Queeny Rajkowski

Queeny-Aimée M. Rajkowski (born 17 November 1988) is a Dutch politician, who has served as a member of the House of Representatives since the 2021 general election. There, she represents the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). She was also on the Utrecht municipal council in the years 2014–21.

Queeny Rajkowski
Member of the House of Representatives
Assumed office
31 March 2021
Member of the Utrecht municipal council
In office
27 March 2014[1] – 4 February 2021[2]
Succeeded byErik van der Marel
Personal details
Born
Q.M. Rajkowski

(1988-11-17) 17 November 1988
Nijmegen, Netherlands
Political partyPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Alma materLeiden University
Websitequeenyrajkowski.nl

Early life and education

Rajkowski was born in 1988 in the Gelderland city Nijmegen to a Polish father, who was a teacher and an entrepreneur, and a mother, who was half Dutch and half Polish and worked as a manager for the province of Gelderland.[3][4][5] She has a younger sister and grew up in the city Arnhem, where she attended the high school Stedelijk Gymnasium Arnhem.[3][6] Rajkoswki moved to Utrecht to study economics at university and was a member of the student association Unitas. She switched to public administration at Leiden University after a year, and she became a member of the Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy (JOVD), the VVD's independent youth division.[3][7]

Career

Rajkowski was elected to the Utrecht municipal council in the 2014 municipal elections, appearing fifth on the VVD's party list.[8] She became her party's spokesperson for safety in the council.[9] At the time, she had also been working for the government of the municipality of Utrecht since 2013.[7] Thereafter, she filled positions related to education at Orion Duurzaam Leren and eFcous before moving in 2016 to Valtech, where she would later serve as head of learning and development.[3][7][10] As a councilor, Rajkowski criticized the decision by SPO, which is responsible for Utrecht's public primary schools, to stop using Zwarte Piet in its Sinterklaas celebrations, saying parents had not been properly consulted.[11] Besides, she advocated closing Utrecht's street prostitution zone in favor of window prostitution.[12]

She was placed second on the party list in the 2018 municipal election in Utrecht and was re-elected to the council.[13] She became the VVD's vice caucus leader in the council, while safety, jobs, and income were among her specializations.[14] When the commemoration of the 2019 Utrecht tram shooting was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rajkowski called on Utrecht's citizens to observe one minute of silence and to light a candle.[15]

She ran for member of parliament in the 2021 general election as the VVD's thirteenth candidate and was elected with 3,246 preference votes.[16] She was installed as House member on 31 March and became the first person on that body of Polish descent.[17] Rajkowski had already left Utrecht's municipal council in February, and she also left Valtech.[2] In the House, she is the VVD's spokesperson for digitization, government IT, telecommunications, the General Intelligence and Security Service, and cybersecurity.[18] Rajkowski is on the Committees for Digital Affairs, for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, for the Interior, and for Justice and Security.[4]

Personal life

Rajkowski lives in the city of Utrecht with her boyfriend.[4][19]

References
  1. "Gemeenteraad" [Municipal council]. Gemeente Utrecht (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  2. "Gemeenteraad" [Municipal council]. Gemeente Utrecht (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  3. Rajkowski, Queeny (23 May 2016). "Ik krijg de kriebels van het woord kwetsbaar" [I get the chills when I hear the word vulnerable]. AD (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Hans van de Ham. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  4. "Queeny Rajkowski". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  5. Rajkowski, Queeny-Aimée (3 December 2020). "Utrechtse 'VVD-queen' Rajkowski gaat naar de Tweede Kamer: 'politiek is gaaf, maar niet per se mijn droombaan'" ['VVD-queen' from Utrecht Rajkowski is heading for the House of Representatives: 'Politics is cool but not necessarily my dream job']. AD (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Diane Hoekstra. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  6. "Feestje PLAY bezorgt scholieren goed cijfer" [Party PLAY gives students a good grade]. De Gelderlander (in Dutch). 21 March 2007. p. 24.
  7. Rajkowski, Queeny (29 September 2021). "Queeny Rajkowski (VVD): 'We moeten zorgen at we een digitaal knooppunt blijven'" [Queeny Rajkowski (VVD): 'We have to make sure that we remain a digital hub']. VNO-NCW (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Scheer, Paul. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  8. "Gemeenteraadsverkiezingen 2014" [2014 municipal elections] (PDF). Gemeente Utrecht (in Dutch). 21 March 2014. p. 38. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  9. Maes, John (13 September 2017). "Pleidooi campus mbo-opleidingen" [Call for vocational campus]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). p. 12.
  10. Rajkowski, Queeny (22 February 2021). "Stem op een vrouw: Queeny Rajkowski (VVD)" [Vote for a woman: Queeny Rajkowski (VVD)]. Opzij (Interview) (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  11. Maes, John (1 December 2015). "Nog meer ruzie over Zwarte Piet" [Even more fighting about Zwarte Piet]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). p. 18.
  12. Van Renselaar, Michiel (9 May 2018). "Nieuw Zandpad weer verder weg" [Nieuw Zandpad again unlikelier]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). p. 12.
  13. Meerding, Tess (12 December 2017). "Kandidaten Utrechtse VVD" [Candidates of the Utrecht VVD]. De Utrechtse VVD (Press release) (in Dutch). Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  14. Van Dijk, Marjolein (9 April 2018). "Nieuwe portefeuilleverdeling fractie bekend" [New division portfolio caucus known]. De Utrechtse VVD (Press release) (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  15. Roving, Richard (13 March 2020). "Oproep: Herdenk slachtoffers tramaanslag thuis met één minuut stilte en een kaarsje" [Call to commemorate victims of tram shooting at home with one minute of silence and a candle]. AD (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  16. "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 17 maart 2021" [Results general election 17 March 2021] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 26 March 2021. p. 185. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  17. Van Bekkum, Dylan (30 March 2020). "De nieuwe Tweede Kamer is diverser, maar ook Randstedelijker en hoger opgeleid dan het volk" [The new House of Representatives is more diverse but also more from the Randstad and more highly educated than the nation]. De Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  18. "Queeny Rajkowski". VVD (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  19. Liberal Stories with Queeny Rajkowski. ALDE Party. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021 – via YouTube.
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