The pair had deliberately campaigned as joint lead candidates and were together presented as the public face of the party, so this outcome was always possible. Van den Berkmortel says it was “a strange time: we knew from Wednesday that we’d won one seat, so for two days we were suddenly competitors”.
When the preference votes were announced on Friday, revealing that Boesten had received 139 more votes than Van den Berkmortel, the result still came as a shock to both. After discussing the matter together, Boesten decided to accept the seat. It won’t be an easy job, she says: “It’s a big responsibility. Luckily, I can largely plan both council work and my studies myself, so I think I can manage both.”
Hurt and pride
The result was a blow for Van den Berkmortel, especially as he had been instrumental in launching the “project”. In November 2025, M:OED approached him while looking for a new lead candidate after sitting councillor Martin van Rooij decided to step back. “I had already been thinking about how to get more students on the council.” As M:OED has always positioned itself as a student party, working together seemed “the obvious choice”.
Van den Berkmortel put together a team of new members, including Boesten, and they became joint lead candidates. From December, he also gained experience as a “citizen councillor”. “It hurts that I won’t be able to see the project through. I hope that feeling will gradually give way to pride – after all, we got nearly fifty per cent more votes than four years ago.” He will support Boesten in the upcoming months, but hasn’t yet decided if he will stay active in the party after summer. “It’s all still very raw. And I’m graduating this year, so all options are open. I don’t have to stay in Maastricht.”
Representing students
Meanwhile, Boesten is preparing for her role as M:OED’s sole representative on the council. “I’ll have to seek cooperation with other parties, or I won’t get anything done.” Among her priorities are easing regulations on new student housing and extending the opening hours of the bicycle depot, where improperly parked bikes are taken. “That alone would make a huge difference, although ideally I’d like to see the €50 fine reduced too.”
Boesten will be the only student on Maastricht’s municipal council. The only other council member with ties to Maastricht University is Jules Ortjens (Volt), who teaches European integration and political history at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Re-elected councillor Stephanie Blom (SP) worked as a lecturer at University College Maastricht until recently, but started a new job on 1 March.