Leendert Cornelis "Leen" van Dijke (born 3 September 1955) is a Dutch retired politician and management consultant. A member of the now-defunct Reformatory Political Federation (RPF), he was its last party leader from 1994 to 2001; he co-founded the Christian Union (CU) as a merger of the RPF and Reformed Political League (GPV). Van Dijke sat in the House of Representatives from 1994 to 2003.
Career Originally a carpenter, Van Dijke was a member of the Provincial Council of Zeeland as a member of the Reformatory Political Federation from 1987 to 1994. In 1993, the relatively obscure Van Dijke was chosen to succeed Meindert Leerling as parliamentary leader following the RPF's disappointing performance during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Under Van Dijke, the party underwent a radical ideological shift. Whereas the RPF had staunchly opposed government intervention in the economy and the welfare state throughout the 1980s, a new political platform passed in 1994 abandoned these principles in favour of an active state role in solving social problems. The party also began to focus on new political issues, such as environmental protection, presenting itself as a more socially minded alternative to the Christian Democratic Appeal. At the same time, the RPF remained strongly socially conservative. These shifts led to a resounding electoral victory in the 1994 Dutch general election, where the RPF tripled its seat count from 1 to 3 seats.
Van Dijke would serve as a member of the House of Representatives from 1994 to 2003 as well as parliamentary leader from 1994 to 2002 and its successor the Christian Union (ChristenUnie), which he co-founded as a merger of the RPF and GPV. In parliament, he spoke out against the teaching of the theory of evolution in schools. In 1996, Van Dijke caused controversy when he questioned why a "practicing homosexual" would be any better morally than a thief. He would be officially charged in 1998 and fined for discrimination, a verdict which was eventuallynoverturned by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands in 2001.van Mulligen, Remco (2010). "Tussen evangelisch en reformatorisch. Het politiek getuigenis van de RPF (1975-2003)". In Hippe, Joop; Voerman, Gerrit (eds.). Van de marge naar de macht De ChristenUnie 2000-2010. Amsterdam: Boom. pp. 31–50. ISBN 9789085069386. In 2001, he became the first parliamentary leader of the newly founded Christian Union, and was succeeded by Kars Veling a year later.
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