zeggen, zijn zelf vaak wél geslaagd in het leven'" [Habtamu de Hoop: 'You'll make it if you work hard. People who say that have often succeeded in life themselves']. Nederlands Dagblad (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Auke van Eijsden. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
7. "Habtamu wint niet in debatfinale Lagerhuis" [Habtamu does not win debating final Lagerhuis]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). 9 June 2016. p. 2.
8. Mollen, Janske (5 April 2018). "Zwolse journalistiekstudent presentator Het Klokhuis" [Zwolle journalism student will host Het Klokhuis]. De Stentor (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 February 2021.
9. Pennewaard, Koen (6 April 2018). "Habtamu gaat favoriete jeugdprogramma presenteren" [Habtamu will present favorite youth show]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 February 2021.
10. "Habtamu de Hoop stopt bij Het Klokhuis" [Habtamu de Hoop leaves Het Klokhuis]. Omrop Fryslân (in Dutch). 19 July 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
11. "Op je 22e in de 2e Kamer (Habtamu de Hoop)" [At age 22 in the House of Representatives (Habtamu de Hoop)]. De Keuzecast (Podcast) (in Dutch). 9 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023 – via Spotify.
12. "Wethouder Van Gent trekt PvdA-lijst Súdwest" [Alderwoman Van Gent lijsttrekker of the Labour Party in Súdwest]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). 23 June 2017. p. 26.
13. "Raadsvergadering 02-01-2018" [Council meeting 02-01-2018]. Gemeente Súdwest-Fryslân (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 February 2021.
14. "Habtamu de Hoop". PvdA Súdwest-Fryslân (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
15. Kaygusuz, Damla (10 April 2018). "Jongste raadslid én tv-talent tegelijk" [Youngest councilor and TV talent at the same time]. Metro (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 February 2021.
16. "Renze Klamer presenteert Op Weg Naar Het Lagerhuis" [Renze Klamer presents Op weg naar het Lagerhuis]. BNNVARA (Press release) (in Dutch). 29 May 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
17. Nicolai, Ids (10 June 2020). "Raadslid Habtamu de Hoop: 'Een vaste groep jongeren moet structureel betrokken zijn bij beleid'" [Councilor Habtamu de Hoop: 'A permanent group of young people should be structurally involved in policy']. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
18. Willems, Ingrid (6 May 2022). "Mila uit Hattem en Jolijn uit Wijhe flikken het! Ze winnen finale 'Op weg naar Het Lagerhuis'" [Mila from Hattem and Jolijn from Wijhe manage to do it! They win the final of Op weg naar het Lagerhuis]. AD. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
19. "Kijk en schrijf live mee: It Grut Frysk Diktee op 18 mei" [Watch and write with us: It grut Frysk diktee on 18 May]. Omrop Fryslân (in Dutch). 18 March 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
20. Van der Laan, Ton (23 January 2021). "Habtamu de Hoop en Christa Oosterbaan behouden hun plek op kandidatenlijst PvdA" [Habtamu de Hoop and Christa Oosterbaan keep their place on PvdA party list]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
21. "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 17 maart 2021" [Results general election 17 March 2021] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 26 March 2021. p. 268. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
22. Van Westhreenen, Saskia (19 March 2021). "Habtamu de Hoop is in de historie op twee na de jongste" [Habtamu de Hoop is the third youngest in history]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 April 2021.
23. Del Grosso, Maria (19 April 2021). "Scholtanus volgt De Hoop op in de raad van Súdwest-Fryslân" [Scholtanus succeeds De Hoop in Súdwest-Fryslân council]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 June 2021.
24. "Tweede Kamer" [House of Representatives]. PvdA (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 April 2021.
25. "Habtamu de Hoop". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
26. Markus, Niels (27 April 2021). "De maidenspeech bezorgt elk Kamerlid de zenuwen" [The maiden speech makes every MP the nervous]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 June 2021.
27. Boersema, Wendelmoet (5 October 2021). "PvdA wil Grondwet wijzigen zodat scholen leerlingen móeten accepteren" [Labour Party wants to change constitution such that school have to accept students]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 30 October 2021.
28. "De Raad van State is kritisch op het voorstel om vrijheid van onderwijs te moderniseren: aanpassing van artikel 23 is niet nodig" [The Council of State is critical of proposal to modernize freedom of education: Adjustments Article 23 are unnecessary]. Friesch Dagblad (in Dutch). 16 June 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
29. Meijer, Remco (17 January 2023). "Discriminatieverbod wegens handicap en seksuele gerichtheid in Grondwet. 'We worden niet langer weggemoffeld'" [Prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of disability and sexual orientation in the Constitution. 'We are nog longer hidden'] (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 January 2023.
30. "Coalitie verwerpt Lelylijn-motie van Habtamu de Hoop" [Coalition rejects Lelylijn motion by Habtamu de Hoop]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
31. "De Hoop vindt busvervoer een basisrecht en hoopt op bijval uit de regio" [De Hoop finds bus transportation to be a basic right and hopes from support from the region]. Omroep Fryslân (in Dutch). 20 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
32. Hoedeman, Jan; Nieuwenhuis, Marcia (13 February 2023). "PvdA en GroenLinks willen gratis ov voor armen, betaald door rijken" [Labour Party and GroenLinks want free public transport for the poor, paid for by the rich]. AD (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 February 2023.
33. "Portefeuilles Tweede Kamer" [House of Representatives portfolios]. GroenLinks–PvdA (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 March 2024.
34. Wolzak, Martine (13 March 2024). "Initiatiefwet: laat provincies een eigen ov-bedrijf starten" [Bill: Let provinces establish their own public transport companies]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
35. "Habtamu de Hoop dolblij met plek op PvdA-kandidatenlijst: "Waanzinnig hoog!"" [Habtamu de Hoop thrilled about place on PvdA party list: "Incredibly high!"]. Omrop Fryslân (in Dutch). 26 November 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
36. "Proces-verbaal verkiezingsuitslag Tweede Kamer 2021" [Report of the election results House of Representatives 2021] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. pp. 111–130, 232. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
37. "Proces-verbaal van de uitslag van de verkiezing van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal 2023 d.d. 4 december 2023" [Report of the results of the election of the House of Representatives on 4 December 2023] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 4 December 2023. pp. 23–31, 199. Retrieved 21 December 2023.