© Edwin Smulders
Frits Wester is a true political animal. He is a reporter and commentator for RTL Nieuws.
Frits Wester is a political animal. After high school, Wester studied Business Administration for a short time before dedicating himself entirely to his great hobby, politics, alongside a part-time job at an advertising agency.
At the age of seventeen, he was involved in the founding of the CDJA (CDA youth) in Alkmaar. By the age of 22, he was part of numerous local organizations across various fields: “I was very engaged with abortion, euthanasia, unemployment, and cruise missiles”.
In 1985, Wester joined the CDA parliamentary group as a press officer. In 1990, he became Head of Communication for the CDA parliamentary group and spokesperson/advisor to group leader Elco Brinkman. For the 1994 election campaign, he devised the ongoing presentation, known as the Brinkman shuffle. However, these elections ended dramatically for the CDA. The years of Purple I began, and Brinkman left the House of Representatives. Wester followed his example and soon after started working at RTL Nieuws. The initial skepticism that Wester would not be politically independent quickly disappeared. Wester proved to be a sharp journalist who excels in scoops.
His curiosity once proved fatal in 2004. At the National News Quiz, Wester was the winner because he already knew the answers before the questions were asked. Allegedly, he had taken a glance at the script. His inability to charmingly apologize for this characterizes the political and journalistic street fighter, who does everything to be ahead of the news compared to his colleagues.
Since 1994, he has been a political reporter and commentator for RTL Nieuws. In this capacity, he also regularly appears on other TV and radio programs, such as weekly on Barend and van Dorp at that time.