Peter Lankhorst
Encyclopedia
Petrus Antonius Lankhorst (born January 1, 1947 in Zwolle
Zwolle
Zwolle is a municipality and the capital city of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands, 120 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam. Zwolle has about 120,000 citizens.-History:...

) is a Dutch
Politics of the Netherlands
The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state...

 politician. Lankhorst was MP for both the progressive Christian Political Party of Radicals and the GreenLeft
GreenLeft
GreenLeft is a green political party operating in the Netherlands.GreenLeft was formed on 1 March 1989 as a merger of four left-wing political parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party...

.

Lankhorst was born in a Roman Catholic
Roman Catholicism in the Netherlands
The Catholic Church in the Netherlands; , is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. Although the number of Catholics in the Netherlands has decreased significantly in recent decades, the Dutch Catholic Church is today the largest...

 family. He attended a Protestant-Christian special schools
Special school (Netherlands)
A special school , in the education system of the Netherlands, is a separate category from a public or private school. It is not to be confused with "speciaal onderwijs", which refers to schools specialized to deal with severe learning disabilities.It is administered by an independent board, as...

 in Meppel
Meppel
Meppel is a municipality and a city in the northeast of the Netherlands, in the south-west of the province Drenthe.It developed in the 16th century as a transport and distribution inland harbour for turf...

 and Deventer
Deventer
Deventer is a municipality and city in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. Deventer is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, but also has a small part of its territory on the west bank. In 2005 the municipality of Bathmen Deventer is a municipality and city in...

, and the Roman Catholic Geert Groote College in Deventer. He started to attended Gymnasium (school)
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

 but later went to the HBS. He graduated in 1966. He continued to study political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 at the University of Amsterdam and befriended his colleague Hans Janmaat
Hans Janmaat
Johannes Gerardus Hendrikus "Hans" Janmaat was a Dutch politician of the Centre Party and later his own formed Centre Democrats . He was Parliamentary leader of the Centre Party in the House of Representatives from September 16, 1982 until October 15, 1984 when he was expelled from the party...

. Lankhorst graduated in 1974 on a thesis on the Third Way
Third way (centrism)
The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as...

.

Lankhorst joined the Political Party of Radicals and entered the Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 city council. He was originally candidate-alderman for education, but Roel van Duijn
Roel van Duijn
Roeland Gerrit Hugo van Duijn is a Dutch politician, political activist and writer. He was a founder of Provo and the Kabouterbeweging. He was alderman for the Political Party of Radicals and currently is wardcouncillor for the GreenLeft.-Biography:Van Duijn was born into an anthroposophical...

 took this position for the PPR. Lankhorst left the council in 1980. A month later he became civil servant for the municipal department for Youth and Education. After the 1981 election
Dutch general election, 1981
The General Election to the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands was held in the Netherlands on May 26, 1981.-National summary:...

 Lankhorst became MP for the PPR. He was spokesperson on housing, education
OCW
OCW may refer to:* OpenCourseWare, university material that is available for all to see and use* OCW, The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science*OCW, abbreviation of The Oxford Companion to Wine...

, Transport, Public Works and Water Management and youth welfare. He was one of the first MPs to be openly homosexual during his term in parliament.

After the 1982 election
Dutch general election, 1982
The General Election to the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands was held in the Netherlands on September 8, 1982.-National summary:...

 his former friend Janmaat became MP for the far right Centre Party
Centre Party (Netherlands)
The Centre Party was a Dutch nationalist extreme right-wing political party espousing an anti-immigrant program. The party was founded by Henry Brookman in 1980, and was represented by Hans Janmaat in the Dutch House of Representatives from 1982, until he was expelled from the party in 1984 and...

. Lankhorst tried to avoid Janmaat as far as possible. In 1989 Lankhorst initiated a law to oblige high schools to have a statute which lays down the rights of students. In 1993 it was adopted. In 1991 the PPR merged with the communist Communist Party of the Netherlands
Communist Party of the Netherlands
The Communist Party of the Netherlands was a Dutch communist political party. The CPN is one of the predecessors of the GreenLeft.- Foundation :...

, the left-socialist Pacifist Socialist Party
Pacifist Socialist Party
The Pacifist Socialist Party was a Dutch left-socialist political party. The PSP played a small role in Dutch politics. It is a predecessor of the GreenLeft.-Before 1957:...

 and the Christian left
Christian left
The Christian left is a term originating in the United States, used to describe a spectrum of left-wing Christian political and social movements which largely embraces social justice....

 Evangelical People's Party. Lankhorst continued his membership of the Tweede Kamer under the new formation. When Ria Beckers
Ria Beckers
Maria Brigitta Catherina Beckers-de Bruijn was a Dutch Green politician. She was the political leader of the progressive Christian party PPR and its successor GreenLeft....

 left the parliament in 1993 in order to make room for a new political leader, which would lead the party in the 1994 election
Dutch general election, 1994
The General Election to the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands was held in the Netherlands on May 3, 1994.-Results:...

, Lankhorst took over the position of chair of the parliamentary party ad interim. He would not stand for re-election in the 1994 election.

In 1994 Lankhorst became a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. After leaving parliament Lankhorst became an alderman in the submunicipality
Deelgemeente
A deelgemeente is a subdivision of a gemeente in Belgium and the Netherlands.-Belgium:...

 Bos en Lommer
Bos en Lommer
Bos en Lommer is a neighborhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands.Situated in the west of Amsterdam, the offers easy access to both the exit way and public transport. Most of the buildings are four-storey high apartment blocks, with relatively low rents...

 in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

. He left the position 1998 to become an independent advisor on youth policy.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK