During her student years, she was a member of the CDA faction in the Groningen municipal council from 2007 to 2010.[1][3] She later joined the municipal council herself and became party leader in 2012. She was the party leader for the 2014 municipal elections. As a councilor, she became known in 2014 for the election of Best Councilor in the Netherlands, where she finished second behind Heerlen councilor Ron Meyer of the Socialist Party (SP). Kuik resigned from the party chairmanship in May 2014 when her boyfriend, Paul de Rook [nl], became wethouder (alderman) for traffic and culture for D66 in Groningen. Between January 2015 and October 2016 she was also a presenter on NPO Radio 1 at the Evangelische Omroep of, among others, Dit is de Nacht.[4]
In 2018, she was the first Dutch parliamentarian to sign the Barcelona Declaration, encouraging the fight against tuberculosis. Because of this signature, she was known as tering-ambassadeur (tering being a pejorative archaism of tuberculosis).[7] As a spokesperson in the field of prostitution policy, Kuik advocated a ban on paid sex, following the Swedish model, in September 2020.[8] To expose abuses in prostitution, Kuik also launched the podcast Vrouw te koop? ('Woman for sale?').[9] In the run-up to the parliamentary inquiry into natural gas extraction in Groningen, Kuik was part of the temporary committee that had to prepare this at the end of 2020.[10]
At the House of Representatives elections in March 2021, Kuik was third on the CDA candidate list. She received 32,945 preference votes, above the preference threshold. Her portfolio remained virtually the same, but focused on security and terrorism instead of secondary vocational education.[11] After already having worked on the preparations, Kuik was part of the parliamentary inquiry committee for natural gas extraction in Groningen.[12] Since April 2021, she has also been a member of the Presidium of the House of Representatives.[13] Kuik went on maternity leave on 3 May until 22 August 2022.[14]
Personal life
Kuik married former Groningen councilor Paul de Rook (D66) in July 2018. The civil wedding was performed by then D66 councilor Ton Schroor. The church wedding was performed by then CDA party chairman Ruth Peetoom.[15] On 8 June 2022, De Rook and Kuik became parents of a daughter.
^"Proces-verbaal verkiezingsuitslag Tweede Kamer 2021" [Report of the election results House of Representatives 2021] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. pp. 22–60, 162. Retrieved 21 December 2023.