Jan van Zanen could remain as mayor of The Hague until his 70th birthday after the city council nominated him for a second six-year term.

The 64-year-old VVD politician has been in charge of the city of government since 2020, having previously served as mayor of Utrecht from 2014 and Amstelveen between 2005 and 2013.

Officially mayors are appointed by the king in consultation with the ministry for foreign affairs, but Van Zanen’s reappointment is expected to be a formality after a committee of seven councillors agreed to put his name forward.

“Many thanks for the confidence in me to attempt a second term,” Van Zanen told the council after his nomination was announced. “I am going to give it my all.”

The mayor took over in July 2020, during the coronavirus lockdown, and has had to deal with a number of high-profile demonstrations as well as the management of year’s Nato summit. He is formally responsible for public order and policing in the city.

In September he had to admit that his officials had underestimated the potential for violence at an anti-immigration protest that sparked riots, with the Binnnenhof complex and the offices of political party D66 coming under attack.

He said in an official account of the riots: “The information available did not lead to the expectation that a situation would arise that involved the intensity and extreme nature of the violence that took place.”