The Hague expands council, appoints Henk Harms and Richard de Mos as new wethouders

The Hague municipal council approved a ten‑member college of burgemeester en wethouders, up from seven in the previous term. The appointments include Henk Harms (Hart voor Den Haag) as wethouder for housing and spatial planning, and former mayor‑candidate Richard de Mos as wethouder for economy, international affairs and the National Programme Southwest. Harms, who previously served as a top civil servant, was cleared of earlier corruption allegations but faced an integrity review over the Amare cultural complex. The expanded college adds two extra seats at an estimated cost of €1.3 million per year.

The same trend of enlarging municipal executive teams is observed across several Dutch municipalities – Delft, Zoetermeer, Westland, Noordwijk, Katwijk and Alphen aan den Rijn – each adding an extra wethouder and incurring additional budgetary outlays. The regional shift reflects growing influence of local parties in city councils and a broader move toward larger governing bodies at the municipal level.