Wim Cool

Willem (Wim) Cool (born 12 February 1943, Gieten) is a Dutch business consultant, mediator and politician. As a member of Democrats 66 (D66) he has been a member of the States-Provincial of North Holland since 18 April 2011.

Cool studied law at the University of Amsterdam. He was a D66 member of the municipal council of Noorder-Koggenland from 1994 to 2002 and independent alderman of the municipality of Niedorp from 2004 to 2010.

Cool became national news because he made a mistake during the 2011 Dutch Senate election. As a member of the North Holland States-Provincial he was entitled to vote for the new Dutch Senate on 23 May 2011 but was not able to find the red writing device (usually a pencil) prescribed for voting. Instead he voted with a blue one (his fountain pen). As a result, his vote was declared invalid and Democrats 66 missed a seat in the new Senate. His mistake was in favour of the Socialist Party (SP) which gained an extra seat. Cool regretted his mistake and apologised. Appeal of his party to the Election Council was not granted.

Wim Cool lives in Hauwert, which is a town in the municipality of Medemblik.