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Johannes Guillaume Christianus Andreas "Jan" Marijnissen () (born 8 October 1952) is a retired Netherlands politician of the Socialist Party (SP).
Marijnissen, a welder by occupation, was selected as Leader of the Socialist Party after the death of Daan Monjé on 1 October 1986 and became Chairman of the Socialist Party on 20 May 1988. For the election of 1994 Marijnissen was the Lijsttrekker (top candidate) and won two seats in the House of Representatives, the first time the Socialist Party won representation in the States General of the Netherlands. Marijnissen was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on 17 May 1994 and became the Parliamentary leader of the Socialist Party in the House of Representatives. For the elections of 1998 and 2002 Marijnissen again as Lijsttrekker won three and four seats respectively. For the election of 2006 Marijnissen for the fifth time as Lijsttrekker won sixteen seats and the Socialist Party became the third-largest party in the House of Representatives. On 20 June 2008 Marijnissen announced his retirement as Leader of the Socialist Party and Parliamentary leader of the Socialist Party in the House of Representatives citing health reasons. Marijnissen remained a Member of the House of Representatives until after the 2010 general election. Marijnissen stood down as Chairman of the Socialist Party on 28 November 2015.
He is the father of Lilian Marijnissen, a former Leader of the Socialist Party.
In 1987 Marijnissen became the party's first ever provincial assembly member, in North Brabant. A year later he became the SP's national president. Under his leadership the party was transformed from "a federation of local branches" into a party with a clear national programme, nationally-organised activities and a national profile.
In 2003, after the 87-day term of Balkenende I, the Socialist Party didn't manage to gain more seats than the year before and stayed at the same level with again 9 out of 150 seats. Although there was a slight rise in the number of people who voted for the SP compared to a year before, a few weeks before the elections the polls suggested the SP might double.
After the 2004 elections a conflict arose between Jan Marijnissen and Ali Lazrak, when the latter refused to conform to an agreement that required all SP politicians to donate part of their wages. Lazrak accused Marijnissen of dictatorial behavior; an attempt to settle the argument failed and Lazrak left the fraction on 2 February 2004.
In February 2006 the party was polled on 9.5% of the electorate in the municipal elections. After the untimely end of Balkenende II and the minority government of Balkenende III, the SP won 16 more seats in the 2006 elections to a total of 25, becoming the third party of the Netherlands. Soon after, the party membership passed 50,000. Jan Marijnissen verwelkomt 50.000ste SP-lid met taart en bloemen . Downloaded November 29, 2005
In 2006 a majority of members of parliament voted for his idea to build a National Historic Museum in the Netherlands. In 2007 the Minister of Culture decided the city of Arnhem would be its residence.
On 17 June 2008 Marijnissen announced his resignation as chairman of the SP group in the House of Representatives because of health reasons. However, he remains a member of the House of Representatives and chairman of the Socialist Party.
Marijnissen was said to appeal to the 'common man' because of his use of simple language. His appeal is also explained by some observers by his capacity of presenting himself as a valid, more social alternative to the PvdA, which moved into a more centrist third way direction by advocating welfare reforms under the leadership of Prime Minister Wim Kok and his so-called Purple Cabinets (1994–2002).
Critics of Marijnissen call his leadership style authoritarian, because he is presumed to have a tight grip on his party.
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