Freddie van Mierlo is the Liberal Democrat MP for Henley and Thame, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Van Mierlo won 23,904 votes, representing 45.0% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Caroline Newton, received 17,637 votes (33.2%), while the Reform UK candidate, Peter Shields, secured 5,213 votes (9.8%). Van Mierlo was duly elected with a majority of 6,267 votes.

The Henley and Thame constituency – newly created ahead of the 2024 election, largely based on the previous Henley seat – is located in Oxfordshire, in the South East of England. The predecessor Henley was held continuously by the Conservative Party from 1910 to 2024. It was represented by Michael Heseltine from 1974 to 2001 Boris Johnson from 2001 to 2008.

Political Career

Van Mierlo is a member of the House of Commons science, innovation and technology select committee (since November 2025) – the committee responsible for examining the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and associated its public bodies.

Van Mierlo is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for fatherhood (chair) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Van Mierlo delivered his maiden speech on 12 September 2024.

In it, he said: “It is sad to see Conservative leadership hopefuls now calling for the UK to step back from the Council of Europe by leaving the European Court of Human Rights. That would put us alongside Belarus, Russia and the Vatican as the only non-member European nations.”

He added: “The Rivers Thames and Thame and their chalk stream tributaries define not only much of the physical landscape of the constituency, but the communities that live there.

“In recent years, however, the river has been filled with something altogether more sinister. Rowers treat the water as a toxic substance, meticulously cleaning hands and covering mouths while they row, but that is still not enough to stop the steady flow of reports of serious illness following encounters with the waste-filled water…

“I join the council in declaring no confidence in Thames Water in this chamber, and call for proper root and branch reform.”

Before entering parliament, Van Mierlo was elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor on Oxfordshire County Council in May 2021. Van Mierlo was also elected to serve on South Oxfordshire District Council in May 2023. He stood down from both council roles in 2025.

Van Mierlo previously stood unsuccessfully as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Fylde in the 2015 and 2017 general elections. He also stood as a candidate for North West England in the 2019 European Parliament election.

Political Views

The Liberal Democrats (or Lib Dems) are a liberal political party, occupying the centre to centre-left ground in British politics.

The preamble to the Lib Dem constitution begins: “The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.”

The Liberal Democrat autumn conference in 2021 ratified a policy paper entitled What Liberal Democrats Believe. The paper, an attempt to expand on the constitution’s preamble, was framed around seven “principles and values”.

The party’s core values were described as “liberty, equality, democracy, community, internationalism and environmentalism.”

Van Mierlo was endorsed by local groups of the cross-party organisation Compass during the 2024 general election. Compass is a thinktank and campaign group. As part of its “Win as One” campaign in the 2024 election, local Compass groups backed a slate of progressive candidates who had pledged their support for electoral reform. The central aim of the initiative was to elect a “caucus” of MPs who would champion the cause of replacing the first past the post electoral system.

Van Mierlo is listed as a supporter of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for fair elections – a cross-party group of MPs and peers that campaigns for electoral reform. The group’s stated aims include replacing the first past the post (FPTP) voting system with a form of proportional representation, eliminating “dark money” and “undemocratic influence” from politics, and countering disinformation.

In December 2024, Van Mierlo voted in favour of the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill – introduced by Liberal Democrat frontbencher Sarah Olney under the 10-minute rule procedure. The bill sought to “introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England”.

A total of 138 MPs supported the bill – with 136 opposed. Notably, 59 Labour MPs backed Olney’s bill.

Introducing the bill, Olney told the House: “First past the post is a broken and unfair system. This summer, the Labour party won a landslide election victory, securing 63% of seats in the House of Commons in return for just 34% of the vote.

“The system leaves millions of voices unheard and creates a divisive, adversarial political climate where collaboration is discouraged and accountability is often sidestepped.”

Brexit and Europe

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Van Mierlo voted in favour of the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the 10-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union. In total, 13 Labour MPs joined the Liberal Democrats in supporting the motion, while the majority of the party abstained.

Assisted dying

Van Mierlo voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

In a statement issued after the bill’s second reading, Van Mierlo said: “My support for the bill stems from two points: principle and pragmatism.

“Whilst there are good liberal arguments both for and against, my liberal values lead me to conclude that an individual should have control over their own body and be able to make a free and independent decision over how their life ends.”

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Van Mierlo voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Palestine

Palestinian recognition letter (July 2025): In July 2025, Van Mierlo was among the over 254 MPs to sign a cross-party letter calling for the government to immediately recognise the state of Palestine. The letter called on the prime minister and foreign secretary to recognise Palestine at the UN Conference then taking place in New York.

Before Politics

Frederick Isaac van Mierlo grew up in Preston, Lancashire in the 1990s.

Van Mierlo studied geographical sciences at the University of Bristol and obtained a master’s degree in European Union studies from Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Van Mierlo has worked in consultancy and advocacy roles, including as director of Harwood Levitt Consulting.

Personal Life

Van Mierlo lives in Henley-on-Thames with his wife and young family.

Trivia

Van Mierlo is a relative of Hans van Mierlo, the founder of the Dutch liberal party Democrats 66.

In his 2024 maiden speech, Van Mierlo said his relative “exited government more respected and popular than when he entered – a rarity in modern politics.”