The first women in Dutch politics (1917-1927)

An important contribution to a more inclusive political history of the Netherlands

In 1917, women in the Netherlands were granted the right to stand for election (passive suffrage). This was followed in 1919 by the right to vote (active suffrage). Margit van der Steen, guest researcher at the Huygens Institute, investigated which women were elected to representative positions in politics between 1918 and 1929 and what their arrival meant for political practice.

Image: three of the first six female municipal councillors in Amsterdam, from left to right Carry Pothuis-Smit, social democrat, Hendrika van Zelm-van den Berg, communist, and Thiska Thiel-Wehrbein, liberal democrat. See also this article in Delpher.

For the first time, systematic research has been conducted into which women won seats on municipal councils during this period. For a long time, these politicians were barely visible in historical accounts. This research identified them, partly through the digitised regional newspapers of Delpher, and gave them a name and, where possible, a face.

The emphasis on local government was innovative. Previously, attention had been focused on female pioneers in national politics, but it was precisely in (smaller) municipalities that the threshold for women to start a political career was lower, not least because they could do so close to home, alongside any childcare and household responsibilities.

This research thus made an important contribution to a more inclusive political history of the Netherlands.

Politics was unsuitable for women, people thought at the time

It was striking that a large proportion of the elected women were married and often had children. At the time, many believed that women, especially women with children, were unsuitable for politics. Politics was considered to be the domain of men.

From a legal point of view, married women were also ‘legally incompetent’ and had to obey their husbands, something that is almost unimaginable today. It was not until 1957 that married women became legally competent, thanks in part to the efforts of all female parliamentarians.

Social Democratic councillors on a course at the Troelstra-oord, 1924. Photo collection Jan de Roos.

Against this backdrop, the political work of the first female municipal councillors was particularly remarkable. Despite social and legal restrictions, they made policies that affected large groups of citizens.

Their presence in representative bodies showed that women did indeed have political skills. Moreover, they broadened the political agenda with new topics that had previously received little attention.

New rules of the game: the rise of party democracy

The first female politicians took office during a period of radical political change. The district system gave way to a system of proportional representation. In this new electoral system, political parties were given a greater role and modern party democracy developed.

These changes influenced candidates’ chances of being elected. The project also investigated which women were able to benefit from the new system and which were left behind.

Themes within the research

The research focused on:

* political participation of women
* the functioning of representative democracy
* citizenship
* emancipation processes
* gender and power

By focusing on the experiences of this first generation of female politicians, this research has shown how Dutch democracy developed in practice and what role women played in it.

Margit van der Steen, guest researcher at the Huygens Institute, was managing director of the national Research School for Political History and secretary of the International Association for Political History from 2011 to 2025. She was appointed Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau for her contribution to science and society.

Order the book

‘ware wonderdieren’ De eerste vrouwen in de Nederlandse politiek (1917-1927), Margit van der Steen (Uitgeverij Boom). Naar de website.