Van Campen became a member of the VVD in 2008 and first appeared on the ballot, aged twenty, in the
2010 municipal elections as the VVD's seventh candidate in
Zwolle. He was not elected, but the VVD did appoint him to the position . He succeeded VVD councilor René de Heer in March 2011, when he became an
alderman, making Van Campen the youngest member of the Zwolle municipal council. He left his internship at the
Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) in
Brussels after one month because of his appointment. Van Campen's specialization in the council was culture policy. He was re-elected in the
2014 municipal elections, in which he appeared fifth on the VVD's
party list. In 2016, a proposal by Van Campen and a D66 councilor passed the municipal council for an experiment that allowed bars in Zwolle to be open the entire night. It eventually led to those rules becoming permanent in 2018. Van Campen became the VVD's caucus leader in August 2016 and was re-elected as his party's
lead candidate – the youngest in the Zwolle VVD's history – in the
2018 municipal elections.
House of Representatives (2021–present) Van Campen ran for member of parliament in the
2021 general election, being placed sixteenth on the VVD's party list. He received 2,821
preference votes and was sworn in as House member on 31 March. Van Campen vacated his seat in the Zwolle municipal council the following month. In the House, he is the VVD's spokesperson for agriculture, food quality, the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA),
reactive nitrogen, and health care prevention. Van Campen was one of the of the VVD in Zwolle in the
2022 municipal election. In the House, he proposed that same year to force the permanent closing of slaughterhouses after multiple violations of animal welfare regulations. As agricultural spokesperson, Van Campen was also involved in discussions about reactive nitrogen emissions, which the
coalition consisting of the VVD had agreed to significantly reduce to improve the quality of nature reserves following a decision by the
Council of State. During a party congress, members passed a motion with 51% of the vote to call on the VVD's House caucus to adjust cabinet plans to achieve these goals out of fear that they would harm the livability of rural areas. Van Campen had advised against the motion, disagreeing with its assumption that outdated techniques were being used to calculate emissions. In June 2022, counter-terrorism unit
NCTV recommended Van Campen and several other members of parliament to stay away from a
farmers' protest in
Stroe due to safety concerns. Van Campen subsequently criticized House members who did attend, saying that a unified reaction from politicians to these threats would have been more comradely. Van Campen served as the VVD's vice caucus leader during the maternity leave of
Bente Becker. Following the
2023 general election, Van Campen kept agriculture in his portfolio while Europe was added to it.
House committees 2021–2023 term • Committee for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality • Committee for Health, Welfare and Sport • Committee for Infrastructure and Water Management. • Delegation to the
Benelux Parliament 2023–2025 term • Committee for European Affairs • Committee for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (vice chair) • Committee for Infrastructure and Water Management • Contact group Belgium • Delegation to the Benelux Parliament == Personal life ==