Henricus Adrianus Josephus "Hans" Smolders (born 15 September 1960) is a Dutch politician, former professional ice hockey player and entrepreneur.
He worked as a refrigeration mechanic until he sold his company in 2001. The next year, he was elected to be a member of the House of Representatives for the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF). He served in this position for less than a year. Since then, Smolders has been active in local politics in his home town of Tilburg, being a member of the municipal council for most of this period. In 2019, he was elected to the States of North Brabant for Forum for Democracy and he returned to the House of Representatives after the 2021 general election. During his years as a refrigeration mechanic, Smolders also was a professional ice hockey player, having played multiple matches for the Dutch national ice hockey team.
Early life and career
Smolders was born on 15 September 1960 in Tilburg. His father was a mailman. Smolders attended vocational school, and graduated in 1977. In the following five years, he received two degrees in refrigeration, one from a college in 's-Hertogenbosch and one from a college in Ede. Alongside, Smolders worked as a refrigeration mechanic. After his education, he kept working in that field, and started his own company in 1984. Smolders sold his company, called "Smol Koeling", in 2001, causing him to declare himself financially independent.
During that same time, Smolders was an ice hockey player of the Tilburg Trappers, playing a total of 341 games between 1977 and 1986. Furthermore, he was part of the Dutch junior ice hockey team and of the national ice hockey team, playing in 13 international matches for the latter team between 1978 and 1983.
Political career
National
Smolders was a candidate in the 2002 general election as a member of the Pim Fortuyn List. He was the 16th person on the candidate list of that party. During the election season, he was Pim Fortuyn's driver. Nine days before the election, Fortuyn was assassinated by Volkert van der Graaf. As Fortuyn's driver, Smolders witnessed the event, and he followed the suspect afterwards until Van der Graaf was arrested by the police. After the election, he became a member for the Pim Fortuyn List in the House of Representatives. He left the lower house in January 2003.
He was elected to the House again in the 2021 general election on behalf of Forum for Democracy. Shortly after his election, he left the Forum for Democracy in protest against the party releasing a poster comparing the COVID-19 lockdown measures to the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. He subsequently joined the Belang van Nederland party.
Municipal
At the end of the 2003, he founded his own local political party called the Smolders List. In April 2004, Smolders said a man showed up at his home armed with a gun, saying he should leave politics. Smolders said he would stop as party leader because of the incident. The perpetrator was never found. Smolders joined the local Tilburg Elderly Party (TOP) at the end of 2004, saying he would be active within the party and opened up the possibility of running for a seat in the Tilburg municipal council for that party.
Smolders participated with his own party, List Smolders, in the March 2006 municipal elections. His party won 5 out of 39 seats in the Tilburg municipal council, and he became a member of the council. While he was still a member of the municipal council, Smolders appeared on the ballot during the November 2006 general election. Smolders was the 19th person on the candidate list of the party One NL, which was founded a few months before the elections. However, the party did not win any seats in the House of Representatives. Smolders remained a council member in Tilburg.
Smolders clashed with mayor Ruud Vreeman, who he accused of corruption and mismanagement. When Smolders was investigated for corruption (see #Legal affairs), he said the investigation was started by Vreeman as an excuse for mistakes Vreeman had made regarding the renovation of a local theater. Vreeman resigned because of the scandal surrounding the Midi Theater in October 2009 after a censure motion by the municipal council. When the next municipal elections took place in 2010, Smolders decided his party would not participate. He stated this was due to health reasons.